Guest Speaker:
Richard White
Join us in Gordon Library Meeting Room 1
at 2 pm on Saturday 15 March 2025 for
On Saturday 15 March 2025 after our General Meeting, Dr Richard White presents Symbols of Australia.
What’s happening to Australia’s national symbols?
The symbols of a nation never stand still – they are constantly changing, despite the desire to think of them as immovable. Even during the four years of editing and updating a new edition of Symbols of Australia: Imagining a Nation (originally published in 2010) Richard White found it hard to keep up, as well-established national symbols shifted on their foundations.
Richard’s illustrated talk surveys a range of Australia’s national symbols, from the formal to the popular, the commercial and the humorous; examining their origins, their many and varied meanings, and how they have changed over time.
Books will be available for sale at the special price of $40 (cash only).
About Dr Richard White
Richard taught Australian history and the history of travel and tourism at the University of Sydney from 1989 to 2013. His publications include Inventing Australia; as well as The Oxford Book of Australian Travel Writing; and On Holidays: A History of Getting Away in Australia.
His current research interests include the history of ‘history tourism’ in Australia and the history of the cooee… but Richard has to admit he spends more time in the garden than at a desk. A new edition of Symbols of Australia (co-edited with Melissa Harper) appeared in 2021.
As always, please keep an eye on our website in case of any last-minute changes.
The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).
It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.
For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.
