
Dr Kate Ariotti
ARC DECRA Fellow
School of Humanities and Social Science (History)
- Email:kate.ariotti@newcastle.edu.au
- Phone:(02) 4921 5324
From footnotes to front cover: Defining the ill-defined in Australia’s history
Digging into the past and turning up surprising – and sometimes uncomfortable – truths, Dr Kate Ariotti is seeking to put names, faces and facts to the First World War prisoner of war experience.
"I specifically study the 200-odd who were held captive by the Turks," she clarifies.
"Nearly half were light horsemen taken in Sinai and Palestine."
"Others were soldiers, submariners and airmen captured at Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia."
Born out of a "very strong interest" in the stories of those held captive by the Japanese during the Second World War, Kate believes her research into the Australian prisoners of the Turks highlights the importance of learning how people cope with less-than-ideal circumstances. The energetic scholar has spent years gathering and analysing the POWs' personal tales, ambitiously looking to recount their experiences from the battlefield to back home.
"I've collated responses from family members, governments, military authorities and charity organisations too," she shares.
"I wanted to figure out how all involved, but particularly the POWs, felt about their imprisonment and whether they suffered any ongoing physical or psychological issues as a result."
"So far, what I've discovered goes against much of what we tend to think about the Australian First World War experience."
"They were not your stereotypical Anzacs."
Filling in the gaps
Kate first started examining this hidden history during her PhD candidature. Undertaken in 2010 at the University of Queensland, the four-year study sought to shed light on a topic most knew "very little" about.
"I managed to track down the names of all the Australians who had been taken prisoner by the Turks, as well as multiple accounts of how they had fared in such a foreign environment," she reveals.
"From there, I was able to trace many of their family histories and repatriation histories."
"I also read newspapers from the time to see what was being said about them and how their captivity was reported to Australians at home."
In discovering the methods by which those affected by captivity coped with the experience, Kate went on to correct a "common perception" about wartime captivity.
"It wasn't a passive experience by any means," she comments.
"People actively responded to the many challenges captivity in Turkey presented."
"Families of the POWs worked to overcome the lack of communication with their loved ones in the various prison camps throughout the Ottoman Empire, for example."
"Letters from the POW camps took a long time to reach home, if at all, and they were often subject to censorship, so they weren't necessarily true reflections of how prisoners were going."
"The families of the prisoners formed a strong community network, relying on the Australian Red Cross Society and on other POW families, friends and each other for information and emotional support."
Joint efforts
Kate continued investigating the First World War after receiving her PhD in 2014, employed as an historian at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra before joining the University of Newcastle in 2015.
"It's been an interesting journey," she states.
"I'm really enjoying teaching and researching at Callaghan."
Recently awarded the prestigious CEW Bean Prize for Military History from the Australian Army History Unit, Kate is simultaneously focused on getting her thesis published as a book. The School of Humanities and Social Science lecturer is also in the process of putting in a publishing proposal for an edited collection that internationalises the Australian experience of the First World War.
"This idea came out of a conference the University hosted in March," she reveals.
"Dr James Bennett and I are hoping to put the Australian experience of the First World War into a global context."
"My chapter will be about the Turkish POW camps and the cultural melting pots that they appear to have been."
"Our soldiers lived alongside prisoners from other countries, such as Britain, France and Russia."
"They were some of the first Australians to live in such a multinational environment, and their responses to these cultural encounters are very interesting."
Trials and tribulations
In another offshoot of her PhD, Kate is planning to explore the difficulties associated with reintegrating into normal life after conflict. A project for 2016, the scheduled endeavour will see the Centre for History and Violence affiliate evaluate how individuals have coped and continued to cope with the muddied transition from soldier to civilian.
"I want to look at how people who have been taught to be violent or to overcome their natural tendencies not to be violent, are able to switch that part of themselves off once the war is over," she explains.
"Maybe some aren't able to."
Exploring this niche from an exclusively Australian perspective, Kate will be considering the role and capabilities of military authorities as well.
"I want to know how they helped prepare the servicemen for life after war," she asserts.
"I'm anticipating to find a fair bit of material in official army documents, newspapers and police reports, particularly about those who have come back and had issues with domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm and other risky behaviours."
From footnotes to front cover: Defining the ill-defined in Australia’s history
Digging into the past and turning up surprising – and sometimes uncomfortable – truths, Dr Kate Ariotti is seeking to put names, faces and facts to the First
Career Summary
Biography
Dr Kate Ariotti is an ARC DECRA Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Violence, where she specialises in the history of Australians at war.
Her research focuses on understanding the social and cultural impacts of war in Australia. She she has published extensively on wartime captivity and the experiences of Australian prisoners of war– including the 2018 book Captive Anzacs: Australian POWs of the Ottomans during the First World War (Cambridge University Press) -- as well as the ways in which Australians have historically remembered and commemorated wars.In 2017 she edited with Dr James Bennett Australians and the First World War: Local-Global Connections and Contexts (Palgrave) and in 2018 co-curated the pioneering exhibition Long Shadows: The Great War, Australia and the Middle East at the University of Newcastle Art Gallery.
Her current ARC-funded project ‘Between Death and Commemoration: An Australian History of the War Corpse’ aims to provide the first comprehensive account of the changing policies, practices and attitudes that have shaped the treatment of the physical remains of Australian war dead between the First World War and the recent wars in the Middle East (1915-2015). This project will provide a valuable new perspective on the realities of Australian participation in war and a critical understanding of the place of death in war in the Australian past and present.
Kate teaches 19th and 20th century Australian history, and supervises both Honours and postgraduate students working on research projects within this rich field. Kate is also committed to community engagement and has been a participant in the Newcastle Writer's Festival as well as several public symposiums, including 'Newcastle and the Hunter at War' in 2017 (which she co-convened with Dr James Bennett and PhD student Bryce Abraham) and 'Global Pandemic, Local Responses: The Spanish 'Flu and Newcastle 1918-1919' in 2018.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Science / Bachelor of Arts, University of Queensland
Keywords
- Australian history
- First World War
- prisoners of war
- war and society
Fields of Research
Code | Description | Percentage |
---|---|---|
430302 | Australian history | 80 |
430310 | Global and world history | 10 |
430323 | Transnational history | 10 |
Professional Experience
UON Appointment
Title | Organisation / Department |
---|---|
Senior Lecturer | University of Newcastle School of Humanities and Social Science Australia |
Senior Lecturer | University of Newcastle School of Humanities and Social Science Australia |
Professional appointment
Dates | Title | Organisation / Department |
---|---|---|
4/8/2014 - 6/3/2015 | Historian | Australian War Memorial Australia |
Awards
Award
Year | Award |
---|---|
2015 |
Dean's Award for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Theses 2014 The University of Queensland |
2015 |
CEW Bean Prize for Military History (Postgraduate Division) Australian Army History Unit |
Teaching
Code | Course | Role | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
HIST2650 |
War and Australian Society University of Newcastle - School of Humanities and Social Science |
Coordinator | 27/7/2015 - 6/11/2015 |
HIST1051 |
The Australian Experience University of Newcastle, School of Humanities and Social Science |
Course Coordinator | 27/2/2017 - 30/6/2017 |
HIST2668 |
Reading and Writing Australian Biography University of Newcastle - School of Humanities and Social Science |
Course Coordinator | 22/2/2016 - 24/6/2016 |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Book (2 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Ariotti K, Captive Anzacs Australian Prisoners of War of the Ottomans during the First World War, Cambridge University Press, 240 (2018) [A1] | |||||||
2017 |
Ariotti K, Bennett J, Australians and the First World War: Local-Global Connections and Contexts, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland, XV, 254 (2017)
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Chapter (4 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
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2017 | Ariotti K, 'International Encounters in Captivity: The Cross-Cultural Experiences of Australian POWs in the Ottoman Empire', Australians and the First World War: Local-Global Connections and Contexts, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland 47-65 (2017) [B1] | ||||
2017 |
Bennett JE, Ariotti K, 'Introduction', Australians and the First World War: Local-Global Connections and Contexts, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland 1-6 (2017) [B1]
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2015 | Ariotti KA, ''At present everything is making us most anxious': Families of Australian prisoners in Turkey', Beyond Surrender: Australian Prisoners of War in the Twentieth Century, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 57-74 (2015) [B1] | ||||
Show 1 more chapter |
Journal article (3 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
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2019 |
Ariottia K, Pegram A, 'Australian POWs of the first world war: Responding to the challenges of captivity and return', History Australia, 16 72-89 (2019) [C1] Just over 4000 Australian servicemen were taken prisoner by Ottoman and German forces during the First World War. Their distinctive stories are rarely considered in Australian his... [more] Just over 4000 Australian servicemen were taken prisoner by Ottoman and German forces during the First World War. Their distinctive stories are rarely considered in Australian histories and memories of the war: captivity affected only a minority of Australian servicemen and, for a long time, surrender or capture was seen as a failure of the contemporary prescription for Australian martial masculinity. This article explores some of the challenges the prisoners of war (POWs) faced both during and after the war, and how they responded to these challenges. Learning or refining skills and trades in prison camps helped overcome boredom but also may have enabled POWs to prepare for post-war life, while articulating particular ideas of capture and imprisonment in the post-war period to explain the physical and psychological legacies of captivity could lead to successful claims for ¿Repat¿ assistance. Exploring ways in which Australian prisoners of the Germans and Ottomans made sense of their experiences of capture and captivity offers important nuance to this little-known aspect of Australian First World War history.
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2016 |
Ariotti K, '"I m awfully fed up with being a prisoner"* Australian POWs of the Turks and the Strain of Surrender', Journal of Australian Studies, 40 276-290 (2016) [C1] © 2016 International Australian Studies Association.Nearly 200 Australians were captured and held as prisoners of war (POWs) by Ottoman Turkish forces during the First World War. ... [more] © 2016 International Australian Studies Association.Nearly 200 Australians were captured and held as prisoners of war (POWs) by Ottoman Turkish forces during the First World War. They have largely been overlooked in Australian history and memory of the conflict with the result that little is known of their time in captivity or of its wider ramifications. In examining the emotional impact of their capture and imprisonment, this article offers intimate insights into how these Australian POWs felt about their captivity, from the moment of surrender until long after the war had ended. The humiliation of capture and confinement at the hands of a culturally, religiously and linguistically different enemy and the restrictions imposed by wartime imprisonment exacerbated the prisoners¿ private feelings of shame and failure, feelings that were publicly reinforced in the aftermath of the war as the two dominant narratives of the conflict-the heroic Anzac fighter and the Turks as the honourable enemy-excluded or, at best, marginalised their experiences. Such analysis tells us much about the psychological dimension of wartime captivity, and adds to our understanding of the legacy of this POW experience.
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2014 |
Ariotti K, Crotty M, 'The role of sport for Australian POWs of the Turks during the first world war', International Journal of the History of Sport, 31 2362-2374 (2014) [C1] Nearly 200 Australians were taken prisoner by the Turks during World War I, some 76 of them during the Gallipoli campaign and the remainder over the succeeding three years during ... [more] Nearly 200 Australians were taken prisoner by the Turks during World War I, some 76 of them during the Gallipoli campaign and the remainder over the succeeding three years during the ongoing campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. Approximately a quarter of them died in captivity. In contrast to the experiences of Australians taken prisoner by the Japanese during the Pacific War, Australian history and collective memory, and Australian commemorative activities, have almost totally overlooked the Australian prisoners of the Turks. This article redresses the balance somewhat by looking at an important aspect of the prisoners lives; the games they played while in captivity. The article suggests that sports and games were an important part of their methods for coping with the captivity experience, although there were some significant differences in the role sport played for captives of the Turks as compared to the role it played for those taken prisoner by the Japanese in the next World War.
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Review (10 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Ariotti K, 'Review of 'The Great War: Aftermath and Commemoration' edited by Carolyn Holbrook and Keir Reeves (2020) | ||||
2019 |
Ariotti K, 'The Battle Within: POWs in Postwar Australia', AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY (2019)
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2019 | Ariotti K, 'Review of 'Serving Our Country: Indigenous Australians, War, Defence and Citizenship' edited by Joan Beaumont and Alison Cadzow. (2019) | ||||
Show 7 more reviews |
Creative Work (1 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 |
Kieser H, Ariotti KATE, Schneider C, Shaw G, Long Shadows: The Great War, Australia and the Middle East (2018)
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Other (5 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Ariotti KA, '"Living with the legacy: The long-term health effects of captivity"', The Changi Book ( pp.266-267). Sydney: NewSouth (2015) [O1] | ||
2015 | Ariotti KA, Inglis K, 'Return to Gallipoli', ( issue.70 pp.58-63): Australian War Memorial (2015) [O1] | ||
2015 | Ariotti KA, 'Review of 'The Ghosts of Roebuck Bay', by Ian W. Shaw', ( pp.67-67): Australian War Memorial (2015) [O1] | ||
Show 2 more others |
Thesis / Dissertation (2 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 |
Abraham B, Valore Australis: Constructions of Australian Military Heroism from Sudan to Vietnam, 1885-1975, University of Newcastle (2020)
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2014 | Ariotti KA, Coping With Captivity: Australian Prisoners of the Turks and the Impact of Imprisonment during the First World War., University of Queensland (2014) |
Grants and Funding
Summary
Number of grants | 10 |
---|---|
Total funding | $447,638 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20203 grants / $421,103
Between Death & Commemoration: An Australian History of the War Corpse$391,319
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
---|---|
Project Team | Doctor Kate Ariotti |
Scheme | Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2020 |
Funding Finish | 2022 |
GNo | G1801207 |
Type Of Funding | Aust Competitive - Commonwealth |
Category | 1CS |
UON | Y |
Faculty funding for external engagement in 2020 - Centre for 21st Century Humanities$20,000
Funding body: Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Project Team | Dr J McIntyre (Director); Dr K Ariotti; A/Prof G Arrighi; Dr H Askland; Dr J Coffey; A/Prof N Cushing; E/Prof H Craig et al |
Scheme | Faculty funding |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2020 |
Funding Finish | 2020 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
The Death Penalty and the 1st Australian Imperial Force$9,784
This project examines the approximately 120 Australians of the 1st AIF sentenced to death for military offences under the British Army Act, but who could not be executed because of the provisions of the Australian Defence Act. It considers the contemporaneous debates around the application of the death penalty, but takes as its main focus the men themselves to give voice to their experiences of crime and punishment. In doing so, the project also explores the individual, familial and community ramifications of their sentences to assess its varied legacies. The project provides a critical analysis of the men, their crimes, and the aftermath of their experiences and offers a comprehensive, nuanced account of the history of the death penalty in the 1st AIF.
Funding body: Australian Army History Unit
Funding body | Australian Army History Unit |
---|---|
Project Team | Associate Professor Martin Crotty (University of Queensland) |
Scheme | Australian Army History Research Grant |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2020 |
Funding Finish | 2021 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | External |
Category | EXTE |
UON | N |
20183 grants / $15,000
POW Graves Database$5,000
Funding body: Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | C21CH 2018 Projects |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2018 |
Funding Finish | 2018 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Interactive Online Exhibition: 'Long Shadows: The Great War, Australia and the Middle East'$5,000
Funding body: Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Project Team | Kate Ariotti, Hans-Lukas Kieser, Gillean Shaw, Caroline Schneider, Nicole Chaffey |
Scheme | C21CH 2018 Projects |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2018 |
Funding Finish | 2018 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Teaching Innovation Investment Grant$5,000
Funding body: University of Newcastle, Academic Division - Newcastle
Funding body | University of Newcastle, Academic Division - Newcastle |
---|---|
Project Team | Dr James Bennett, Associate Professor Nancy Cushing, Professor Victoria Haskins |
Scheme | Teacher Innovation Investment Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2018 |
Funding Finish | 2018 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20171 grants / $1,100
FEDUA Conference Travel Grant: Eric Richards Symposium in British and Australasian History$1,100
Funding body: Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | FEDUA Conference Travel Grant |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2017 |
Funding Finish | 2017 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20163 grants / $10,435
New Staff Grant$4,960
Funding body: Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | New Staff Grant |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2016 |
Funding Finish | 2016 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
ECR Mobility Grant$3,475
Funding body: Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | ECR Travel/Mobility Grant |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2016 |
Funding Finish | 2016 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Exploring the Aftermath of Captivity: British and Australian POWs and the Legacy of Imprisonment in Turkey during the First World War$2,000
Funding body: Australian Academy of the Humanities
Funding body | Australian Academy of the Humanities |
---|---|
Project Team | Doctor Kate Ariotti |
Scheme | Travelling Fellowship |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2016 |
Funding Finish | 2016 |
GNo | G1600777 |
Type Of Funding | C3112 - Aust Not for profit |
Category | 3112 |
UON | Y |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Current Supervision
Commenced | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | PhD | Foreign Wives and Foreign Lives: Australian Soldiers, War Brides and the First World War | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2020 | PhD | From Gallipoli to Malta: A Medical, Social and Cultural History of the Anzacs | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2020 | PhD | Suspicious Minds: Korean War Ex-POWs, Commonwealth Intelligence Services, and the Cold War | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2018 | PhD | Connected and Contactable: The Australian Army's Linkages to Other Commonwealth Armies in the Inter-War Period (1919-1939) | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
Past Supervision
Year | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | PhD | Valore Australis: Constructions of Australian Military Heroism from Sudan to Vietnam, 1885–1975 | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2020 | PhD | An ‘Army of Superfluous Women’: Australian Single Women and the First World War | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
Research Projects
The Death Penalty and the 1st Australian Imperial Force 2020 -
This project, undertaken with Associate Professor Martin Crotty at the University of Queensland, examines the approximately 120 Australians of the 1st AIF sentenced to death for military offences under the British Army Act, but who could not be executed because of the provisions of the Australian Defence Act. It considers the contemporaneous debates around the application of the death penalty, but takes as its main focus the men themselves to give voice to their experiences of crime and punishment. In doing so, the project also explores the individual, familial and community ramifications of their sentences to assess its varied legacies. The project provides a critical analysis of the men, their crimes, and the aftermath of their experiences and offers a comprehensive, nuanced account of the history of the death penalty in the 1st AIF.
Between Death and Commemoration: An Australian History of the War Corpse 2020 - 2023
This project aims to provide the first ever account of the changing policies, practices and attitudes that have shaped how the physical remains of Australian war dead have been dealt with between the First World War and the recent wars in the Middle East (1915-2015). By investigating this invisible aspect of our military past, it will create new directions in Australian war history and provide an Australian perspective on global conversations about the history of the corpse in war. New knowledge about the war corpse will advance national understandings about the realities of war, and provide valuable information and more informed perspectives about death in war to history educators, cultural institutions, military units and the public
Long Shadows: The Great War, Australia and the Middle East 2018
The First World War and the Gallipoli campaign play a fundamental role in the national memory of Australia. In the Middle East, the war’s memory endures in its present conflicts – the legacy of unresolved violence from a hundred years ago. The stigmatisation, genocide and human trafficking that were widespread during the First World War have recently been re-staged in Northern Iraq and Syria.
Long Shadows: The Great War, Australia and the Middle East brings together the past with the present to highlight lesser-known experiences of the war in the Middle East that continue to cast long shadows. With texts, clips and evocative photographs, the exhibition leads the visitor from Australia to Gallipoli, Asia Minor and Northern Syria, from 1915 to 2018.
For more information, and a virtual tour of the exhibition, see: https://gallery.newcastle.edu.au/pages/longshadows
Edit
News
Historians reveal little known histories of the Spanish Flu
June 29, 2020
DECRA success for Dr Kate Ariotti
December 9, 2019
War dead research and geometric flows the focus from $800,000 funding
November 26, 2019
Journal article reveals little known truths about Australian prisoners of war
May 14, 2019
Captive Anzacs: Australian POWs of the Ottomans during the First World War
March 5, 2018
Mentor program supports Early Career Researchers
October 6, 2017
Entangled Histories Conference: Inspiring historians to create connections
August 16, 2017
New book reveals a fresh Australian perspective on the First World War
July 10, 2017
Research Directions 2016
July 7, 2016
UON researcher receives 2015 CEW Bean Prize
October 9, 2015
Dr Kate Ariotti
Position
ARC DECRA Fellow
School of Humanities and Social Science
College of Human and Social Futures
Focus area
History
Contact Details
kate.ariotti@newcastle.edu.au | |
Phone | (02) 4921 5324 |
Link | Research Networks |
Office
Room | CT216 |
---|---|
Building | CT Building |