Using Lives-A POSTGRADUATE WORKSHOP IN BIOGRAPHY

The ANU’s Australian Dictionary of Biography, History Program RSSS, ANU; and Humanities Research Centre at the Research School of Humanities, ANU; and the National Museum of Australia’s Centre for Historical Research convened the third ‘Using Lives’ postgraduate workshop, to be held in Canberra on 8-12 September 2008.

Biography and ‘life writing’ figure increasingly prominently in humanities and social science research, expanding in accessibility and innovation by adapting to new technologies, exploring new materials and perspectives, and advancing new agendas. This workshop provided a forum in which postgraduate students from around Australia discussed aspects of this ‘biographical turn’ in relation to their work.

The workshop consisted of morning sessions, led by experts in areas related to these overall objectives, and afternoon sessions, in which students presented their research for discussion. The workshop also integrated with the Seymour Lecture in Biography at the National Library of Australia. Workshop speakers included: Mary Besemeres, Desley Deacon, Richard Holmes, Sophie Jensen, Ross McMullin, Melanie Nolan, Mark Peel, Paul Pickering, Peter Read, Peter Stanley and Carolyn Strange.