Iain McCalman

In 2001, McCalman was awarded the Centenary Medal “for [his] service to Australian society and the humanities in the study of history”.[10] 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”.[11]

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.[12] 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.[12] 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”.[13] Some reviews of the book note McCalman’s ability to “shift … [the] angle of vision” of academic research in the over-saturated field of popular radicalism during this period of history.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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”.[19]

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 program “The Ship: Retracing Cook’s Endeavor Voyage” whereby a group of volunteers, including McCalman, from a variety of backgrounds re-enact a stretch of Cook’s voyage on a replica of the Endeavor.[20] The journey, which demanded the sailors follow the original Endeavor crew’s conditions and routines, followed Cook’s original route between Cairns, Australia,  and Batavia, Indonesia.[20] McCalman reflected on this experience in a 2003 memoir and article for the journal Meanjin, comparing his difficult journey to George Orwell’s 1984: “Big Brother demands a maximum of discomfort, danger and humiliation”.[21]

Inspired by the ordeal, McCalman would continue to publish work related to historical re-enactments and popular history. Such works include the 2010 book “Historical Reenactment: from Realism to the Affective Turn” which explores the role of emotion in history through popular forms of history, contributing to the discourse surrounding history’s affective turn.[22] McCalman also wrote, in a 2004 article for the academic journal Criticism, which recycles parts of his 2003 memoir of the voyage, “Endeavoring Reality”, to argue for the value of such unique experiences from an academic’s perspective in the digital era.[23]

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, McCalman has written extensively on the topic of scientific discovery and the environment from a historical and humanities perspective. Focusing, in particular, on the scientific voyages by the likes of Charles Darwin, Matthew Flinders and James Cook, McCalman discusses in his works the exploration of the Pacific and Oceanic regions. This research has manifested in books such as “In the Wake of the Beagle: Science in the Southern Oceans in the Age of Darwin” and “Darwin’s Armada”.[24][25] The latter book also inspired several museum exhibitions, including one from the University of Sydney’s Macleay Museum titled “Accidental Encounters”, and a 2009 documentary titled “Darwin’s Brave New World”.[26]

McCalman, during this period, also began exploring the environment through humanities as well as interdisciplinary practices. A defining example of this approach is found in the introduction of the 2014 book “Rethinking Invasion Ecologies from the Environmental Humanities”.[27] McCalman and his co-editor, an environmental historian, argue for the value of examining invasive flora and fauna through the lens of the humanities given that the transfer or introduction of species involve, not just biology, but human and cultural elements.[27] The majority of the book, thus, is dedicated to “demonstrating how research derived from a humanities perspectives can transform our understandings of the character and implications of invasion ecologies”.[27] McCalman has, in his solo works since then, adopted this humanities-based approach to discussions surrounding the environment. Such works include 2013 book “The Reef: A Passionate History”.[28]