On Friday 12 August, the SHAPS Fellows & Associates will hold their first Research Day since 2019. RHSV members are invited to attend. Our conference day includes papers by Australian and French historians John Lack, Helen Davies, Jean Ely, Greg Burgess, Rosemary Francis, Wendy Dick, Richard Gillespie, Tony Ward and Fay Woodhouse. It will traverse terrain such as radicals, rags and revues in 1950s and 1960s Melbourne, the immigrant Gagliardi brothers, the 1872 Education Act and centralised education, a sequel to the Emile and Isaac Pereire story, early inhabitants of the Hunter River, a federated Australia, the 150 years of the Prisoners' Aid Society and the importance of kindness.

Event presented by the Fellows’ Group of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Social Trust is an important glue binding societies together.  For just one example, countries with high trust levels had significantly better results in tackling Covid.  And trust has also been a powerful driver of economic development.  But there is another side – high levels of trust also create opportunities for the shyster, those benefiting from spreading mistrust. In this wide-ranging talk, Tony Ward discusses the nature of social trust.  He also argues that some, especially economic, developments are now working to diminish trust.