Dr Ann Hardy

Ann is an Historian and Co-ordinator of the GLAMx Living Histories Digitisation Lab in Cultural Collections, Auchmuty Library, supervising Work Integrated Learning (WIL) students on placement in the GLAMx Lab (Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums).  

Projects undertaken in the GLAMx Lab have a multidisciplinary focus, most recent are :-

• The Store Oral History Project 
• Deep Time project

Ann has a strong commitment to historical and archival research of the Hunter region, collaborating with communities and cultural groups to develop new knowledge. Her key research areas are Newcastle's 'Coal River', Australian 'asylums', health history, Indigenous histories, and interested in the association between cultural heritage and well-being. Ann continues her current research interests in the association of historical research, archival sources and new digital media, collaborating with other academics to write journal articles, book chapters and present at conferences.

Research Expertise

Her doctural research titled  “. . . here is an Asylum open . . .” Constructing a Culture of Government Care in Australia 1801 – 2014 examines visual and written sources associated with the current mental health site known as the James Fletcher Hospital in Newcastle, NSW. The are area previously named Newcastle Government Domain (NGD) was the site for Government House, convict administrative centre, military barracks, then Girl's Industrial School and Reformatory and finally as a 'lunatic asylum' and later psychiatric hospital. Ann's research explores the transition of the NGD from active health care campus to heritage site tracing and exploring contemporary issues in heritage, the role of interdisciplinary non-governmental organisations in heritage advocacy and the possibility of overtly recognising the positive benefits of heritage conservation for mental well-being at this and other sites. The diverse strands of her research consider new directions that are of important for debates in the field of history, heritage, historical archaeology and the links between cultural heritage and well-being.

Teaching Expertise
Tutored Australian History (2008-2011)

Administrative Expertise
Co-ordinator of the University of Newcastle's Hunter (Living) Histories Initiative , a multi-disciplinary research and special interest group investigating history and cultural heritage of Newcastle, NSW. Members come from a variety of backgrounds including history, engineering, geology, surveying, archaeology, creative arts and education, as well as representatives from local Aboriginal community, various corporations and government departments to collaborate in research, projects and events. 

Past Projects

• Researcher and co-curator of the RAD Newcastle Exhibition at the Newcastle Museum (July- Sept 2017)

•  Margaret Henry Oral History Project digitising several hundred oral histories from the Open Foundation Course (1986-1989). This project was funded by the Vera Deacon Regional History Fund. (2015)

• Researcher and Project lead of NEWYhistory app - UON and the National Trust of Australia (NSW).