Victoria Haskins

Biography

Victoria Haskins FAHA is a Professor of History in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Sciences. She is a member and former founding director of Purai Global Indigenous History Centre. As a historian of Indigenous and women’s cross-cultural histories, her key research interests are in gender, domestic labour, and colonialism. She has held a number of awards and fellowships, including an ARC Future Fellowship (2009-13), the NSW Centenary of Anzac Commemoration History Fellowship (2014-18), the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities Fellowship (2017), and a Distinguished Scholar fellowship at the Graduate Center, CUNY (2023). She served a member of the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts (2020-22) and is a member of the Council for the Australian Academy of the Humanities (2023-25).Research Expertise
As a cultural and social historian, my main field of research interest is the history of colonialism and domestic labour, which grew out of my broader interest in cross-cultural relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in settler colonial histories. Methodologically, I am interested in personal narratives, visual and material culture, and the complex nature of the historical archive. I am currently working on an ARC Discovery project based at the University of Newcastle, “Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Asia and Britain 1780-1945” DP200100375.

Teaching Expertise
My teaching expertise is in Australian social, cultural and political history, with a particular focus on Indigenous cross-cultural histories and women’s histories. With background professional experience as a history curator, I have also taught and supervised students in museum studies. 

Administrative Expertise
I have held various senior leadership roles since 2013, including serving as the President of the University’s Academic Senate between 2020-2022.

Collaborations
My international research collaborations include working with scholars based in the UK, the US, and Asia on a variety of projects and initiatives. I am committed to the principles of collaborative research and teaching both within and between institutions of higher education and cultural resources. I am also deeply committed to collaborative research with Indigenous historians and community members.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Sydney
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Sydney