Stephen Gapps is an award-winning public historian whose work investigates the Frontier Wars and seeks their recognition as Australia’s first wars. He is the author of The Sydney Wars 1788-1817 and Gudyarra: The First Wiradyuri War – The Bathurst War, 1822-4.  

Stephen grew up on Kastelan Street, on one of the few hills in Blacktown. As a kid, he would play cricket in the cul-de-sac, splash around in Eastern Creek, and build cubbies in the bush. He was one of the first students at Evans High, a high school that opened in 1974. Evans High now hosts an Intensive English Centre that provides language teaching to over 150 students who have recently arrived in Australia. 

Stephen’s dad was a history teacher, inspiring Stephen’s interest in the stories behind the names of the places around him: Bungaribee Road, Nurragingy Reserve. He joined his local history society and learned about Aboriginal histories he hadn’t been taught in school.

We are Blacktown is a UTS Impact Studios production.
Producers: Britta Jorgensen, Jane Curtis, Celine Teo-Blockey 
Executive Producer: Olivia Rosenman
Sound design: Melissa May
Research: Jackie May
Podcast artwork: Alexandra Morris
Theme music: Beaming by FRIDAY 

Stephen Gapps is an award-winning public historian whose work investigates the Frontier Wars and seeks their recognition as Australia’s first wars. He is the author of The Sydney Wars 1788-1817 and Gudyarra: The First Wiradyuri War – The Bathurst War, 1822-4.  
Stephen grew up on Kastelan Street, on one of the few hills in Blacktown. As a kid, he would play cricket in the cul-de-sac, splash around in Eastern Creek, and build cubbies in the bush. He was one of the first students at Evans High, a high school that opened in 1974. Evans High now hosts an Intensive English Centre that provides language teaching to over 150 students who have recently arrived in Australia. 
Stephen’s dad was a history teacher, inspiring Stephen’s interest in the stories behind the names of the places around him: Bungaribee Road, Nurragingy Reserve. He joined his local history society and learned about Aboriginal histories he hadn’t been taught in school.
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We are Blacktown is a UTS Impact Studios production. Producers: Britta Jorgensen, Jane Curtis, Celine Teo-Blockey  Executive Producer: Olivia Rosenman Sound design: Melissa May Research: Jackie May Podcast artwork: Alexandra Morris Theme music: Beaming by FRIDAY

Portraits of Blacktown community leaders and people working for change. You'll hear from a doctor who is sounding the alarm about how dangerous heat can be for human health, a basketball coach whose players have made it to the big league, a Dharug traditional owner whose art and stories are telling the true history of the area's first people, and many more Blacktown legends.   

Experience stories of strength and thriving communities, straight from Sydney's West. And to see pictures of each of these people, visit https://impactstudios.edu.au/weareblacktown

We are Blacktown is part of a place-based audio project by Impact Studios, supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. The project, Welcome to Blacktown, sought to learn about Blacktown’s many and varied communities, together with the innovative and inspired social change work that is happening there. Over six months, the Impact Studios team conducted almost 100 interviews with people connected to Blacktown, exploring and investigating the question of how communities thrive. The interviews were rich, broad and non-extractive. We sought to understand the full context of what each person was doing. We listened to them tell stories of their lives, on their own terms: their families, their passions, their work and what motivates them to do it, their challenges and achievements. 

We are Blacktown is produced by Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, in partnership with The Paul Ramsay Foundation. 

Portraits of Blacktown community leaders and people working for change. You'll hear from a doctor who is sounding the alarm about how dangerous heat can be for human health, a basketball coach whose players have made it to the big league, a Dharug traditional owner whose art and stories are telling the true history of the area's first people, and many more Blacktown legends.   
Experience stories of strength and thriving communities, straight from Sydney's West. And to see pictures of each of these people, visit <a href="https://impactstudios.edu.au/weareblacktown">https://impactstudios.edu.au/weareblacktown</a>
We are Blacktown is part of a place-based audio project by Impact Studios, supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. The project, Welcome to Blacktown, sought to learn about Blacktown’s many and varied communities, together with the innovative and inspired social change work that is happening there. Over six months, the Impact Studios team conducted almost 100 interviews with people connected to Blacktown, exploring and investigating the question of how communities thrive. The interviews were rich, broad and non-extractive. We sought to understand the full context of what each person was doing. We listened to them tell stories of their lives, on their own terms: their families, their passions, their work and what motivates them to do it, their challenges and achievements. 
We are Blacktown is produced by <a href="https://impactstudios.edu.au/">Impact Studios</a> at the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology Sydney</a>, in partnership with <a href="https://www.paulramsayfoundation.org.au/">The Paul Ramsay Foundation</a>.

A series of immersive portraits of Blacktown community leaders and people working for change. You'll hear from a doctor who is sounding the alarm about how dangerous heat can be for human health, a basketball coach whose players have made it to the big league, a Darug traditional owner whose art and stories are telling the true history of the area's first people, and many more Blacktown legends.

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