News and Highlights
University of Newcastle scholars shortlisted for awards
Historical works by University of Newcastle scholars Dr Julie McIntyre, Dr Euridice Charon Cardona and Associate Professor Roger Markwick have been shortlisted for the 2013 NSW Premier's History Awards.
Julie McIntyre's book, First Vintage: Wine in Colonial New South Wales (UNSW Press), reveals the forgotten, and at times fraught, story of wine growing in early Australia. It investigates what Indigenous Australians may have thought of imported European wine, who made the first colonial wine, who was drinking it and what it tasted like.
Roger Markwick and Euridice Charon Cardona's book, Soviet Women on the Frontline in the Second World War (Palgrave Macmillan, UK), is the first comprehensive study in English of the more than one million women - aviators, anti-aircraft gunners, nurses, snipers - who served in the Red Army or fought with the partisans on the Eastern Front in the Second World War, resisting the genocidal Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Drawing on a vast array of original sources, this book explains why and how Soviet women came to fight en masse and captures the confronting, everyday experiences voiced by Soviet women fighting, living and dying on the anti-fascist frontline.
"The short-listing of two books by our history scholars for these prestigious and highly competitive awards shows the quality, impact and depth of historical research being produced at the University of Newcastle," said Professor John Germov, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University's Faculty of Education and Arts.
The prestigious NSW Premier's History Awards were first presented in 1997 to recognise high standards in historical research and encourage people to appreciate the work of historians. The 2013 winners will be announced at a presentation ceremony on 12 September 2013 at the State Library of NSW.
UoN 3 Minute Thesis Competition Winner - Kymme Laetsch, Ancient History and Classical Languages PhD candidate
How do you cram years of study and research into a 3-minute speech? That was the challenge faced by winner of the University of Newcastle Final of the 3 Minute Thesis Competition, Kymme Laetsch.
Under the supervision of Dr Marguerite Johnson and Associate Professor Josephine May, Kymme is writing her doctoral thesis on "The portrayal and implications of feminine ageing in Latin literature", a topic she recognises might seem obscure:
"My research will not cure cancer or childhood obesity and Latin poetry is certainly an acquired taste - one which many people would struggle to identify with or find 'important'. So, one of the toughest challenges I faced was trying to make 2,000 year old poetry written in a dead language engaging and relevant to a contemporary audience," Kymme explained.
"Rather than just talk about what I do and how I do it, I tried to illustrate that very briefly and draw parallels between ancient and contemporary attitudes to older women."
"For example, Roman literature is full of the same stereotypes we see today - the ugly old witch and the nasty step-mother. Even older women who take younger lovers, today known as cougars, are subjected to stereotypical revulsion," Kymme said.
Watch the best of the competition...
Kymme Laetsch - PhD (Classics) achieved 1st place at the UoN's 2013 Three Minute Thesis Final.
Kymme will now go on to compete in the National/Trans-Tasman Competition at the University of Western Sydney on Friday 18 October. UoN staff and students are welcome to join the audience - click here to register
Ten University of Newcastle disciplines ranked in top 200 in the world
It is excellent to see three Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines recognised in the ten UoN disciplines ranked in the latest QS World University Rankings of the world's top 200: Linguistics, English Language and Literature, and Sociology. This is a very important achievement for our School, especially in the NeW Directions environment, and testimony to the growing academic standing of our disciplines.
Click here for full University of Newcastle results
Michael Sala Regional Winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize & the New South Wales Premier's Award for New Writing
University of Newcastle Creative Writing PhD graduate, Dr Michael Sala, can now add ‘award winner’ to this name after his debut novel, The Last Thread, was awarded both the Regional Winner (Pacific) of the Commonwealth Book Prize and also the NSW Premier's Award for New Writing.
Michael will now also represent the Pacific Region in vying for the Commonwealth Book Prize, which will be announced on 31 May 2013 at the Hay Festival in Wales.
“I’ve always felt that the best writing crosses international boundaries, and that has always been my ambition as a writer. To be acknowledged by the Commonwealth Book Prize so early in my career is incredibly exciting.
With such diversity and talent on the shortlist, I feel honoured and humbled to be selected as a regional winner. I can’t thank the Commonwealth Book Prize enough for this wonderful opportunity to get my work out into the wider world,” said Michael Sala.
Click here to read more
Visiting Fellowship
Lecturer in English Dr Patricia Pender has been awarded a short-term Visiting Fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts in 2013-2014. She will be the Reese Fellow in American Bibliography and the History of the Book and will research editions of Anne Bradstreet, whose 1650 The Tenth Muse Recently Sprung Up in America was the first volume of poetry to be published in the United States.
NSW Premier's Literary Awards - RHD Students Shortlisted
Two of our PhD students have been shortlisted in this year's NSW Premier's Literary Awards in the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing. They are Michael Sala, with his debut novel "The Last Thread", published by Affirm Press, and Ryan O'Neill, with his debut collection of short stories "The Weight of a Human Heart", published by Black Inc.
The prize is worth $5000, and is given for a published book of fiction by an author who has not previously published a booklength work of fiction. It is unique for two writing students from the same university to be named together in the same year in a shortlist of six. Michael and Ryan's achievements boost the growing list of published writers that the University Writing Program has produced over the years, which includes Patrick Cullen, Karen Hitchcock and David Kelly, an outstanding record among the writing programs in the country.
Congratulations Associate Professor Jo May!
Congratulations to Jo May on her appointment as Associate Professor (Teaching and Learning) in English Language and Foundation Studies (ELFS). Jo will step down from her current role as Deputy Head of School Teaching and Learning on 1 March.
This is a wonderful, thoroughly deserved appointment, but a loss for the School and its executive. ELFS has certainly recruited a thoroughly professional and enthusiastic colleague.