Home | High schools | Research in the media | Seminars and lectures

SOPHI runs regular research seminars and lectures. You will find a selection of them here.
Please note: Due to the COVID-19 restrictions on campus events at the University, we will be running our seminar series using Zoom. 


Professor James Curran

2021 ‘Battle for Australia’ Oration

The Oration gives a fascinating insight into our nation’s constant fear of invasion since the 1930s, and how successive politicians have attempted to deal with the threat.
Read the full transcript of James Curran’s oration here.


History of University Life seminar series

Register for this series here

University Education is a Pathway to Employment

Seminar held 24 June 2020
Running time 53 minutes 25 seconds

The Current Crisis – Let’s Focus on Equity

Seminar held 11 November 2020
Running time 1 hour 7 seconds

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International Students and Australian Universities

Seminar held 5 August 2020
Running time 1 hour, 1 minute, 22 seconds

Can the humanities and social sciences survive the Covid crisis?

Held live broadcast 23 September 2020
Length: 1 Hour 1 Minute and 53 Seconds

This webinar explores the importance of the humanities and social sciences for our collective prosperity. Panellists Professor Joy Damousi, President, Australian Academy of the humanities, Professor Jane Hall, President, Australian Academy of the Social Sciences, and Michael Goodman, The University of Sydney, critique the current Commonwealth proposal for ‘job ready’ graduates and look back to past government interventions for what they tell us about the place of the humanities and social sciences in modern Australia. Chaired by Associate Professor Julia Horne, co-convenor of History of University Life.

History of University Life: Higher Education Reform – Where to now?

It is now 30 years since the last major Commonwealth reform of Australia’s higher education system. This webinar examines the current relationship between the Commonwealth and public universities and explores the idea of higher education reform as a social and public good.

Panellists: Professor Glyn Davis AC, Associate Professor Tamson Pietsch and Ren-Hao Xu. Chaired by Dr Matthew A.M. Thomas.

Live Broadcast 14 October 2020.

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History of University Life – The Current Crisis – Let’s Focus on Equity

Live Broadcast 11 November 2020.
1 Hr and 32 seconds

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Classics and Ancient History

Satire from the Margins: the Periphery in Persius’ Satires
Associate Professor Paul Roche


Classics and Ancient History seminars

Register for this series here
Request password by emailing sophi.enquiries@sydney.edu.au

The Third Lifecycle of Philokleon in Aristophanes’ Wasps

Seminar held on 8 May 2020
Running Time: 51 Minutes 6 Seconds

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Poor Offerings by Late Antique Peasants: Evidence for Pagan Ritual in Post-Constantinian North Africa

Seminar held on 23 April 2020

46 mins 38 seconds

Archaeology

Breaking the Wall around Vulnerable Megacities | How the Study of Past Civilisations Can Help the Cities of the Future

Presented by Professor Roland Fletcher

The megacity of Angkor was once the capital of the Khmer nation, an empire which flourished from approximately the 9th to the 15th century. With a population near 1 million and a size of roughly 1,000 square kilometres, Greater Angkor was the largest pre-industrial metropolis in the world. Located in modern-day Cambodia, Angkor is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site visited by two million tourists per year, but also a historical case of the growth and demise of a human-made urban complex exposed to severe climatic instability.

Tom Austen Brown Memorial Lecture 2020

Excavating a tropical paradise: The archaeology of Southern Vanuatu
Presented by Dr James Flexner

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Gender and Cultural Studies seminar series

Register for the seminar series here

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Gender and Cultural Studies seminars can be found on the Department’s YouTube Channel

Paul Priday Lecture 2021 | Elspeth Probyn
Doing cultural studies in rough seas: The COVID-19 Ocean Multiple

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