Tom Griffiths discusses the career of Mike Smith, author of The Archaeology of Australia’s Deserts. CROUCHED in the red sand, handling a stone artefact with an arc of blue desert sky above him, Mike Smith is at home. This connoisseur of deserts, who revolutionised our understanding of the human history of Central Australia, has a [...]

Writing an honours thesis in the field of History? Want to meet honours students from other universities and discuss how to research and write your thesis?   The School of History of the Australian National University invites you to an intensive History Honours Workshop in Canberra on the weekend of 24-26 May 2013 (it will [...]

Mike Smith National Museum of Australia, Canberra Cambridge World Archaeology, ISBN-13: 9780521407458. This is the first book-length study of the archaeology of Australia’s deserts, one of the world’s major habitats and the largest block of drylands in the southern hemisphere. Over the last few decades, a wealth of new environmental and archaeological data about this fascinating [...]

Position title Head of Research Section Curatorial and Research Classification EL2 Immediate Supervisor Assistant Director of Collections, Content and Exhibitions Status Ongoing Fulltime Location Acton, Canberra Application close date 5pm 24 March 2013 Position contact Dr Mathew Trinca, Assistant Director of Collections, Content and Exhibitions. 02 6208 5362 If you are deaf, hearing or speech [...]

The 2013 Mike Smith prize winners: (left to right) Sonya Duus, Alessandro Antonello and Christina Dyson. Photo: George Serras. Previously known as the Student Prize for Australian Environmental History and the History of Australian Science. The National Museum of Australia, in partnership with the Australian Academy of Science, awards the Mike Smith prize to a postgraduate [...]

Dr Mike Smith was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2013 Australia Day honours. The citation reads, ‘For significant service to archaeological scholarship, particularly of the Australian desert regions’. Few archaeologists have been recognised with an Order of Australia, and this is probably the first specifically for desert archaeology. See [...]

Dr Mike Smith is a pioneering desert archaeologist, author and senior research fellow at the Research Centre at the National Museum of Australia. On Friday 8 February 2013, Mike and other distinguished archaeologists, historians, artists and Museum staff celebrated 30 years of his work. Gallery   Further information: National Museum of Australia See Mike’s lecture [...]

Once a route to riches and empire, the sea is now lapping at the future of Venice and other great maritime cities: When I emerged for breakfast in my Venice hotel, a stylish establishment with fine furnishings and carpets, and a garden courtyard, there was a stench. Salt, sewage and seaweed had combined in a [...]