Meetings programme

Speaker Programme

The Society's meetings are open to Fellows, guests and members of the public.

Entry is free, but fellows and guests are reminded that if they wish to partake of refreshments before the meeting, there is a $4.00 charge to cover this.

Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month, March to November inclusive. Meeting commence at 6.30 pm and are preceded by wine and nibbles at 6.00 pm. 

An invited lecture is normally arranged for each meeting. For ordinary meetings, the reading of papers and the presentation of exhibits of scientific interest may also occur.  

These meetings are usually held in the Society's Rooms. Meetings are occasionally organised jointly with other kindred societies and may be held elsewhere. Occasional Symposia on topical issues are also organised by the Society.


COVID 19 restrictions

While in force, a maximum of 40 people can attend in person. Plans are underway however to have both face to face and on line access. To gain access to a meeting, please contact the Society through our email roysocsa@gmail.com or, alternately, our Programme Secretary at: alice.clement@flinders.edu.au for further information.

March 2021, the second Thursday of the month at 6.30 pm

Dr Alice Gorman: The house with cosmic roots: archaeology and material culture on the International Space Station

When Gaston Bachelard spoke of ‘the house with cosmic roots’ in his famous Poetics of Space (1958), he was referring to the cellar which was a common feature of old European houses. Now, humans have established houses in space, and you could argue that the International Space Station, continuously occupied for more than 20 years, is a cosmic house with its roots in planet Earth. The International Space Station Archaeological Project studies continuities and discontinuities in how humans use material culture between Earth and space. Here I focus on two objects which are more or less identical in both contexts – Russian orthodox icons and plastic zip-lock bags - and one which is not: an object which no astronaut who returns to Earth can avoid questions about. This is, of course, the space toilet. Serving an important daily function which we take for granted in Earth gravity, the space toilet is far more than just technology. In this talk I take an archaeological perspective on these objects and explore their role in creating a unique space society.

Dr Gorman is an internationally recognised leader in the field of space archaeology and author of the award-winning book Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future (MIT Press, 2019). Her research focuses on the archaeology and heritage of space exploration, including space junk, planetary landing sites, off-earth mining, and space habitats. She is an Associate Professor at Flinders University in Adelaide and a heritage consultant with over 25 years’ experience working with Indigenous communities in Australia. In collaboration with NASA and Chapman University, she is part of a team conducting the first archaeological study of the International Space Station. Gorman is also a mentor in the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs Space4Women Network and a member of the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia.  She tweets as @drspacejunk and blogs at Space Age Archaeology.

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