Prominent oral historian, academic, author and public commentator Dr Shirleene Robinson is to take up one of Australia’s most senior oral history posts as the Senior Curator Oral History and Indigenous Programs at the National Library of Australia (NLA).
Dr Robinson starts at the Library on 13 September 2018, though she will need to take some time in November for the launch of her latest book, ‘Yes Yes Yes! The Inside Story of the Campaign for Marriage Equality in Australia’ co-authored with Alex Greenwich (using oral history), and to also install an exhibition which she has been curating.
An Associate Professor, she comes to the Library from Macquarie University where she has been the Vice Chancellor’s Innovation Fellow in the Discipline of Modern History since 2011. She was a Rydon Fellow at King’s College, London in 2013 and has also spent time in Hohhot, China as a Visiting Professor of Australian Studies.
Dr Robinson has managed or participated in a long list of significant oral history projects, including some in partnership with the National Library, such as the very successful, The Past in the Present: Australian Lesbian and Gay Life Stories.
Her work has extended across a range of areas in social history, public policy and contemporary Australia. Her PhD was in the field of Indigenous history after which she worked in the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy.
Dr Robinson is currently President of the Oral History Association of Australia, NSW and ACT branch.
She lists her research interests as:
- the history of sexuality (including the construction of homosexual identities and homophobia)
- histories of HIV/AIDS (including volunteering)
- the history of LGBTIQ people in the military
- the history of childhood in national and transnational context (including the experiences of Aboriginal children)
- oral history as a method and practice.