History Hooks

History Hooks are short recordings of historians sharing a favourite aspect of an event, figure, time period or theme. The aim is to inspire and intrigue, and to generate meaningful discussions in History classrooms.

Teachers can use History Hooks in different ways, including:

• sparking student interest in the historical topic or unit of work
• initiating a deep dive conversation about the topic
• igniting student interest in choosing to study History as an elective or VCE subject
• extending their own professional knowledge.

Presented by historians with a wealth of experience, History Hooks are accurate, up-to-date, diverse and short.

Short stories, big ideas – History starts here!

• Australian History: 1901 and 1915
• Study World War II
• The French Revolution
• Study the Russian Revolution
• The Russian Revolution through Objects
• Ancient Greece: The Assembly
• Ancient Rome
• Ancient Rome: Augustus aka Octavian
• Ancient Rome: The Meroë Head

Australian History: 1901 and 1915

Dr Carolyn Holbrook is a historian at Deakin University. Her research includes the history of Australian federalism, the concept of national security, anti-tobacco campaigning, Medicare and memory of World War One. Her most recent publication is Lessons from History: Leading Historians Tackle Australia’s Greatest Challenges, co-edited with Lyndon Megarrity and David Lowe (NewSouth, 2022).

Study World War II

Dr Oleg Beyda is a Hansen Lecturer in Russian History at the University of Melbourne. He is a multi-lingual historian focusing on diaspora studies (the first and second waves of migration from Russia after 1917) and the Second World War in Eastern Europe. Dr Beyda has widely published on military and civil collaboration, Russian emigration, and the German-Soviet War, including publications with Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, and George Washington University. He has extensive teaching experience in Soviet history, the historiography of Stalinism, and the global history of World War Two.

The French Revolution

Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee AM was appointed to a Personal Chair in History at the University of Melbourne in 1993. He was the university’s first Provost in 2007–2009 and is now an Emeritus Professor. Peter has published widely on the history of France since 1770, most recently Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life (2012) and Liberty or Death: The French Revolution (2016). He is currently the Chair of the History Council of Victoria, the state’s peak body for History, and Patron of the HTAV.

Study the Russian Revolution

Dr Oleg Beyda is a Hansen Lecturer in Russian History at the University of Melbourne. He is a multi-lingual historian focusing on diaspora studies (the first and second waves of migration from Russia after 1917) and the Second World War in Eastern Europe. Dr Beyda has widely published on military and civil collaboration, Russian emigration, and the German-Soviet War, including publications with Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, and George Washington University. He has extensive teaching experience in Soviet history, the historiography of Stalinism, and the global history of World War Two.

The Russian Revolution through Objects

Julie Fedor is an Associate Professor in Modern European History at the University of Melbourne. She has taught modern Russian history at the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Melbourne, and St Andrews. She is the author of Russia and the Cult of State Security (Routledge, 2011); co-author of Remembering Katyn (Polity, 2012); and co-editor of Memory and Theory in Eastern Europe (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013) and Memory, Conflict and New Media: Web Wars in Post-Socialist States (Routledge, 2013).

Ancient Greece: The Assembly

Dr Christopher Gribbin is an Adjunct Lecturer at La Trobe University and a public historian specialising in Ancient Greece and Rome. He is passionate about bringing the ancient world to life for modern audiences. He delivers a summer school with Melbourne’s Hellenic Museum each January and co-wrote HTAV’s Ancient Greece Study and Exam Guide. Chris has worked on special events with the Hellenic Museum, Humanities21, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and Museums Victoria. He also records podcasts and leads cultural tours visiting ancient sites with Australians Studying Abroad.

Ancient Rome

Frederik Vervaet is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Melbourne, with expertise in Roman sociopolitical and institutional history. His publications include two monographs, four co-edited volumes, and chapters for The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society and The Oxford History of the Roman World. He was a Member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2018), Visiting Professor at the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès (2019), and Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall in Cambridge (2023). In 2021, Frederik was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Ancient Rome: Augustus aka Octavian

Dr Andrew Connor is the Lecturer in Ancient History in Monash University’s Centre for Ancient Cultures. He teaches the history and archaeology of Greece and Rome, as well as the Latin and ancient Greek languages, and serves as the Secretary of the Classical Association of Victoria, co-director of the Egyptology Society of Victoria, and Head of Orion College. His new book, Confiscation or Coexistence: Egyptian Temples in the Age of Augustus, is out now from the University of Michigan Press.

Ancient Rome: The Meroë Head

Dr Andrew Connor is the Lecturer in Ancient History in Monash University’s Centre for Ancient Cultures. He teaches the history and archaeology of Greece and Rome, as well as the Latin and ancient Greek languages, and serves as the Secretary of the Classical Association of Victoria, co-director of the Egyptology Society of Victoria, and Head of Orion College. His new book, Confiscation or Coexistence: Egyptian Temples in the Age of Augustus, is out now from the University of Michigan Press.