UC historian presenting Jim Gardner lecture
Published by Communications and Development
2 July 2009
Emeritus Professor Peter Hempenstall will return to Christchurch this month to lecture on ideas that extend his contribution to Remaking the Tasman World, published earlier this year by Canterbury University Press.
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| Emeritus Professor Peter Hempenstall pictured at the February launch of Remaking the Tasman World. |
"Getting Inside the Tasman World" is his title for the annual Jim Gardner Lecture, which honours Canterbury’s doyen of local and regional history and this year will recapture a theme from much of Jim Gardner’s work: discovering and asserting the importance of local experience, history, and community traditions in the shaping of wider, national histories.
The Canterbury History Foundation is bringing Professor Hempenstall from the University of Newcastle, NSW, where he is Adjunct Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Science. He is also Emeritus Professor in History at UC and an ambassador-at-large for Trans-Tasman relations in the UC-based New Zealand Australia Research Centre.
In the 18 months since he left Canterbury’s School of History Professor Hempenstall has reflected on the driving forces in the many South-West Pacific communities.
“These create a local sense of identity,” he said. “They spring from colonial possession, from migration, ethnic diversity, and cultural transformations, and other elements; and they combine or conflict to make our region so dynamic and complex.
“Moving from Christchurch back to Australia and looking eastwards from there stirred me to take a fresh look at relations between New Zealand, Australia and the islands of the South-West Pacific. This is a region with a challenging future for all its citizens.”
Professor Hempenstall’s lecture will be given at 2.30pm on Sunday 26 July in the auditorium of Christchurch Girls' High School, Matai Street. It is a free public event.
After the lecture the Foundation will present the Rhodes History Medal for long service to history, particularly for promoting interest in the wider community. This year’s medal is being awarded to Murray Thacker, founder and developer of the Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum.
For further information please contact:
Maria De Cort
Publicist
Canterbury University Press
c/-Communications & Development
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch
Tel: +64 3 364 2072
Fax: +64 3 364 2679
maria.decort@canterbury.ac.nz