University of Otago

Faculty Member, History & Art History

Senior Lecturer

About

My research broadly investigates the intersections between gender, race and sexuality in colonial history, with a specific focus on the social and cultural history of interracial intimacy and hybridity within colonial cultures. Two particular areas of interest inform my research: indigenous women's agency in colonial history, particularly within intimate relationships, and assessing the impact of interracial intimacy upon Indigenous communities, looking particularly at the experiences of mixed descent children, where I connect the individual experience with the dense ties of evolving state policy. In this aspect of my research I explore the relationship between colonial policy and practice, teasing out the relationship between racial politics, marriage-like relationships and colonial anxiety about governance, land and settlement. My interest in race, hybridity and colonialism also extends to visual culture, particularly colonial photography.

More recently my interest in intimacy has moved into the twentieth century, focusing on race and sex during World War II in the Pacific. I am part of a team project exploring the fate of children born of American servicemen and indigenous women in the South Pacific Command.

I also have an interest in Maori women's history, and with Dr. Lachy Paterson (University of Otago), I am working on a document source book of Maori women's writings from the 19th century.