Doctor
Kate BagnallProfile page
(She/her/hers)
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer Humanities
History and Classics
Orcid identifier0000-0003-1426-7294
- Lecturer/Senior Lecturer HumanitiesHistory and Classics
- +61 3 6226 2248 (Work)
- School of Humanities, History and Classics, 356 Humanities Building, Sandy Bay Campus, TAS
BIO
Kate Bagnall is a social historian whose research focuses on the intersections of migration, family and the law in the British settler colonial world. She is best known as a scholar of Chinese Australasian history, specialising in histories of women, children and families, and the history of the White Australia Policy and colonial anti-Chinese laws and policies.
Kate's recent book, 'Locating Chinese Women: Historical Mobility between China and Australia' (HKU Press, 2021), co-edited with Julia Martínez, is the first scholarly collection on Chinese-Australian women’s history. Her more recent research on Chinese Australian women builds on her earlier work on interracial relationships and Chinese-European families in colonial and early post-Federation Australia.
Kate began her career in public history and archives, completing her PhD in History at the University of Sydney while working at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. At the National Archives, Kate worked on ground-breaking digital history projects such as 'Documenting a Democracy' and 'Uncommon Lives'. She continues her interest in digital history with projects such as the 'Real Face of White Australia' with Tim Sherratt.
Kate has worked extensively with family and community historians and, from 2017 to 2019, she ran the Chinese Australian Hometown Heritage Tour with Sophie Couchman. Visiting Hong Kong and Guangdong, the tour enabled descendants of early Cantonese migrants to Australia to experience the history, culture and landscapes of their ancestral homes. The tour drew on Kate’s fieldwork in towns and villages of the Pearl River Delta, an area she first visited in the mid-1990s.
Before joining the University of Tasmania in 2019, Kate was an ARC DECRA Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong (2016–2019), researching the history of Chinese naturalisation in colonial Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Kate's recent book, 'Locating Chinese Women: Historical Mobility between China and Australia' (HKU Press, 2021), co-edited with Julia Martínez, is the first scholarly collection on Chinese-Australian women’s history. Her more recent research on Chinese Australian women builds on her earlier work on interracial relationships and Chinese-European families in colonial and early post-Federation Australia.
Kate began her career in public history and archives, completing her PhD in History at the University of Sydney while working at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. At the National Archives, Kate worked on ground-breaking digital history projects such as 'Documenting a Democracy' and 'Uncommon Lives'. She continues her interest in digital history with projects such as the 'Real Face of White Australia' with Tim Sherratt.
Kate has worked extensively with family and community historians and, from 2017 to 2019, she ran the Chinese Australian Hometown Heritage Tour with Sophie Couchman. Visiting Hong Kong and Guangdong, the tour enabled descendants of early Cantonese migrants to Australia to experience the history, culture and landscapes of their ancestral homes. The tour drew on Kate’s fieldwork in towns and villages of the Pearl River Delta, an area she first visited in the mid-1990s.
Before joining the University of Tasmania in 2019, Kate was an ARC DECRA Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong (2016–2019), researching the history of Chinese naturalisation in colonial Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
- Senior LecturerUniversity of Tasmania, School of Humanities, Hobart, Australia2019 - present
- DECRA Research FellowUniversity of Wollongong, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, Australia2016 - 2019
NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS
- Freelance Historian and EditorSelf-employed, Canberra, Australia2014 - 2015
- Senior EditorDepartment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Canberra, Australia2011 - 2014
- EditorAustralian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, Australia2009 - 2011
- Early Career Summer FellowNational Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia2009 - 2009
- Website Content DeveloperNational Archives of Australia, Canberra, Australia2003 - 2009
- Graduate (Australian Public Service)National Archives of Australia, Canberra, Australia2002 - 2002
- ESL TeacherZhuhai Australian English Language Centre, Zhuhai, China1997 - 1997
DEGREES
- PhD (History)University of Sydney, Australia1998 - 2006
- BA Hons (History)University of Sydney, Australia1993 - 1996
LANGUAGES
- EnglishCan read, write, speak, understand and peer review
- FrenchCan read, speak and understand
- Chinese (Mandarin)Can read, speak and understand
- Chinese (Cantonese)Can speak and understand
SCHOOL AND PORTFOLIO
- School of Humanities