Biography

I am a religious and cultural historian. I studied medieval history as an undergraduate at the University of Sydney and as a research student at the University of Oxford. From 1985 to 1990 I taught at Macquarie University and Sydney University, and joined the History Department at the University of Newcastle NSW in 1991. I was Head of the Department of History in 2001 and Assistant Dean (Quality Assurance) in the Faculty of Education and Arts in 2002. From 2005 to 2006 I was Keith Cameron Professor of Australian History at University College Dublin. I am currently Ourimbah Director of Research Development for the Faculty of Education and Arts. I have held visiting research appointments at Balliol College Oxford (1988), the University of St Andrews (1996), the Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University (2001), the Medieval Studies Centre, University of York (2009) and, from April to July 2013, the University of Edinburgh. In 2005 I was made a Life Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. I am President of the Religious History Association and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA).

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Oxford - UK
• Bachelor of Arts, University of Sydney

Research

Research keywords

• medieval cultural history
• religion and imperialism
• religious history

Research expertise

My research expertise ranges from medieval cultural history to religious history in Australia and the southern British and Irish Worlds. I have a particular interest in religious aspects of settler colonialism. I initially studied astrology at the late medieval English court and university and I remain interested in the long history of astrology as it reflects the encounter of the Latin west with Arabic and Greek learning and society. More recent research has focused on religion and convict society, the colonial missionary movement, church state relations, Aboriginal missions especially missionary linguistics, and Victorian medievalism.

Collaboration

I undertake collaborative research in the transnational study of religion, empire and colonial society. With Dr David Roberts (University of New England), I am currently funded by the Australian Research Council (2010 - 2012) for a project entitled: 'Liberty, Anti-Transportation and the Empire of Morality'. As part of this grant, I am collaborating with Dr Glen O'Brien (Sydney College of Divinity) and Dr Troy Duncan to write the first national history of Methodism in Australia. With Dr Colin Barr (University of Aberdeen) I organised a conference on religion and 'Greater Ireland' which was held in Newcastle from 3-4 December 2012. This forms part of the research program on Religion and Political Life led by Dr Timothy Stanley at the University of Newcastle's Humanities Research Institute from 2012 to 2013.

Fields of Research

Centres and Groups

Centre

• Humanities Research Institute

Group

• Group for Religious and Intellectual Traditions

Memberships

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

• Member - Religious History Association (President)
• Member - Australian Historical Association

Learned Academy.

• Fellow (Australian Academy of the Humanities)

Appointments

Awards

Recognition.

Invitations

Administrative

Administrative expertise

Ourimbah Director Research Development, Faculty of Education and Arts, 2012-

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts Honours Program Convenor, 2011

History Honours Convenor, School of Humanities and Social Science, 2010-2011

Research Convenor, School of Humanities and Social Science, 2007-2009

Assistant Dean (Quality Assurance), Faculty of Education and Arts, 2002

Head, Department of History, 2001

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• historiography
• medieval history
• religious history

Teaching expertise

I teach courses in medieval history, historical theory and method, Australian and British colonial history, and religious history. At different times I offer:

HIST1050 Medieval and Early Modern Europe (available in 2012)

HIST3005 Millennium

HIST3059 Writing the Past: Controversies in the Writing of History (available in 2012)

HIST3630 Chivalric Society (available in 2012)

HIST4050 History Honours I (Theory and Method of History) (available in 2012)

HIST6001 Writing History (available in 2012)