Welcome! I am a historian at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. I specialize in the history of the eighteenth-century world, particularly the British Empire and the many indigenous societies it encountered. I also have interests in visual history, anthropological history, experimental uses of biography, and issues surrounding higher education and the humanities. On this site you’ll find links to my historical writing, reflections on my historical reading, and discussions of various historical engagements (oh, and an unlikely page on swimming).
Recent Posts
Travels Through Time: 1776
I had a lot of fun doing this podcast with my friend Peter Moore. He came up with the idea for this series for the well-known British magazine, History Today. I was thrilled to be the third cab off the ranks after guests such as Michael Palin; apparently Simon Schaffer is up next. Peter’s idea was … Continue reading Travels Through Time: 1776
Facing New Worlds at the NPG
Over on my other website, you’ll find updates on this collaborative project with the National Portrait Gallery. Currently on show is the first exhibition from our endeavours: Facing New Worlds in the Robert Oatley Gallery. Get along to see it before April 2019! (Click this post heading to get hyperlinks.)
Review of Tuai
Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds. By Alison Jones and Kuni Kaa Jenkins. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2017. Pp. 288. NZD$45.00 paper. This lushly-presented, award-winning book is a biography of a commonly cited but little researched early Māori globetrotter. Tuai was a Ngare Raumati chief from what Europeans named the Bay of Islands. Born around … Continue reading Review of Tuai
Discrimination and Gaslighting in the 2018 ARC Controversy
I was pleased to contribute to this collective response to the ministerial intervention into 2018’s Australian Research Council grants. My bit below; published in the November issue of the Australian Book Review: “In the ongoing furore around revelations of ministerial research grant vetoes, two things are in danger of slipping from view. One is that … Continue reading Discrimination and Gaslighting in the 2018 ARC Controversy
