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As an academic听Simon Schama听has made a distinctive mark on the cultural landscape like no other 鈥 鈥淚diosyncratic, accessible, but always authoritative鈥 as he's been听.
His interests are wide-ranging and influence far-reaching, with a celebrated career that spans writing and criticism on art (New Yorker), food (GQ), fashion (Harper鈥檚 Bazaar), history and politics, and everything else under the sun (Financial Times).
He鈥檚 authored 20 books so far, which have been translated into 23 languages. His latest literary endeavour,听, turns attention to the history of pandemics and vaccines.
He's presented award-winning landmark documentaries including听A History of Britain听补苍诲听The Story of Jews,听the latter based on his book of the same title.听He continues the search for answers about who we are, and whether art and culture can bridge divides, with 2025 BBC series听Story of Us.
In this event, hear from one of the most influential thinkers today, as Simon Schama reflects on contemporary culture, Jewish history and the Holocaust. Joining Simon on stage as host is听Avril Alba,听recently appointed听Head of the听School of Languages and Cultures,听补苍诲 Professor of Holocaust Studies and Jewish Civilisation in Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney.
This event was held on Thursday 6 March 2025 at Seymour Centre.
,听University Professor of Art History and History, was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge and taught at Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard before coming to Columbia in 1993. His award-winning books, which have been translated into 23 languages, include听Rembrandt's Eyes, A History of Britain, The Power of Art, The Story of the Jews, Wordy听and more.听听is his 20th book. Simon's art columns for the听New Yorker听won the National Magazine Award for criticism and听he is a contributing editor of the Financial Times. He has written and presented more than 50 films for the BBC on subjects as diverse as Tolstoy and American politics, and he co-presented the landmark series on the history of world art,听Civilisations. His latest series听Story of Us听aired on BBC in January 2025.听
Avril Alba听is Professor of Holocaust Studies and Jewish Civilisation in Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies and Head of the听School of Languages and Cultures听at the University of Sydney. She teaches and researches in the broad areas of Holocaust and modern Jewish history with a focus on Jewish and Holocaust museums. Her monograph,听The Holocaust Memorial Museum: Sacred Secular Space,听was published in 2015.听She has held roles as Education Director at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) and Project Director/Consulting Curator for the SJM permanent exhibitions 鈥楥ulture and Continuity鈥 (2009), 鈥楾he Holocaust鈥 (2017), and 鈥楾he Holocaust and Human Rights鈥 (2018). She is currently working on ARC research projects, 鈥楾he Memory of the Holocaust in Australia鈥 and 'Evaluating the Impact of Holocaust Museum Education鈥.
Header image: Simon Schama. Photo credit: Hay Festival / Elinor William