An evening with Sir Simon Schama
Hear Simon Schama, acclaimed historian, writer and Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University, in-conversation with Professor Avril Alba.
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As an academic Simon Schama has made a distinctive mark on the cultural landscape like no other – “Idiosyncratic, accessible, but always authoritative” as he's been aptly described.
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’s Bazaar), history and politics, and everything else under the sun (Financial Times).
He’s authored 20 books so far, which have been translated into 23 languages. His latest literary endeavour, Foreign Bodies, turns attention to the history of pandemics and vaccines.
He's presented award-winning landmark documentaries including A History of Britain and The Story of Jews, the latter based on his book of the same title. He continues the search for answers about who we are, and whether art and culture can bridge divides, with 2025 BBC series 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 Avril Alba, recently appointed Head of the School of Languages and Cultures, and 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.
Sir Simon Schama, 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 Rembrandt's Eyes, A History of Britain, The Power of Art, The Story of the Jews, Wordy and more. Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations is his 20th book. Simon's art columns for the New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for criticism and 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, Civilisations. His latest series Story of Us aired on BBC in January 2025.
Avril Alba is Professor of Holocaust Studies and Jewish Civilisation in Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies and Head of the School of Languages and Cultures 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, The Holocaust Memorial Museum: Sacred Secular Space, was published in 2015. She has held roles as Education Director at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) and Project Director/Consulting Curator for the SJM permanent exhibitions ‘Culture and Continuity’ (2009), ‘The Holocaust’ (2017), and ‘The Holocaust and Human Rights’ (2018). She is currently working on ARC research projects, ‘The Memory of the Holocaust in Australia’ and 'Evaluating the Impact of Holocaust Museum Education’.
Header image: Simon Schama. Photo credit: Hay Festival / Elinor William
