Professor Ann Curthoys
Department of History
Ann Curthoys has researched, taught, and published on many aspects of Australian history, and also on questions of feminism, cultural studies, and historical writing and theory. Her major publications include Freedom Ride: A Freedomrider Remembers (2002); (with John Docker) Is History Fiction? (2005, 2010); and (with Jessie Mitchell), Taking Liberty: Indigenous Rights and Settler Self-government in the Australian Colonies, 1830 – 1890. Her other books, edited collections, and essays in journals and book collections are listed in her attached CV.
I am interested in many aspects of Australian history. Currently I am working on three projects:
*The Aboriginal prison on Rottnest Island/Wadjemup, Western Australia
*Paul Robeson’s visit to Australia, 1960
*Domestic violence in Australia since 1920
Annual History Citation, awarded by the History Council of New South Wales 2013
Member of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Member of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia
Member of the Australian Historical Association
Selected publications
Publications
Books
- Curthoys, A., Konishi, S., Ludewig, A. (2022). The Lives and Legacies of a Carceral Island A Biographical History of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island. London: Routledge. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A., Mitchell, J. (2018). Taking Liberty: Indigenous Rights and Settler Self-Government in the Australian Colonies, 1830 - 1890. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2010). Is History Fiction. Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
Edited Books
- Curthoys, A., Damousi, J. (2014). What Did You Do in the Cold War, Daddy? Personal Stories from a Troubled Time. Sydney: NewSouth Publishing.
- Peters-Little, F., Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2010). Passionate Histories: Myth, Memory and Indigenous Australia. Canberra: ANU E Press.
- Spongberg, M., Caine, B., Curthoys, A. (2005). Companion to Women's Historical Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Book Chapters
- Curthoys, A. (2022). Humanitarianism in a genocidal age: the tragic story of the Aboriginal prison on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, 1838-1903. Humanitarianism, empire and transnationalism, 1760-1995: Selective humanity in the Anglophone world. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Curthoys, A. (2022). Writing Communist History. In Peter Beilharz and Sian Supski (Eds.), The Work of History: Writing for Stuart Macintyre, (pp. 81-84). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
- Curthoys, A. (2018). Writing Australia's Cold War through History and Memoir. In Judith Keene, Elizabeth Rechniewski (Eds.), Seeking Meaning, Seeking Justice in a Post-Cold War World, (pp. 25-42). Leiden: Brill. [More Information]
Journals
- Curthoys, A., Kevin, C., Simic, Z. (2024). A partial view: the limits and value of the legal archive for historicising domestic violence. History Australia. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A., Konishi, S. (2022). The Pinjarra Massacre in the Age of the Statue Wars. Journal of Genocide Research. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2020). Family Violence and Colonisation. Australian Historical Studies, 51(2), 146-164. [More Information]
Edited Journals
- Curthoys, A., Damousi, J. (2013). Special Issue: Remembering the 1951 Referendum on the Banning of the Communist Party. Australian Historical Studies, 44(1).
- Curthoys, A. (2012). Special Issue: Indigenous People and Settler Self-Government. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 13(1).
Textual Creative Works
- Curthoys, A. (2014). Scottish settlers and Indigenous people in colonial Australia. For Auld Lang Syne: Images of Scottish Australia from First Fleet to Federation, (pp. 83 - 102). Ballarat, Australia: Art Gallery of Ballarat.
- Curthoys, A. (2012). Harry Potter: The exhibition. reCollections: A journal of museums and collections, April, Volume 7 number 1, (pp. 1 - 6). Canberra, Australia: National Museum of Australia.
Reference Works
- Curthoys, A. (2005). Eldershaw, M. Bernard. In Mary Spongberg, Ann Curthoys & Barbara Caine (Eds.), Companion to Women's Historical Writing. (pp. 140-141). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Curthoys, A. (2005). Feminism. In Tony Bennett, Lawrence Grossberg and Meaghan Morris (Eds.), New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society. (pp. 128-130). Blackwell Publishers.
- Curthoys, A. (2005). Fitzpatrick, Kathleen 1905-1990. In Mary Spongberg, Ann Curthoys & Barbara Caine (Eds.), Companion to Women's Historical Writing. (pp. 203-204). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Other
- Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2013), Is History Fiction?: Jakkajungsin Publishing.
2024
- Curthoys, A., Kevin, C., Simic, Z. (2024). A partial view: the limits and value of the legal archive for historicising domestic violence. History Australia. [More Information]
2022
- Curthoys, A. (2022). Humanitarianism in a genocidal age: the tragic story of the Aboriginal prison on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, 1838-1903. Humanitarianism, empire and transnationalism, 1760-1995: Selective humanity in the Anglophone world. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Curthoys, A., Konishi, S., Ludewig, A. (2022). The Lives and Legacies of a Carceral Island A Biographical History of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island. London: Routledge. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A., Konishi, S. (2022). The Pinjarra Massacre in the Age of the Statue Wars. Journal of Genocide Research. [More Information]
2020
- Curthoys, A. (2020). Family Violence and Colonisation. Australian Historical Studies, 51(2), 146-164. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2020). From Montserrat to Settler-Colonial Australia: the Intersecting Histories of Caribbean Slave-owning Families, Transported British Radicals, and Indigenous Peoples. History Workshop Journal, 90(2020), 211-232. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2020). The Transportation of Noongar to Rottnest Island, 1838-1850. Studies in Western Australian History, , 59-78.
2018
- Curthoys, A., Mitchell, J. (2018). Taking Liberty: Indigenous Rights and Settler Self-Government in the Australian Colonies, 1830 - 1890. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2018). Writing Australia's Cold War through History and Memoir. In Judith Keene, Elizabeth Rechniewski (Eds.), Seeking Meaning, Seeking Justice in a Post-Cold War World, (pp. 25-42). Leiden: Brill. [More Information]
2017
- Curthoys, A. (2017). Distant Relations: Australian Perspectives on Canadian Confederation. In Jacqueline D. Krikorian, Marcel Martel, Adrian Shubert (Eds.), Globalizing Confederation: Canada and the World in 1867, (pp. 194-209). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
2016
- Curthoys, A. (2016). Conflicts of Interest, Crises of Conscience: Scots and Aboriginal People in Eastern Australia, 1830s-1861. In Angela McCarthy and John MacKenzie (Eds.), Global Migrations: The Scottish Diaspora Since 1600, (pp. 98-116). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2016). The Impossibility of Section 70 Aboriginal Protection, Amelioration, and the Contradictions of Humanitarian Governance. Studies in Western Australian History, 30, 13-28. [More Information]
2015
- Curthoys, A. (2015). Australian History Beyond Australia: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and the Problem of Race. History Australia, 12(1), 69-74. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2015). History from Down Under: E.P. Thompson's the Making of the English Working Class and Australia. Historical Reflections, 41(1), 19-39. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2015). The Dog That Didn't Bark: The Durham Report, Indigenous Dispossession, and Self-Government for Britain's Settler Colonies. In K. Dubinsky, A. Perry, Henry Yu (Eds.), Within and Without the Nation: Canadian History as Transnational History, (pp. 25-48). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
2014
- Curthoys, A. (2014). Gender in the Social Sciences. Australian Feminist Studies, 29(80), 115-120. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2014). Indigenous Dispossession and Pastoral Employment in Western Australia during the Nineteenth Century: Implications for Understanding Colonial Forms of Genocide. In Mohamed Adhikari (Eds.), Genocide on Settler Frontiers: When Hunter-Gatherers and Commercial Stock Farmers Clash, (pp. 210-231). Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A., Damousi, J. (2014). Introduction. In Ann Curthoys, Joy Damousi (Eds.), What Did You Do in the Cold War, Daddy? Personal Stories from a Troubled Time, (pp. 7-22). Sydney: NewSouth Publishing.
2013
- Curthoys, A. (2013). A Feminist Voice. In Anna Clark, Paul Ashton (Eds.), Australian History Now, (pp. 56-72). Sydney: NewSouth Publishing.
- Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2013), Is History Fiction?: Jakkajungsin Publishing.
- Curthoys, A., Martens, J. (2013). Serious Collisions: Settlers, Indigenous People, and Imperial Policy in Western Australia and Natal. Journal of Australian Colonial History, 15, 121-144.
2012
- Curthoys, A., Mitchell, J. (2012). "Bring this paper to the Good Governor": Aboriginal Petitioning in Britain's Australian Colonies. In Saliha Belmessous (Eds.), Native Claims: Indigenous Law against Empire, 1500-1920, (pp. 182-203). New York, USA: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2012). Beyond national history: returning humanity to the humanities. In Ian Donaldson and Mark Finnane (Eds.), Taking Stock: The Humanities in Australian Life Since 1968, (pp. 149-159). Crawley, WA, Australia: UWA Publishing.
- Curthoys, A. (2012). Crossing Over: academic and popular history. The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 1(1), 7-18. [More Information]
2011
- Curthoys, A. (2011). Harry Potter and historical consciousness: Reflections on history and fiction. History Australia, 8(1), 7-22. [More Information]
2010
- Curthoys, A. (2010). Feminist scholarship inside and outside the nation. Feminist Review, 95, 127-131. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2010). Is a History of Humanity Possible? In Ann Curthoys, John Docker (Eds.), Is History Fiction, (pp. 238-266). Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
- Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2010). Is History Fiction. Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
2009
- Curthoys, A., McGrath, A. (2009). How to write History that people want to read. Kensington: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
- Curthoys, A. (2009). White, British, and European: historicising identity in settler societies. In Carey, Jane; McLisky, Claire (Eds.), Creating White Australia, (pp. 3-22). Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press.
2008
- Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2008). Defining Genocide. In Dan Stone (Eds.), The Historiography of Genocide, (pp. 9-41). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Curthoys, A. (2008). Genocide in Tasmania:The History of an Idea. In Dirk Moses (Eds.), Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History, (pp. 229-252). New York: Berghahn Books.
- Curthoys, A. (2008). Imagining 'First Contact'. In Deborah Gare, David Ritter (Eds.), Making Australian History: Perspectives on the Past since 1788, (pp. 88-93). Australia: Thomson (Learning Australia).
2007
- Curthoys, A. (2007). A Historiographical Paradox: Brian Fitzpatrick, the British Empire and Indigenous Histories. In Stuart Macintyre, Sheila Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Against the grain: Brian Fitzpatrick and Manning Clark in Australian history and politics, (pp. 70-87). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
- Curthoys, A. (2007). Historians and Disputes over Uncertainty. In Gabriele Bammer, Michael Smithson (Eds.), Uncertainty and Risk: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, (pp. 127-136). London: Earthscan.
- Curthoys, A. (2007). History in the Howard Era. Teaching History, 41(1), 4-9.
2006
- Curthoys, A. (2006). Afterword. In Henry Johnson & Brian Moloughney (Eds.), Asia in the Making of New Zealand, (pp. 445-449). Auckland: Auckland University Press. [More Information]
- Curthoys, A. (2006). Disputing National Histories: Some Recent Australian Debates. Transforming Cultures eJournal, 1(1), 6-18.
- Curthoys, A. (2006). Freedom Rides. In Peter Beilharz and Trevor Hogan (Eds.), Sociology: Place, Time and Division, (pp. 370-373). USA: Oxford University Press.
2005
- Spongberg, M., Caine, B., Curthoys, A. (2005). Companion to Women's Historical Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Curthoys, A., Lake, M. (2005). Connected Worlds History in Transnational Perspective. Canberra, ACT: ANU E Press.
- Curthoys, A. (2005). Eldershaw, M. Bernard. In Mary Spongberg, Ann Curthoys & Barbara Caine (Eds.), Companion to Women's Historical Writing. (pp. 140-141). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
2004
- Curthoys, A. (2004). Australian Studies in the United States. Crossings (Australia Print), 9(2).
- Teare, R., Curthoys, A., Docker, J. (2004). Center For Australian And New Zealand Studies Georgetown University. Crossings (Australia Print), 9(2).
- Curthoys, A. (2004). National narratives, war commemoration and racial exclusion in a settler society: the Australian case. In Timothy G. Ashplant, Graham Dawson & Michael Roper (Eds.), Commemorating War, (pp. 128-144). USA: Transaction Publishers.
2003
- Curthoys, A. (2003). Constructing national histories. In Bain Attwood & S G Foster (Eds.), Frontier Conflict The Australian Experience, (pp. 185-200). Canberra: National Museum of Australia.
- Curthoys, A. (2003). Cultural History and the Nation. In Teo, H. M. and White, R. (Eds.), Cultural History in Australia, (pp. 22-37). Sydney: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
- Curthoys, A., Genovese, A. (2003). Evidence and Narrative: History and Law. In Iain McCalman, Ann McGrath (Eds.), Proof & Truth The Humanist as Expert, (pp. 83-95). Canberra: The Australian Academy of the Humanities.
2002
- Curthoys, A. (2002). Cultivating the arts of the female self: the micro politics of a re-fashioned feminism. In Jane Bennett, Michael J Shapiro (Eds.), The Politics of Moralizing. Not kown: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
- Curthoys, A. (2002). Does Australian History Have a Future? Australian Historical Studies, 33(18), 140-152.
- Curthoys, A. (2002). Freedom Ride: A Freedom rider Remembers. Australia: Allen and Unwin.
Selected Grants
2021
- A history of domestic violence in Australia, 1850-2020, Curthoys A, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Special Research Initiative: Australian Society, History and Culture
2007
- Indigenous peoples, the British Empire, and self-government for the Australian Colonies, Curthoys A, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP)