Associate Professor Zora Simic
BA (Hons 1); PhD (Usyd)
I am a historian and Gender Studies scholar who lives and works on the lands of theÌýBedegal, Bidjigal and Gadigal Peoples.ÌýMy particular areas of teaching and research expertise are: past and present feminisms, especially but not only Australian; twentieth century Australian history, especially gender history and migration history; and histories of sexuality.Ìý
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- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Current research grant:Ìý
2021-2026: ARC Special Research Initiative (SRI)ÌýSR200200460, ‘A History of Domestic Violence in Australia, 1850-2020’, with Professor AnnÌýCurthoysÌý(University of Sydney) and Associate Professor Catherine Kevin (Flinders University)Ìý
AÌýdistinctive feature of my research trajectory is that I publish in two fields, History andÌýGender StudiesÌýand at their intersection. I bring Gender Studies to History and History to Gender Studies and am known in both fields for challenging monolithic narratives about feminism and feminist history and for foregrounding class, race and ethnicity. As a result, I am regularly asked to contribute to anthologies, edited collections and symposia in History and Gender StudiesÌýand welcome opportunities to merge both fields. This is evident in my ongoing research collaborations, a history of domestic violence in Australia (with Professor AnnÌýCurthoysÌýof UWA and Dr Catherine Kevin of Flinders University) and migration history (with Dr Andonis Piperoglou of the University of Melbourne).
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I am strongly committed to outreach, including writing and speaking to audiences beyond the academy. Since the publicationÌýofÌýThe Great Feminist DenialÌý(2008), I have been recognised as a prominentÌýfeminist thinker in Australian public life, evidenced in noteworthy invitationsÌýand frequent requests to contribute commentary to newspapersÌýand radio programs.ÌýI have written several times forÌýThe ConversationÌýon gender-related topics,Ìýand regularly write on feminism, sex and gender for Australian Book Review, Inside Story, andÌýThe Sydney Review of Books.ÌýOne of my SRB essays, ‘First Person Feminism’, published in December 2016, was selected as one of best essays of the year by the editors republished in the SRB’s first essay collection,ÌýThe Australian FaceÌý(New South, 2017).Ìý
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My Research Supervision
ÌýPrimary supervision:
Patricia Kennedy,ÌýThe display of human curiosities in colonial and early Federation Australia
Ingrid Ryan, Creative Women as Cultural Activists: Alternative narratives of advocacy for Aboriginal People in Interwar Australia and its contemporary legacies
Gillian Turner,ÌýSamuel Marsden and the Missionary World; gendered treatment of women and children in Australasia and the Pacific
Luke Vitale,ÌýThe Chinese of Europe and Pioneer Legends: race, labour and Italians in White Australia, 1888 to 1940
Joint Supervision:
Sandra Amankaviciute,ÌýThe Objectification and Sexualisation of Women in Social Movements: Feminist, LBGTI and Animal Rights Movements
Julian Garcia,ÌýDisputed Identity: Settler colonialism and the representation of Aboriginal artists and Aboriginal art of south-eastern Australia, 1880 to 1992
David Holmes, Amateurism and Australian Athletics, 1945-1983
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My Teaching
In History and Women’s and Gender Studies, my teaching is globally-oriented, strongly grounded in cross-cultural and intersectional analysis, theoretically engaged and attuned to the contemporary world. All of my teaching areas – twentieth century globalÌýand AustralianÌýhistory, introductory gender studies, the history of sexuality and migrant and refugee history – have clear real-world relevance, at personal and political levels. Many of the themes and topics covered – including world religions, colonialism, genocide, displacement, war, sexism, racism and homophobia – demand an approach that is both sensitive and rigorous insofar as these must be understood as both historically and culturally specific yet deeply felt phenomena.ÌýKeeping the human experience central is at the core of my teaching philosophy and practice.ÌýMy current courses include:
- ARTS2900: Global Feminisms (T1)
- ARTS1900: Gendered Worlds: An Introduction to Gender Studies (T3)
- ARTS2906: History of Sexuality (T3)
These courses are all offered in Gender Studies, History and as General Education subjects.