Nikolas Orr
@nikolasorr.bsky.social
Independent (Art) Historian & Senior Heritage Officer for NSW Government | researching colonial monuments, anticolonial protest | former sculptor, editor | settler Australian on unceded Awabakal land | madrileño adoptado | he/him/él | all views my own
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
When your research is relevant but you’re not in academia anymore
February 27, 2025 at 8:05 AM
When your research is relevant but you’re not in academia anymore
My honours thesis was titled “Skirting ‘round a…”.
(Visual artists do it better 🤷🏻)
(Visual artists do it better 🤷🏻)
Historians love to put ‘Towards a’ in the title of a paper
October 28, 2025 at 6:19 AM
My honours thesis was titled “Skirting ‘round a…”.
(Visual artists do it better 🤷🏻)
(Visual artists do it better 🤷🏻)
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
🚨I spoke to Crikey for this story on the need for better media reporting on the far right!
Long story short: stop giving neo-Nazis propaganda wins
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/05/h...
Long story short: stop giving neo-Nazis propaganda wins
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/05/h...
How to report on neo-Nazis without giving them what they want
Media coverage of the anti-immigration marches was a 'propaganda triumph' for Australian neo-Nazis, who use media-baiting tactics to spread their message.
www.crikey.com.au
September 4, 2025 at 11:36 PM
🚨I spoke to Crikey for this story on the need for better media reporting on the far right!
Long story short: stop giving neo-Nazis propaganda wins
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/05/h...
Long story short: stop giving neo-Nazis propaganda wins
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/05/h...
Very cool if true: Academia.edu says I have readers in Singapore, Hanoi and Cangzhou
August 14, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Very cool if true: Academia.edu says I have readers in Singapore, Hanoi and Cangzhou
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
At bottom, these programs are an attempt to sidestep work and thought, which is inimical to historical thinking. Not to mention the gross environmental and economic costs. And to treat this as some kind of inevitable paradigm shift is truly ahistorical thinking.
August 6, 2025 at 7:23 AM
At bottom, these programs are an attempt to sidestep work and thought, which is inimical to historical thinking. Not to mention the gross environmental and economic costs. And to treat this as some kind of inevitable paradigm shift is truly ahistorical thinking.
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
Seriously, fuck off.
I say that with all due gravity.
I say that with all due gravity.
August 5, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Seriously, fuck off.
I say that with all due gravity.
I say that with all due gravity.
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
The argument that Palestine should not be recognised as a state as it can not comply with the obligations of a state reminds me of the 1899 Hague Convention, which excluded 'uncivilised' people from attempts to minimise the cruelty of war - because they were deemed incapable of observing such laws.
August 1, 2025 at 9:03 AM
The argument that Palestine should not be recognised as a state as it can not comply with the obligations of a state reminds me of the 1899 Hague Convention, which excluded 'uncivilised' people from attempts to minimise the cruelty of war - because they were deemed incapable of observing such laws.
After a year of practising history as a public servant, I’ve been thinking about the opportunities & constraints in a gov role – how it changes the work we do, types of histories we write, people/sources we consult, and audiences we write for.
DM me if you want to throw around ideas on this theme!
DM me if you want to throw around ideas on this theme!
July 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
After a year of practising history as a public servant, I’ve been thinking about the opportunities & constraints in a gov role – how it changes the work we do, types of histories we write, people/sources we consult, and audiences we write for.
DM me if you want to throw around ideas on this theme!
DM me if you want to throw around ideas on this theme!
One historian’s take on doing history. Great thread!
One like, one history opinion
1. Read the introduction, conclusion and endnotes first - in that order
1. Read the introduction, conclusion and endnotes first - in that order
Will try this lol
July 28, 2025 at 11:49 AM
One historian’s take on doing history. Great thread!
I upset someone just the other day. Peer review can be tough 🤷🏻♂️
3. Historians make for very versatile researchers in non-academic employment but can annoy people by always asking to look at the original sources
July 28, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I upset someone just the other day. Peer review can be tough 🤷🏻♂️
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
So, if humanities produce good job outcomes, humanities have a secure ROI that bring in more than they cost, and STEM now has an even lower ROI due to grant cuts…. shouldn’t we invest more in humanities where less $$ goes a longer way? Apparently not. We should ask why not. /9
July 24, 2025 at 10:37 PM
So, if humanities produce good job outcomes, humanities have a secure ROI that bring in more than they cost, and STEM now has an even lower ROI due to grant cuts…. shouldn’t we invest more in humanities where less $$ goes a longer way? Apparently not. We should ask why not. /9
How is it okay to describe Hannah McGuire’s response to Lachlan Young’s violence as “hysterical”? www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...
Jury hears from Hannah McGuire's parents in ex-partner's murder trial
The grieving parents of young Victorian woman Hannah McGuire tell a Supreme Court their daughter's ex-partner Lachlan Young did not treat her well before her death.
www.abc.net.au
July 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM
How is it okay to describe Hannah McGuire’s response to Lachlan Young’s violence as “hysterical”? www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
you've heard about the college kids who can't do anything without ChatGPT's help—but what about the students who oppose generative A.I. for myriad reasons and refuse to rely on it as a shortcut? well, I found and spoke with a few of them here: slate.com/life/2025/07...
What It’s Like to Be a Student Who Hates ChatGPT
“Everyone is using it”—almost everyone.
slate.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
you've heard about the college kids who can't do anything without ChatGPT's help—but what about the students who oppose generative A.I. for myriad reasons and refuse to rely on it as a shortcut? well, I found and spoke with a few of them here: slate.com/life/2025/07...
Looks great, can’t wait!
🏛️ We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at the first History Now event of the year at the Chau Chak Wing Museum!
Hear speakers Geraldine Fela and Leigh Boucher explore process of podcasting history.
Tickets are still available so book your spot via buff.ly/YcdB1f9
@drcraigb.bsky.social
Hear speakers Geraldine Fela and Leigh Boucher explore process of podcasting history.
Tickets are still available so book your spot via buff.ly/YcdB1f9
@drcraigb.bsky.social
June 24, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Looks great, can’t wait!
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
Donate to help keep Gary Foley’s important digital archive of Indigenous history going
www.gofundme.com/f/preserve-u...
www.gofundme.com/f/preserve-u...
Donate to Preserve & Update Kooriweb.org, organized by Koori web
Kooriweb.org is the world’s oldest Indigenous owned, created, coded and controlled website. I… Koori web needs your support for Preserve & Update Kooriweb.org
www.gofundme.com
March 29, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Donate to help keep Gary Foley’s important digital archive of Indigenous history going
www.gofundme.com/f/preserve-u...
www.gofundme.com/f/preserve-u...
Judge hands down sentence to statue vandals:
“His famous label attached to his duffel coat says 'please look after this bear'. On the night of March 2 2025, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for."
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
“His famous label attached to his duffel coat says 'please look after this bear'. On the night of March 2 2025, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for."
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
Paddington Bear statue vandalisers fined for criminal damage
The pair drunkenly stole the statue in the early hours of the morning before fleeing in a taxi to the RAF base they live on.
www.abc.net.au
March 26, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Judge hands down sentence to statue vandals:
“His famous label attached to his duffel coat says 'please look after this bear'. On the night of March 2 2025, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for."
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
“His famous label attached to his duffel coat says 'please look after this bear'. On the night of March 2 2025, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for."
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
My writing at the local library this morning was not helped by the full-volume “floor is lava” kids’ session on downstairs nor the Top Gun and Voltron re-runs to my right.
March 22, 2025 at 1:45 AM
My writing at the local library this morning was not helped by the full-volume “floor is lava” kids’ session on downstairs nor the Top Gun and Voltron re-runs to my right.
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
So, Australian #AcademicBluesky, uhhh what do you make of the ARC's proposed "A NEW PLAN FOR ARC-FUNDED RESEARCH"? 👀
March 21, 2025 at 5:45 AM
So, Australian #AcademicBluesky, uhhh what do you make of the ARC's proposed "A NEW PLAN FOR ARC-FUNDED RESEARCH"? 👀
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
The first issue of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (@jich.bsky.social) under the new editorial team is out now, with books reviews edited by me.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/fich20/c...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/fich20/c...
The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
Volume 53, Issue 1 of The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
www.tandfonline.com
March 20, 2025 at 5:38 AM
The first issue of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (@jich.bsky.social) under the new editorial team is out now, with books reviews edited by me.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/fich20/c...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/fich20/c...
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
Arts as a remedy to contested monuments. Paper in "Contested Histories" contestedhistories.org/wp-content/u...
Bottom-up public intervention versus vandalism? Many international examples. #Arts #Monuments #PublicHistory #skystorians
Bottom-up public intervention versus vandalism? Many international examples. #Arts #Monuments #PublicHistory #skystorians
March 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Arts as a remedy to contested monuments. Paper in "Contested Histories" contestedhistories.org/wp-content/u...
Bottom-up public intervention versus vandalism? Many international examples. #Arts #Monuments #PublicHistory #skystorians
Bottom-up public intervention versus vandalism? Many international examples. #Arts #Monuments #PublicHistory #skystorians
Definitely sign up for this! There are some rewarding careers for historians out there!
We're so pleased to present to our members a workshop navigating non-academic careers: the registrations are open now! (Like to attend, but not a member? This is the perfect opportunity to join!)
Registration: Workshop, Non-Academic Careers
Thursday 20 March, 4pm AEDT via Zoom In this time of protracted uncertainty for the academic sector, being aware of the opportunities outside of the university is more important than ever. However,…
buff.ly
February 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Definitely sign up for this! There are some rewarding careers for historians out there!
Anyone got access to this article? Asking for a friend…
Anna Cole, “Gender, race and colonialism: Aboriginal debutante balls in the 1960s”, Crossings, no. 20 (June 1994), 22–30.
Anna Cole, “Gender, race and colonialism: Aboriginal debutante balls in the 1960s”, Crossings, no. 20 (June 1994), 22–30.
February 14, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Anyone got access to this article? Asking for a friend…
Anna Cole, “Gender, race and colonialism: Aboriginal debutante balls in the 1960s”, Crossings, no. 20 (June 1994), 22–30.
Anna Cole, “Gender, race and colonialism: Aboriginal debutante balls in the 1960s”, Crossings, no. 20 (June 1994), 22–30.
Reposted by Nikolas Orr
Please consider doing this survey. We'd love to hear from people all over the world. Queer or not queer, you'd have thoughts on seeing queer representation.
(posting on behalf of) Alana Blakers who is doing a PhD on queer museums as part of my ARC project titled Saving Lives: Mapping the influence of Indigenous LGBTIQ+ creative artists. Any and all participation is appreciated
mqedu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
February 6, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Please consider doing this survey. We'd love to hear from people all over the world. Queer or not queer, you'd have thoughts on seeing queer representation.
Changing comms strategy in the radical left’s war on statues
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...
Vandal photographed with head severed from statue of PM
Police say images circulating online that appear to show busts of past prime ministers stolen from Ballarat Botanical Gardens indicate the "thinking capacity" of those responsible is "fairly low-end".
www.abc.net.au
February 7, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Changing comms strategy in the radical left’s war on statues
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...
No I have not been hallucinating; ‘sewage’ and ‘sewerage’ are both words but mean different things!
TIL the difference: 💩 vs🚰
(Obviously, the ‘S’ in Sydney’s ‘MWSDB’ referred to sewerage 😏)
TIL the difference: 💩 vs🚰
(Obviously, the ‘S’ in Sydney’s ‘MWSDB’ referred to sewerage 😏)
January 30, 2025 at 11:04 PM
No I have not been hallucinating; ‘sewage’ and ‘sewerage’ are both words but mean different things!
TIL the difference: 💩 vs🚰
(Obviously, the ‘S’ in Sydney’s ‘MWSDB’ referred to sewerage 😏)
TIL the difference: 💩 vs🚰
(Obviously, the ‘S’ in Sydney’s ‘MWSDB’ referred to sewerage 😏)