Christina Louise Twomey, is an Australian historian and academic.

Education and career

Twomey was born in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and attended

Mac.Robertson Girls' High School , motto_translation = Mastery of self , established = , type = Government-funded single-sex selective secondary day school , principal = Sue Harrap , location = South Melbourne, Victoria , country = Australia , coordi ...

in Melbourne. She graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with

Honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

. She returned to the university in 1992 to complete her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

, graduating in 1996. She is the head of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

in Melbourne. Her area of study focuses on the cultural history of war. In 2004 Twomey won the Margaret George Award, a grant presented by

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

to emerging historians, for her "exploration of the experiences of Australian civilians interned by the Japanese in World War II". Twomey's 2008 book, ''Australia's Forgotten Prisoners: Civilians Interned by the Japanese in World War Two'' won a New South Wales Premier's History Award in the John and Patricia Ward History Prize category. In 2009, the

awarded Twomey the Frederick Watson Fellowship. Twomey was president of the International Australian Studies Association in 2011 to 2012. Between 2012 and 2015, she was the co-editor of ''

Australian Historical Studies ''Australian Historical Studies'', formerly known as ''Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand'' (1940–1967) and ''Historical Studies'' (1967–1987), is one of the oldest historical journals in Australia. It is regarded as the countr ...

'' alongside

Catharine Coleborne Catharine Coleborne (born 27 October 1967) is an Australian medical historian and academic administrator. She is the Head of School and Dean of Arts at the University of Newcastle and a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. ...

, after which she was appointed chair of the Board managing that publication. In 2016 her work as an historian was recognised by her election as fellow of both the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

and

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

. In May 2016, she attended a

Historians without Borders Historians without Borders is a Finnish organisation. It was founded at the initiative of Erkki Tuomioja, the former foreign minister of Finland. The purpose of the organization is to further public discussion about history and to promote the use ...

conference in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. In 2018, Twomey won the New South Wales Premier's Australian History Prize for her book, ''The Battle Within: POWs in Postwar Australia''.

Bibliography

Author

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Editor

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twomey, Christina 21st-century Australian historians 21st-century Australian women writers Australian women historians Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Living people Deakin University faculty Monash University faculty University of Melbourne alumni Writers from Melbourne Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Mac.Robertson Girls' High School