Australian Women’s History Network Travel Bursary recipient Meg Graham reflects on her experience of the 2024 Australian Historical Association Conference.
This year’s Australian Historical Association Conference welcomed people and papers from around Australia and across the world to Kaurna Country for a five-day historical extravaganza from 1-4 July 2024.
Hosted in Adelaide by Flinders University, conference events were held at the Adelaide Festival Centre and in the hilly topography of Flinders University’s Bedford Park campus, a short bus or train ride from the city centre. Attendees were asked to grapple with the conference theme Home Truths. A timely task for all historians working in the twenty-first century; responses to this call were insightful, important and necessarily varied in scope, scale and theme.
As both a first-time AHA attendee and internationally based postgraduate researcher I was unsure of what to expect from the conference and felt a strange mix of apprehension, excitement and nervousness as I touched down in Adelaide for the very first time. I went in with a low bar of expectation for myself, internally echoing that if I was able to put a few faces to the names I’ve been reading for years, share some of my own research with an interested crowd and maybe exchange contact details with an academic or two, I would have done a cracking job. I’m delighted to share that the warmth of the AHA – the friendliness of attendees and the enthusiasm of audiences and presenters alike – gave me the grace to rise that bar of expectation for future years.
Presenters were assigned to one of twelve streams. While I was lucky enough to present on the Australian Women’s History Network stream, other streams explored First Nations History, War and Conflict, Digital History, Public History, Environmental History, ANZ Law and History, the History of Medicine, Migration History, Oral History, Histories of Capitalism and the History of Violence.
Paper streams ran concurrently from Tuesday to Thursday but were placed on pause for the four headline acts of the conference, or in more academic terms – the Keynote Speakers. Four thought-provoking keynotes were given by Professor Julia Laite (Birbeck, University of London), Professor Frank Bongiorno (Australian National University), Associate Professor Natalie Harkin (Flinders University) and Dr Vanessa Hearman (Curtin University). Over the course of five days, I sampled several of the conference’s keynotes and streams. I listened to a broad range of papers from researchers working in and on Australia.
As I sat down to write this reflection, I turned back to my notebook scribbles from early July and was reminded of some of my favourite papers and panels. These included Professor John Maynard’s (UoN) paper on the Aboriginal Progressive Association 1924-2024, Dr Natasha Szuhan’s (ANU) paper exploring an oral history of oral contraception in Australia, Dr Paige Donaghy’s (UniMelb) paper on pregnancy in Early Modern England and Dr Michelle Staff’s (ANU) reflections on the power and future of feminist biography.
My own panel was on the first day of papers and followed a fabulously important AWHN Keynote from Dr Jordana Silverstein (UniMelb) on feminist fragmentations and connections. I presented my paper on urban Black Theatre in Sydney alongside Dr Jacquelyn Baker (Deakin) and Dr Charmaine Robson (UNSW) under the broad banner of ‘cultural practice as grassroots activism’.
As I walked into what felt like an international concert arena, but was in actuality a small lecture hall, butterflies began swimming in my stomach. I got mic’d up and took a deep breath. Before I knew it, I was at the end of my paper and looking up at a friendly crowd who had not only keenly listened to my spiel but wanted to learn more about my research. In that moment I felt proud of myself and grateful for the AWHN, who had generously granted me a conference bursary (so I was able to attend AHA) and also fostered such a wonderful environment to present in.
It would be remiss of me to pay homage to the AWHN without honourably mentioning their inaugural Feminist Dance Party, hosted on Wednesday 3 July at the Irish Club in Adelaide city centre. An evening of moves and grooves only AHA-ers can throw down, postgraduates, early career researchers and those who have been in the game a while came together in solidarity to create dazzling memories and raise funds for Palestine Australia Relief and Action. This was, of course, not the only social event supplementing AHA academic programme, I also attended a PGR Trivia Night and the Conference Awards Dinner. Both events also provided space to socialise with peers and celebrate the achievements and future direction of the discipline.
I would like to give a personal thanks to the convenors of both AHA 2024 and the AWHN for their dedication and organisational efforts. Whether I can attend a future AHA in-person will depend on my ability to travel from the UK to Australia, but here’s to hoping. Next year’s AHA conference will be held in sunny Townsville, hosted jointly by James Cook University and Central Queensland University. Having had the pleasure of meeting some of the organising committee for AHA 2025, I can safely say it sounds like one not to be missed!
Meg Graham is a PhD Researcher and Postgraduate Teaching Associate at the University of Leeds funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK. At present, Meg is also a visiting researcher at the National Centre of Biography, Australian National University and Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University. Meg’s doctoral project explores Aboriginal health activism and its relation to transnational discourses of racial empowerment in late twentieth century Australia. She is the recent recipient of the National Archives of Australia – Australian Historical Association Postgraduate Scholarship, the postgraduate lead for the Health Histories cluster at the University of Leeds and a White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities Equality Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador.
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