Iain McCalman

Iain Duncan McCalman AO FRHS FASSA FAHA (born 6 November 1947) is an Australian historian, social scientist, academic and former Research Professor at the University of Sydney, as well as a prominent multidisciplinary environmental researcher. McCalman was born and raised in Nyasaland (current-day Malawi) before moving to Australia to complete his university degrees in History.HarperCollins Canada. n.d. ''Iain McCalman Books & Biography''. nlineAvailable at: <https://www.harpercollins.ca/author/cr-166065/iain-mccalman/> ccessed 22 April 2021 He is a specialist in eighteenth-century and early-nineteenth British and European cultural history.

McCalman’s research interests include environmentalism and environmental history, history of low and popular culture, history of science and historiography, particularly in relation to emotion in history and the role of historical re-enactments. He was also President of the Academy of the Humanities from 2001 to 2004, co-founder and co-director of the Sydney Environmental Institute from 2013 to 2018. McCalman was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2007.

Early life and education

McCalman was born in the former British protectorate of Nyasaland on 6 November 1947. He and his sister are descended from Australians who remained in Africa following the Boer War.The Age, 2003. Magical realism. nlineAvailable at: <https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/magical-realism-20030810-gdw6iy.html> ccessed 22 April 2021 McCalman’s father worked as a British civil servant in colonial Nyasaland. McCalman reflected on his childhood as part of the colonial system in Africa: “y fatheralways told us European colonials were caretakers, not owners, and we'd have to go one day. It really irritated my sister and me. Africa was our home. But he never bought property, always prepared us to leave”.

In 1965, McCalman emigrated to Canberra to study a bachelor of arts with honors in history at the Australian National University (ANU), under Australian historian Manning Clark AC (1915-1991). McCalman also completed his master's degree at ANU before moving to Monash University for his doctorate.

Career

Whilst writing his master’s thesis at the Australian National University, McCalman worked as a tutor at Macquarie University in Sydney from 1972. This was where he began teaching modern history and first met his mentor and fellow historian Jill Roe AO FASSA (1940-2017). By 1994, McCalman had established himself as a note-worthy teacher and was awarded the inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence at the ANU.

Upon being elected President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities - a role in he served from 2001 to 2004 - McCalman oriented his agenda towards addressing inequities between how the humanities and the natural sciences were treated in Australia. A major proposal made towards achieving this goal was by “emphasizing the need to foster creativity and innovation by forging cross-disciplinary alliances”. An example of such an interdisciplinary approach includes “addressing social and cultural factors when governments seek to adopt new technologies”.

McCalman’s contributions as an academic also extended beyond the academy as he held several consulting or guest positions in media projects. An example of such includes a segment for ABC Radio National titled “Books that Changed Humanity”, discussing Charles Darwin’s 1859 book “ On the Origins of Species”. McCalman was also credited as a consultant and presenter for the 2009 documentary, “Darwin’s Brave New World”, which featured historical re-enactments to accompany a discussion of Charles Darwin’s work on evolution. Additionally, McCalman has contributed to several government projects, particularly in relation to academic and environmental practices. One such contribution was to the Inspiring Australia Report from the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research which aimed to unify and coordinate research into the sciences from a national body.

Awards

In 2001, McCalman was awarded the Centenary Medal “for isservice to Australian society and the humanities in the study of history”. Subsequently, in 2007, McCalman was made an Officer of the Order of Australia as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for “for service to history and to the humanities as a teacher, researcher and author, and through administrative, advocacy and advisory roles in academic and public sector organisations”.

Key Ideas

Historian of British and European Culture

Early in his career, McCalman wrote extensively on his specialist field: the cultural history of Nineteenth and eighteenth century Britain and Europe. One of his earliest published academic works on the topic was published in 1980 and presented a revisionist historical approach to the role of women in radical socio-political movements during the early Nineteenth Century. In particular, McCalman found “that female involvement in popular radicalism was more extensive than usually believed” and in some cases exceeded the “’supplementary’ goals” assumed for the role of female radicals. The proceeding few years saw McCalman continue to explore his interest in British culture and radicalism in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries with his 1988 book “Radical Underworld: Prophets, Revolutionaries and Pornographers in London, 1795-1840”. Some reviews of the book note McCalman’s ability to “shift … heangle of vision” of academic research in the over-saturated field of popular radicalism during this period of history. Similarly, a review of the same book by Professor Anne Humphreys from the City University of New York praises McCalman’s skills as a researcher, noting that he “has done much first-rate detective work” on the topic, but criticises him for “problematic”  and contradicting interpretations of his sources.

Historiography and Historian of Emotion

A key voice in the growing study of biographies from a historical approach, an exploration of alternatives to the academic presentation of history exists in McCalman’s conference-turned-book, “National Biographies and National Identities”, wherein a number of essays regarding the value of biographies as a legitimate historical format is discussed. His introduction to the book summarises two major points across the essays: that national biographies also present a “distinctive … national character” and the historiographical implications of national biographies given their compatibility with digital media. McCalman’s work on studying biographies and its value in the study of history also includes a chapter in Brian Matthew’s 2004 book “Readers, Writers, Publishers”, as well as a “Session on Dual Biography” at a 2006 postgraduate workshop for the ANU’s Higher Research Centre. McCalman is also a proponent of public history: a historiographical school which promotes the publication of history in formats and works targeted at a general audience as opposed to academics and scholars. During a 2003 interview with the Age, McCalman stated that “popular histories have rediscovered the story, something at the heart of history, yet it's a skill many academics have given away. I'm convinced we've got to get it back”.

Re-Enactments

During the early 2000s, McCalman’s research interests pivoted from European and British cultural history to historiography and the value of historical re-enactments in the study of the past. This turn was inspired by his experience on the 2002 BBC
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