French exploration in South Australia

Could Australia ever have been French? For this talk, Danielle will narrate a richly illustrated documentary film exploring the role French exploration played in Australia's colonial history.

French exploration of Australia has left an intriguing legacy of place names around the Australian coast, from Sydney to Tasmania, and across to Western Australia. In South Australia, the way we recall the encounter between Baudin and Flinders provides an interesting reflection on how French/English competition drove 18th century exploration and colonisation. Could Australia ever have been French? For this talk, Danielle will narrate a richly illustrated documentary film exploring the role French exploration played in Australia's colonial history, and particularly their drive for new knowledge and discovery, their distinctive appreciation for and interest in Indigenous culture and people and the substantial legacy of early biological and anthropological research. 

Danielle Clode is an interdisciplinary scholar and author of 13 books broadly on environmental history, ranging from bushfires to Australian fossils. As a consultant researcher she has also published widely in academic journals across health, history, psychology and biology. With a BA in psychology from Adelaide University and a PhD in conservation biology from Oxford, she is now an adjunct Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Flinders University. Danielle’s work on French scientific exploration in the 18th and 19th century stemmed from her interest in the history of Australian biology, her own French family history and her upbringing on a boat. Her award-winning work on this topic includes, Voyages to the South Seas, In Search of the Woman who Sailed the World, and a bilingual documentary which screened nationally on SBS TV. 

Danielle will also bring a selection of books available for sale and signing.