Armidale seminar paper - “Unrecognised and now almost unknown: explorations through the history of the broader New England”.

I am cross-posting this on the New England's History blog as well as here.

On Friday 19 March 2010 I will be presenting a paper in Armidale as part of the University of New England's Classics & History Seminar Series. As the heading says, my topic will be “Unrecognised and now almost unknown: explorations through the history of the broader New England”.

This will be my first opportunity to report in an academic environment on the historical research that I have been doing into the history of New England, so I am quite excited.

While I have an idea of what I want to say, I now have so much material that choice is a bit of an issue.

One thing that I actually have to do is to demonstrate that there is such a thing as the history of the broader New England. This is where the unrecognised and almost unknown comes in. I also want to show why the history of the broader New England is important as a separate thread in Australian history. Last, I want if I can to share my joy in the methodological challenges involved and the pleasure of discovery.

At the moment, my thinking is to prepare two sets of material.

The first is a formal, fully footnoted academic paper. This is important because it allows people to check my research. I can then also use it as a source on things like Wikipedia articles. The second are powerpoints, because this gives me greater flexibility in responding to however many people come.

I mention this now not just because I am quite excited, but also because I know that a number of people are actually interested in our history. If you would like to receive a copy of the paper after delivery, email me ndarala(at)optusnet(dot)com(au) and I will add you to the list.