Associate Professor Amanda Harris
Director - PARADISEC Sydney Unit
Amanda Harris is a musicologist and cultural historian interested in hearing the voices of those often excluded from conventional music histories. Her current work focuses on histories of musical encounter in Australia’s Oceanic location and colonial history. She approaches this work through collaborative research into present and past musical cultures. Amanda is also Director of the Sydney Unit of PARADISEC (Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures). Amanda's monograph Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1930-70 was published by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2020 and was shortlisted for the 2021 Prime Minister's Literary Award in Australian History. The book Music, Dance and the Archive (edited with Linda Barwick and Jakelin Troy) won the 2022 Mander Jones Award. Her edited books have been published with Cambridge University Press,Sydney University Press, Berghahn Books and ANU Press and articles appear in Twentieth Century Music, Postcolonial Studies, Australian Historical Studies, Women’s History Review, History and Anthropology, Aboriginal History,Australian Journal of History and Politics, Archives and Manuscripts, International Journal of Digital Curation, Women & Music, Life Writing, Lilith: A Feminist HistoryJournal and Musicology Australia
Research Interests
- Cross-cultural history
- Australian cultural history (music, dance, literature, film, media)
- Aboriginal musics
- Australian music
- Australian cultural identity
- Settler colonial histories
- Cultural heritage and archives
- Women composers
- Gender and women's history
Amanda currently supervises projects on: gender equity in contemporary Papua New Guinean music, Dharug cultural practices of song and language; music in Australian Irish immigrant communities; care in musical practice; gendered musical analysis of classical piano works; and gendered tropes in opera. Amanda welcomes enquiries about research supervision on any topics linked to her research interests.
ARC Future Fellowship 'Resonant Histories of Musical Encounter in Australia, 1888-1988', 2023-2027
ARC LIEF project 'Modularised cultural heritage archives – future-proofing PARADISEC', 2022-2023
ARC Discovery Project 'Hearing the music of early NSW, 1788-1860', 2021-2023
ARC Linkage Project '‘Reconnecting Warlpiri communities with cultural heritage materials’, 2024-2027
2023 Sydney Leaders Award in the University of Sydney Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence
2023SUPRA HDR Supervisor of the Year Award
2022 Mander Jones Award for Music, Dance and the Archive for the publication making the greatest contribution to the archives profession in Australia.
Shortlist for the 2021 Prime Minister's Literary Award in Australian History for Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1930-70
2016 National Library of Australia Fellowship for project ‘Corroboree and Australian Cultural Identity: Public Performance, Reception and Transformation of Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1945-70’ NLA podcast
2014 National and State Libraries Australasian Honorary Fellowship for project Imagining an Indigenous Australian Style: the post WWII creative works of Beth Dean and Mirrie Hill
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| From Concept to Concert Hall | Tomas PARRISH-CHYNOWETH |
Selected publications
(Sydney University Press, 2024)
(Cambridge University Press, 2024)
(Sydney University Press, 2022)
(Bloomsbury Academic, 2020)
(Berghahn Books, 2018)
(Sydney University Press, 2015)
Publications
Books
- Harris, A. (2020). Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1930-1970. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. [More Information]
Edited Books
- Thieberger, N., Harris, A., Treloyn, S., Turpin, M. (2024). Keeping time: Dialogues on music and archives in honour of Linda Barwick. Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
- Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (2024). The Cambridge Companion to Music in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Harris, A., Barwick, L., Troy, J. (2022). Music, Dance and the Archive. Sydney: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
Book Chapters
- Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (2024). Conclusion: Learning from Music in Australia. In Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Music in Australia, (pp. 395-411). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Case, L., Harris, A. (2024). Cultivating a European Concert Culture in Colonial Sydney and Hobart, 1826–1840. In Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Music in Australia, (pp. 93-110). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Thieberger, N., Harris, A., Treloyn, S., Turpin, M. (2024). Dialogues on music and archives: A tribute to Linda Barwick. In Nick Thieberger, Amanda Harris, Sally Treloyn, Myfany Turpin (Eds.), Keeping time: Dialogues on music and archives in honour of Linda Barwick, (pp. 1-20). Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
Journals
- Thieberger, N., Aird, M., Bracknell, C., Gibson, J., Harris, A., Langton, M., Sculthorpe, G., Simpson, J. (2024). The New Protectionism: Risk Aversion and Access to Indigenous Heritage Records. Archives and Manuscripts, 51(2), 23-41. [More Information]
- Harris, A., Onus, T., Barwick, L. (2023). Performing Aboriginal Rights in 1951: From Australia's Top End to Southeast. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 69(2), 227-247. [More Information]
- Poll, M., Harris, A. (2022). Bark paintings as ambassadors, 1948-63, and the circle back to Aboriginal cultural agency. Aboriginal History, 45, 57-82. [More Information]
Conferences
- Thieberger, N., Harris, A. (2019). Be Not Like the Wind: Access to Language and Music Records, Next Steps. Language Technologies for All: Enabling Linguistic Diversity and Multilingualism Worldwide, Paris, France: UNESCO.
Exhibitions / Events
- Peres Da Costa, N., Skinner, G., Harris, A., Martin, T., Troy, J. (2021). From the Sydney Amateur Concerts 1826. Recital Hall East, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia: Sydney Conservatorium of Music. [More Information]
Web based exhibition
- Harris, A., Martin, T., Peres Da Costa, N., Troy, J., Samuelsson, L. (2024). Hearing the Music of Early NSW. Australia: Wix. [More Information]
- Harris, A., Barwick, L., Troy, J., Case, L. (2022). Reclaiming Performance Under Assimilation. United States of America: Webnode. [More Information]
2024
- Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (2024). Conclusion: Learning from Music in Australia. In Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Music in Australia, (pp. 395-411). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Case, L., Harris, A. (2024). Cultivating a European Concert Culture in Colonial Sydney and Hobart, 1826–1840. In Harris, A., Bracknell, C. (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Music in Australia, (pp. 93-110). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Thieberger, N., Harris, A., Treloyn, S., Turpin, M. (2024). Dialogues on music and archives: A tribute to Linda Barwick. In Nick Thieberger, Amanda Harris, Sally Treloyn, Myfany Turpin (Eds.), Keeping time: Dialogues on music and archives in honour of Linda Barwick, (pp. 1-20). Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
2023
- Harris, A., Onus, T., Barwick, L. (2023). Performing Aboriginal Rights in 1951: From Australia's Top End to Southeast. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 69(2), 227-247. [More Information]
2022
- Campbell, G., Harris, A., Tipungwuti, J., Poll, M. (2022). Animating cultural heritage knowledge through songs: museums, archives, consultation and Tiwi music. In Harris, A., Barwick, L., Troy, J. (Eds.), Music, Dance and the Archive. Sydney: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
- Poll, M., Harris, A. (2022). Bark paintings as ambassadors, 1948-63, and the circle back to Aboriginal cultural agency. Aboriginal History, 45, 57-82. [More Information]
- Harris, A., Barwick, L., Troy, J. (2022). Embodied Culture and the Limits of the Archive. In Harris, A., Barwick, L., Troy, J. (Eds.), Music, Dance and the Archive. Sydney: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
2021
- Peres Da Costa, N., Skinner, G., Harris, A., Martin, T., Troy, J. (2021). From the Sydney Amateur Concerts 1826. Recital Hall East, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia: Sydney Conservatorium of Music. [More Information]
- Foster, S., Harris, A. (2021). Informing Practice Through Collaboration: Listening to Colonising Histories and Aboriginal Music. In Anna Reid, Neal Peres Da Costa, Jeanell Carrigan (Eds.), Creative Research in Music: Informed Practice, Innovation and Transcendence, (pp. 82-92). New York: Routledge. [More Information]
- Harris, A. (2021). Localizing Aboriginal and Pacific performance on internationalized stages 1967-73. In Ulrike Garde and John R. Severn (Eds.), Theatre and Internationalization: Perspectives from Australia, Germany, and Beyond, (pp. 72-87). Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
2020
- Harris, A. (2020). Indigenising Australian music: authenticity and representation in touring 1950s art songs. Postcolonial Studies, 23(1), 132-152. [More Information]
- Harris, A. (2020). Representing Australia to the Commonwealth in 1965:Aborigiana and Indigenous Performance. Twentieth-Century Music, 17(1), 3-22. [More Information]
- Harris, A. (2020). Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1930-1970. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. [More Information]
2019
- Thieberger, N., Harris, A. (2019). Be Not Like the Wind: Access to Language and Music Records, Next Steps. Language Technologies for All: Enabling Linguistic Diversity and Multilingualism Worldwide, Paris, France: UNESCO.
- Harris, A., Gagau, S., Kell, J., Thieberger, N., Ward, N. (2019). Making Meaning of Historical Papua New Guinea Recordings. International Journal of Digital Curation, 14(1), 136-149. [More Information]
2018
- Thomas, M., Harris, A. (2018). Anthropology and the Expeditionary Imaginary: An Introduction to the Volume. In Martin Thomas, Amanda Harris (Eds.), Expeditionary Anthropology: Teamwork, Travel and the 'Science of Man', (pp. 1-34). New York: Berghahn Books. [More Information]
- Thomas, M., Harris, A. (2018). Expeditionary Anthropology: Teamwork, Travel and the 'Science of Man'. New York: Berghahn Books. [More Information]
- Harris, A. (2018). Gender, Science and Imperial Drive: Margaret McArthur on Two Expeditions in the 1940s. In Martin Thomas, Amanda Harris (Eds.), Expeditionary Anthropology: Teamwork, Travel and the 'Science of Man', (pp. 290-311). New York: Berghahn Books. [More Information]
2015
- Thieberger, N., Harris, A., Barwick, L. (2015). PARADISEC: its history and future. In Amanda Harris, Nick Thieberger, Linda Barwick (Eds.), Research, Records and Responsibility: Ten Years of PARADISEC, (pp. 1-15). Sydney: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
- Harris, A., Thieberger, N., Barwick, L. (2015). Research, Records and Responsibility: Ten Years of PARADISEC. Sydney: Sydney University Press. [More Information]
2014
- Harris, A. (2014). Archival Objects and the Circulation of Culture. In Amanda Harris (Eds.), Circulating Cultures: Exchanges of Australian Indigenous Music, Dance and Media, (pp. 1-16). Canberra, Australia: ANU Press. [More Information]
- Harris, A. (2014). Chaperoned into Arnhem Land: Margaret McArthur and the Politics of Nutrition and Fieldwork in 1948. Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, 20, 62-75.
- Harris, A. (2014). Circulating Cultures: Exchanges of Australian Indigenous Music, Dance and Media. Canberra, Australia: ANU Press. [More Information]
2013
- Harris, A. (2013). Food, Feeding and Consumption (or the Cook, the Wife and Nutritionist): The Politics of Gender and Class in a 1948 Australian Expedition. History and Anthropology, 24(3), 363-379. [More Information]
2011
- Harris, A. (2011). Recomposing Her History: the Memoirs and Diaries of Ethel Smyth. Life Writing, 8(4), 421-431. [More Information]
2010
- Harris, A. (2010). "Comrade" Ethel Smyth in the "great liberative war of women": An English Musical Feminism. In Cornelia Bartsch, Rebecca Grotjahn, Melanie Unseld (Eds.), Felsensprengerin, Brackenbauerin, Wegbereiterin: Die Komponistin Ethel Smyth [Rock Blaster, Bridge Builder, Road Paver: The Composer Ethel Smyth], (pp. 70-84). Munchen, Germany: Allitera Verlag.
- Harris, A. (2010). The Smyth-Brewster Correspondence: A Fresh Look at the Hidden Romantic World of Ethel Smyth. Women and Music, 14, 72-94. [More Information]
2009
- Harris, A. (2009). A Prickly Alliance: Women Composers, the Press and Feminism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. In Annette Kreutziger-Herr, Katrin Losleben (Eds.), History / Herstory: Alternative Musikgeschichten, (pp. 375-388). Cologne, Germany: Bohlau Verlag.
Selected Grants
2025
- Reconnecting Warlpiri communities with cultural heritage materials, Curran G, Barwick L, Harris A, Peterson N, Bracknell C, Turpin M, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Linkage Projects (LP)
2023
- Resonant histories of musical encounter in Australia, Harris A, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Future Fellowships (FT)
In the media
Laura Case and Amanda Harris, 'Identity and resilience: Aboriginal performers have been singing up the streets of Sydney for NAIDOC week since 1959', The Conversation, 11 July 2024.
Amanda Harris, Linda Barwick and Tiriki Onus, 'In 1951, Corroboree dancers in Darwin went on strike: their actions would reverberate as far as Melbourne. The Conversation, 7 August 2023.
Limelight Magazine: Representation in Australian Music History: Whose voices get to be heard?
Nick Thieberger and Amanda Harris, “Digital Curation and Access to Recordings of Traditional Cultural Performance”, ICH Courier Online: Intangible cultural heritage Courier of Asia and the Pacific, V47, 2021 https://ichcourier.unesco-ichcap.org/digital-curation-and-access-to-recordings-of-traditional-cultural-performance/
True Echoes project: collaboration - communication - continuation
Published Reviews of Concerts and Recordings
'Arms of Love (The Song Company)', Limelight, 3 September 2022
'Bangarra performs a history of the Great Sandy Desert', History Australia 8 August 2022
'Songs as oral histories: The Songs Back Home and Perfect Pearls', History Australia, 16 August 2021
