Sophie Couchman: Tracing the myth that the Chinese ‘discovered’ Australia
2022 Global Encounters Network Seminar Series
Throughout 2022, we will host a monthly webinar series to connect the diverse network of scholars affiliated or linked to the project for a fruitful, ongoing discussion.
Topic: Tracing the myth that the Chinese ‘discovered’ Australia
The idea that Chinese seafarers landed in Australia prior to the British looms large in the popular imagination. Despite the evidence behind most claims being spurious, these assertions that the Chinese ‘discovered’ Australia persist. This paper will trace the emergence and nature of these claims, outline what we know of Chinese engagement with Australia and First Nations people and reflect on what it is that makes the idea of China ‘discovering’ Australia hold such enduring appeal.
Speaker: Dr Sophie Couchman
Sophie is a Curator and Professional Historian interested in Australia’s migration history. She has researched and published in the field of Chinese-Australian history for many years and was curator at the Chinese Museum. She has worked developing exhibitions, walking tours, oral histories and online resources. Recent projects include: a Significance Assessment of the Golden Dragon Museum collection (2021), award-winning Victorian CEDT Index website with the Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria (2019), editor of Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History (2019) and project manager of Makassar-Yirrkala: Creative Collaboration (2019).
Discussant: Dr Lily Yulianti Farid, Monash University
Dr Lily Yulianti Farid is a Research Fellow at Monash Indigenous Studies Centre working on the Global Encounters & First Nations Peoples program. Lily is an Indonesian language, literature and society researcher, writer, translator and communication specialist with more than 20 years of experiences in Indonesia, Australia, and Japan. She started her career as a journalist for Kompas, a leading newspaper in Indonesia in 1995 and later expanded her career into academic and creative fields. Lily has worked on engagements between Makassar and Northern Australia including a film and exhibition.
Host: Professor Lynette Russell AM, Monash University
Professor Lynette Russell AM is one of Australia’s leading historians and an internationally recognised expert on Indigenous histories. She has published over twelve books on topics as diverse as museums and museum displays, Aboriginal faunal knowledge, colonial history, and the early Australian whaling industry. She has held fellowships at both Cambridge and Oxford.
Her research focus is on developing an anthropological approach to the story of the past, challenging not only what we know but how we know it. Her work is frequently collaborative and interdisciplinary. She is deputy director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Biodiversity and Heritage, and leader of the ARC Laureate project Global Encounters & First Nations Peoples: 1000 Years of Australian History.
Time: Thursday 16 June 2022, 6:00pm - 7:00pm AEST
Register here.
For enquiries please contact david.haworth@monash.edu
Event Details
- Date:
- 16 June 2022 at 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
- Categories:
- Monash Indigenous Studies Centre (MISC); Global Encounters & First Nations People
Description
2022 Global Encounters Network Seminar Series
Throughout 2022, we will host a monthly webinar series to connect the diverse network of scholars affiliated or linked to the project for a fruitful, ongoing discussion.
Topic: Tracing the myth that the Chinese ‘discovered’ Australia
The idea that Chinese seafarers landed in Australia prior to the British looms large in the popular imagination. Despite the evidence behind most claims being spurious, these assertions that the Chinese ‘discovered’ Australia persist. This paper will trace the emergence and nature of these claims, outline what we know of Chinese engagement with Australia and First Nations people and reflect on what it is that makes the idea of China ‘discovering’ Australia hold such enduring appeal.
Speaker: Dr Sophie Couchman
Sophie is a Curator and Professional Historian interested in Australia’s migration history. She has researched and published in the field of Chinese-Australian history for many years and was curator at the Chinese Museum. She has worked developing exhibitions, walking tours, oral histories and online resources. Recent projects include: a Significance Assessment of the Golden Dragon Museum collection (2021), award-winning Victorian CEDT Index website with the Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria (2019), editor of Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History (2019) and project manager of Makassar-Yirrkala: Creative Collaboration (2019).
Discussant: Dr Lily Yulianti Farid, Monash University
Dr Lily Yulianti Farid is a Research Fellow at Monash Indigenous Studies Centre working on the Global Encounters & First Nations Peoples program. Lily is an Indonesian language, literature and society researcher, writer, translator and communication specialist with more than 20 years of experiences in Indonesia, Australia, and Japan. She started her career as a journalist for Kompas, a leading newspaper in Indonesia in 1995 and later expanded her career into academic and creative fields. Lily has worked on engagements between Makassar and Northern Australia including a film and exhibition.
Host: Professor Lynette Russell AM, Monash University
Professor Lynette Russell AM is one of Australia’s leading historians and an internationally recognised expert on Indigenous histories. She has published over twelve books on topics as diverse as museums and museum displays, Aboriginal faunal knowledge, colonial history, and the early Australian whaling industry. She has held fellowships at both Cambridge and Oxford.
Her research focus is on developing an anthropological approach to the story of the past, challenging not only what we know but how we know it. Her work is frequently collaborative and interdisciplinary. She is deputy director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Biodiversity and Heritage, and leader of the ARC Laureate project Global Encounters & First Nations Peoples: 1000 Years of Australian History.
Time: Thursday 16 June 2022, 6:00pm - 7:00pm AEST
Register here.
For enquiries please contact david.haworth@monash.edu