About History @ Melbourne
The study of history has been part of the curriculum of this University since it began teaching in 1854. Under Sir Ernest Scott, Professor of History from 1913 to 1936, the History Department pioneered teaching and research in Australian history. His successor, Professor Max Crawford, made this the most influential department of History in the country, and former staff members such as Manning Clark, Hugh Stretton, Geoffrey Blainey, Margaret Kiddle, Lloyd Robson, Geoffrey Serle and others have left a lasting impact on our understanding of the Australian past. (See our gallery of notable Melbourne historians.) Since 1960 the History program has expanded its expertise in European, Asian, Pacific and American history and in new approaches to the past, such as ethnohistory and feminist history.
In 1940 the History Department launched the journal Historical Studies: fifty years later it remains the leading historical journal in Australia under the title Australian Historical Studies. Undergraduate and graduate students began the Melbourne Historical Journal and still sustain it. The History program also publishes several successful series of historical publications. (See the Journals webpage for more information).
In January 2007, the Department of History joined the Centre for Classics & Archaeology, the Australian Centre, the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation and the Centre for Jewish History & Culture to form the School of Historical Studies, bringing with it increased opportunity for cross-disciplinary engagement. It has the largest Honours School (usually with about 70 enrolments) and Postgraduate School in Australia (there are around 160 candidates doing Masters and PhDs), helping us to sustain a lively research activity in a wide variety of fields.
We teach across a wide range of places and periods, themes and concerns, and maintain links with a host of professional and community organisations. All of the full-time teaching staff are actively engaged in research and publication.
Staff in the History program
The History program consists of professors, associate professors (or readers), senior lecturers, lecturers, tutors, research fellows, associates, research assistants, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and administrative staff from the School of Historical Studies.
Much of the tutorial teaching is done by sessional tutors, who are for the most part History postgraduate students. The times at which they are available to see you are limited because, as part-time employees, they are often working outside the program on their own research. They can be contacted through the Historical Studies Office.