Curthoys, Ann 1945-

PERSONAL:

Born 1945. Education: University of Sydney, B.A. (honours), 1967; Sydney Teachers' College, Diploma of Education, 1967; Macquarie University, Ph.D., 1973.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia; fax: 61-2-6125-2222. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Academic and historian. Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, lecturing fellow in women's studies, 1976-77, professor of history, 1995—, Manning Clark Professor of History, 1996—; New South Wales Institute of Technology (later the Sydney University of Technology), Sydney, Australia, senior lecturer in history, 1978-1988, associate head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1986-87, professor of social history, 1988-1994. Menzies Centre for Australian Studies visiting scholar, Kings' College, University of London, 1982, 1991, 2002, 2006; Academy of the Social Science of Australia, fellow, 2001; Rockefeller Study Centre visiting scholar, 2001; Australian Academy of the Humanities fellow, 2003; G08 visiting professor in Australian Studies, Georgetown University, 2003-04; Centre for Research in Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities visiting fellow, Cambridge University, 2006; Australian Research Council professorial fellow, 2007—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Stanner Prize, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2002, for Freedom Ride; honorary doctorate, Sydney University of Technology, 1995.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Andrew Markus) Who Are Our Enemies? Racism and the Australian Working Class, Hale & Iremonger (Neutral Bay, New South Wales, Australia), 1978.

(Editor, with John Merritt) Australia's First Cold War, 1945-1953, Allen & Unwin (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1984.

(Compiler, with Michael J. Roache) Not the Bicentennial: Essays on Australian History, Sociology, and Politics, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, New South Wales Institute of Technology (Broadway, New South Wales, Australia), 1986.

(Editor, with A.W. Martin) Australians from 1939, Fairfax, Syme, & Weldon Associates (Broadway, New South Wales, Australia), 1987.

Women and Work, Curriculum Development Centre (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia), 1987.

For and Against Feminism: A Personal Journey into Feminist Theory and History, Allen & Unwin (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1988.

Australian Legends: Histories, Identities, Genealogies, University of New England Union (Armidale, New South Wales, Australia), 1992.

The Proof of Continuity of Native Title, Native Titles Research Unit, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia), 1997.

(With Julianne Schultz) Journalism: Print, Politics, and Popular Culture, series edited by Richard Nile, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 1999.

(Editor, with Ann McGrath) Writing Histories: Imagination and Narration, School of Historical Studies, Monash University (Clayton, Victoria, Australia), 2000.

(Editor, with Henry Chan and Nora Chiang) The Overseas Chinese in Australasia: History, Settlement, and Interactions, Interdisciplinary Group for Australasian Studies and Centre for the Study of the Chinese Southern Diaspora (Taipei, Taiwan), 2001.

Freedom Ride: A Freedom Rider Remembers, Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia), 2002.

(Editor, with Marilyn Lake) Connected Worlds: History in Transnational Perspective, Australian National University Press (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia), 2005.

(Editor, with Mary Spongberg and Barbara Caine) Companion to Women's Historical Writing, Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY), 2005.

(With John Docker) Is History Fiction?, University of New South Wales Press (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2005.

(With Ann Genovese and Alex Reilly) Rights and Redemption: History, Law, and Indigenous People, University of New South Wales Press (Coogee, New South Wales, Australia), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Ann Curthoys is an Australian academic and historian. Educated at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, Curthoys went on to teach history at a number of universities, including Sydney University of Technology and the Australian National University, where she became the Manning Clark Professor of History in 1996.

In 2002, Curthoys published Freedom Ride: A Freedom Rider Remembers. The book is drawn from the author's own accounts of the Freedom Rides, in which Sydney students traveled around the country to witness firsthand the segregationist policies of their government, forcing Aborigines to live as second-class citizens in their own country. Frances Peters-Little, writing in the Australian Public Intellectual Review of Books, suggested that readers looking for "histories that allow room for the complex diversity and volatility of human nature to be expressed, especially Aboriginal histories," and those "that link together genuine black and white ‘shared histories’ and experiences … in my opinion Curthoy's book has achieved this aim." Peters-Little concluded: "Freedom Ride … is a most necessary book about a milestone in contemporary Australian history, and reads in a exceedingly heartwarming way."

Hall Greenland, writing in Labour History, called Freedom Ride a "definitive account." Greenland reminisced: "This rider was intrigued as to why there is no mention in the book of the riders' meeting which rejected the help offered by the Waterside Workers Federation" for the lack of interest in being associated with the country's Communist Party. Greenland commented that "there are some longueurs in her long intricate account which are probably inherent in the book's methodology and the author's point of view. All those interviews make for comprehensiveness, but memories taken in isolation (and without questioning) can lack the vividness and richness" compared to interviewing the riders as a group to bounce stories off of each other. David Andrew Roberts, reviewing the book in Australian Aboriginal Studies, noted that "on the whole, Freedom Ride is a generous and well-balanced history. It addresses numerous criticisms leveled against SAFA [Student Action for Aborigines] by various contemporaries … who accused SAFA of heightening racial antagonisms in small country towns before abandoning Aboriginal communities to suffer the aftermath." Roberts summarized that "Freedom Ride combines the authoritative and lucid memories of a participant with the professionalism of a first-rate historian." In conclusion, Roberts commented: "In a public lecture shortly after the release of Freedom Ride, Curthoys posited the Ride as ‘an important aspect of the moral formation of a generation.’ As a new generation takes up the cause, Curthoys' experiences, and her evocative retelling of them in this book, will continue to excite, instruct and inspire." Clive Moore, writing in the Australian Journal of Politics and History, found that "the surrounding context to the Freedom Ride is the strength of the book." Moore remarked that "watching a skilled historian at work is also fascinating. The original events are not hard to reconstruct, given the extent of press coverage at the time, and the Curthoys diary."

In 2005, Curthoys edited the Companion to Women's Historical Writing with Mary Spongberg and Barbara Caine. The account looks at the study of history through the perspective of a large number of female historians and experts. June Purvis, writing in History Today, found that "the interpretative essays are particularly stimulating," adding that many "offer excellent state-of-the-art overviews." Purvis concluded that "this book is an indispensable tool for those interested in women's writing and history. Carefully crafted and thoroughly researched, it extends the traditional definition of ‘History’ onto a much broader canvas." Ann-Barbara Graff, reviewing the book in Clio, took issue with the editors' focus on Dominion nations instead of Commonwealth nations. However, Graff summarized that the book is "as complete as practicable and as engaging as any reference work could possibly be. The prose is clear and concise; the entries are sophisticated and elegant. The editors are to be congratulated for ensuring quality throughout.

The result is an invaluable resource that offers a more gendered, nuanced, and complete understanding of the past. This is a necessary resource in every library. Students will find it invaluable, and the forty-eight-page double-columned bibliography will keep them busy for years. Companion to Women's Historical Writing is an intellectually thrilling cabinet of curiosities."

Writing with John Docker, Curthoys published Is History Fiction? in 2005. The book examines the two-sided face of history, on one, a series of written records indicating hard evidence of events or phenomena, and on the other, a collection of stories, myths, legends, and denials that oftentimes create an alternative interpretation of events long past. Julie McIntyre, writing in Labour History, concluded: "In the end, Is History Fiction? gives a very accessible, coherent account of some difficult and often unconnected material. Curthoys and Docker are refreshingly confident that history does not lose its claim to truth-telling while at the same time using self-reflexive, literary techniques, and since historians have to look to the past not only for the raw material but for professional modelling, Is History Fiction? serves as an excellent guidebook."

Chris Detloff, writing on BookPleasures.com, noted that the book "is just as much an answer to ‘what is history?’ as it is an examination of the truth behind historians and their writing." Detloff called the research "sound and well documented," the writing "clear and entertaining," and added that "the organization is such that the material can be understood by a predominantly general audience." Rachel Power, writing in Arena Magazine, described the book as "a wonderful journey." Writing in the Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Deborah Edward remarked that "the writers show that history and fiction share a history. What I find a little frustrating is the absence of the acknowledgement that they are different." Edward stated that "Is History Fiction? is an enormous and valuable, and ultimately successful, project. To trace history's lineage, to successfully explain, in clear terms, the convolutions, projects, impediments, and contexts of thinkers and schools of thought to whom we owe so much," including Foucault, Nietzsche, Derrida, and Marx, "makes this work a ‘must’ for the library of anyone involved or interested in history—and fiction." Alan Barcan, writing in the History of Education Review, mentioned that "this book will interest historians of education." Bar- can pointed out, however, that "the final paragraph gives the book an inconclusive, even passive, outlook." Barcan concluded: "I find the basic theme of the book somewhat contrived. Moreover, Curthoys and Docker neglect the social background generating the ideas they are investigating," adding that "had the authors had paid more attention to Polybius they might have found it harder to sustain their interpretation."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Arena Magazine, February 1, 2006, Rachel Power, review of Is History Fiction?, p. 49.

Australian Aboriginal Studies, fall, 2003, David Andrew Roberts, review of Freedom Ride: A Freedom Rider Remembers, p. 112.

Australian Historical Studies, October, 2005, John Maynard, review of Freedom Ride, p. 355.

Australian Journal of Politics and History, March, 2005, Clive Moore, review of Freedom Ride, p. 133.

Australian Public Intellectual Review of Books, July, 2006, Frances Peters-Little, review of Freedom Ride.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, September, 2006, A.B. Johnson, review of Companion to Women's Historical Writing, p. 68.

Clio, summer, 2007, Ann-Barbara Graff, review of Companion to Women's Historical Writing, p. 455.

History of Education Review, July, 2007, Alan Barcan, review of Is History Fiction?, p. 77.

History Today, January, 2007, June Purvis, review of Companion to Women's Historical Writing, p. 64.

Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, December, 2006, Deborah Edward, review of Is History Fiction?, p. 228.

Labour History, May, 2005, Hall Greenland, review of Freedom Ride; May, 2006, Julie McIntyre, review of Is History Fiction?.

Reference & Research Book News, August, 2000, review of Journalism: Print, Politics, and Popular Culture, p. 185.

ONLINE

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Web site,http://www.assa.edu.au/ (March 14, 2008), author profile.

Australian National University, Department of History Web site,http://arts.anu.edu.au/history/ (March 14, 2008), author profile.

BookPleasures.com,http://www.bookpleasures.com/ (June 22, 2007), Chris Detloff, review of Is History Fiction?.

New Zealand Historical Association Web site,http://www.nzha.org.nz/ (March 14, 2008), author profile.