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Kate Fullagar

@kfullagar.bsky.social
9.8K followers 2.8K following 434 posts

Historian of modern empire & Indigenous resistance 🇦🇺 History advocate. VP of theaha.org.au FAHA FRHistS. Professor at ACU. Latest book Bennelong & Phillip rb.gy/vebj23 My website is katefullagar.com

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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
My ABR essay on Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai is now available for *free* in audio version (29 mins) via Spotify or Apple Podcasts. (Print version behind ABR paywall - subscription always worth it!). katefullagar.com/2025/10/05/q...
katefullagar.com
Questions for Mai – ABR essay
Loved writing this more personal (for me) and reflective essay for Australian Book Review. It begins: Zoom in. The most unusual detail in this painting is the left hand, with tattooed dots carefull…
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Srishti Guha @srishti-g.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
A great example of innovative storytelling!
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Review of our podcast Unsettling Portraits 😮 www.tandfonline.com/eprint/W4SCS...
tandfonline.com
Unsettling the colonial gaze, one portrait at a time
Published in History Australia (Ahead of Print, 2025)
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William Owen @wdowen.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
"the adulterations to Pepys began with Smith [the diaries' decoder] himself. He imposed his own punctuation and frequently omitted things he found “objectionable.” Very few people after Smith ever learned the code. This means that successive formal editors have only ever worked with Smith’s version"
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Another review for Inside Story. On Kate Loveman, The Strange History of Samuel Pepys's Dairy @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org @kateloveman.bsky.social katefullagar.com/2025/10/31/g...
katefullagar.com
Gateways to History and Samuel Pepys
Another review for Inside Story, on a topic that I didn’t think I would know enough to write upon. But it turns out this great book by Kate Loveman on Pepys’s famous 17th-century diary …
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Jon Piccini @jonpiccini.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
The war against 'false news' is not 'new', but has been a concern of international organisations for over 100 years. The ever captivating Roland Burke launches a new Guardian column, Past/Present, sponsored by the @austhistassoc.bsky.social.
theguardian.com
The fledgling UN tried to rein in mass-scale misinformation. The world turned its back and is now paying the price | Roland Burke
The ruinous result of the US approach to freedom of information and media has made anti-democratic contagion impossible to ignore
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Annika Bärwald @annikabaerwald.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
"What has been too often neglected is the sitter himself—Mai. While most observers of the portrait mention Mai’s two-year stay in Britain from 1774 to 1776, courtesy of James Cook’s second returning Pacific voyage, they usually skip over Mai’s motivations or post-visit life." 🗃️
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
katefullagar.com/2025/10/05/q...
katefullagar.com
Questions for Mai – ABR essay
Loved writing this more (for me) personal and reflective essay for Australian Book Review. It begins: Zoom in. The most unusual detail in this painting is the left hand, with tattooed dots carefull…
031
Reposted by Kate Fullagar
Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Shorten reeeeeally grasping for straws here. “Can’t wave a wand.” My man, they’ve been in power for over three YEARS. They just spent 20b on debt relief. The cost of scrapping JRG (they say here) is 1b They have lost the messaging here @australianlabor.bsky.social archive.is/rxSze
archive.is
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Enjoyed this (now rather old) podcast I did with Richard Whatmore on his book, The End of Enlightenment. We discuss eighteenth-century Europe, Trumpian USA, and Australia's Voice referendum. katefullagar.com/2025/08/27/p...
katefullagar.com
Podcast on Enlightenment
Loved doing this podcast with Richard Whatmore for the ANU’s new Urgent History series. It was based mostly on Richard’s last book, The End of Enlightenment (2023), which I reviewed in …
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Job Ready Graduates. August 2025. @jasonclaremp.bsky.social #scottmorrisonneverforgive #ALPhardlybetteronhighered
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Laurence Totelin @ltotelin.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
A good piece about the situation in Australia HE (several years ahead of the rest of the Anglosphere in destroying its sector). Consultants must go - but before that happens, knowledge of what they do must increase among uni communities. Many don't even know consultants are involved in the debacle.
theconversation.com
Universities have lost their way, but cost-cutting and consultants are not the answer
Last week in Sydney, we saw a melodrama acted out that could stand in for the state of Australian universities more generally.
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Richard Carr @richardcarr.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Week one Liz Kendall (or maybe Pat McF - not actually sure where unis are right now) earns some big points by banning/using state’s role as funder to massively disincentivise unis hiring these parasites
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Enjoyed this (now rather old) podcast I did with Richard Whatmore on his book, The End of Enlightenment. We discuss eighteenth-century Europe, Trumpian USA, and Australia's Voice referendum. katefullagar.com/2025/08/27/p...
katefullagar.com
Podcast on Enlightenment
Loved doing this podcast with Richard Whatmore for the ANU’s new Urgent History series. It was based mostly on Richard’s last book, The End of Enlightenment (2023), which I reviewed in …
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Why is Aussie media so bad, shallow, and right wing? archive.is/pNQrm afr. www.afr.com/policy/healt...
afr.com
Long-term vision for universities hung up on short-term politics
Jason Clare’s blueprint calls into question the raison d’être of universities and whether they should exist merely to fill the pipeline of human capital for industry.
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
@historymatterssyd.bsky.social and I are delighted to see the UNSETTLING PORTRAITS podcast get Highly Commended in these Digital History Awards! www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/nsw-h... (link to the podcast in this linked page)
our judges' comments were: A bold and intellectually rich contribution to historical storytelling, this series tackles the inherent challenge of discussing visual sources in an audio format with ingenuity and sensitivity, vividly evoking colonial portraits for listeners without relying on visuals. By combining expert narration with scholarly and Indigenous voices, the series decodes artworks that span continents and centuries, situating Australian examples within the global processes of empire and colonialism.

The series exemplifies original, decolonising historical work, challenging Eurocentric readings and expanding historical consciousness through cross-cultural and transnational perspectives. Particularly striking are the discussions with Indigenous scholars, which reframe the meaning and significance of colonial images and, importantly, ask what use such images are in the present day. The series’ analytical depth, emotional resonance, and imaginative use of sound make it a standout example of how non-print media can powerfully reframe public understanding of the past.
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
The @austhistassoc.bsky.social is proud to have initiated this open letter asking for the repeal of the egregious JRG punishment of humanities and social sciences in Australia. Read about the 100 signatories below, and please sign in solidarity yourself: www.openpetition.org/au/petition/...
openpetition.org
Repeal Job-Ready Graduates Policy Now: Restoring Equity in Higher Education - Online petition
We sign this petition in solidarity with those who signed the Open Letter to the Prime Minister on 28 July 2025 (about:blank). We also write as individuals with a range of political beliefs. We are de...
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
Fascinating story. @newrepublic.com
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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Me three months ago:
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Shorten reeeeeally grasping for straws here. “Can’t wave a wand.” My man, they’ve been in power for over three YEARS. They just spent 20b on debt relief. The cost of scrapping JRG (they say here) is 1b They have lost the messaging here @australianlabor.bsky.social archive.is/rxSze
archive.is
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Melanie Swalwell @melswal.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Thank you @austhistassoc.bsky.social for addressing the abomination that is Job-Ready Graduates and petitioning the Albo Labor Government to repeal it #auspol. We need more grads and esp. lawyers from Indigenous and other minority backgrounds, not fewer!
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
@austhistassoc.bsky.social taking a lead here. Pls sign this petition and share it around:) www.openpetition.org/au/petition/...
openpetition.org
Repeal Job-Ready Graduates Policy Now: Restoring Equity in Higher Education - Online petition
We sign this petition in solidarity with those who signed the Open Letter to the Prime Minister on 28 July 2025 (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/28/open-letter-to-australian-govern...
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Great news. Such a pity Australia was not be a leader on this... a very great shame, in fact.
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
More media on this. Now me on ABC Lismore radio at the 45 minute mark: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... See also our list of media growing here on the petition: www.openpetition.org/au/petition/...
openpetition.org
News: Repeal Job-Ready Graduates Policy Now: Restoring Equity in Higher Education - Online petition
We sign this petition in solidarity with those who signed the Open Letter to the Prime Minister on 28 July 2025 (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/28/open-letter-to-australian-govern...
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Andrew Norton @andrewjnorton.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
The government's proposed HELP repayment system puts more female debtors at risk of a lifetime of debt. andrewnorton.id.au/2025/07/29/t...
andrewnorton.id.au
The new HELP repayment system and lifetimes of student debt
The prime minister says that a degree should not come with a lifetime of debt. For that goal, the government’s HELP legislation introduced last week is contradictory. It will cut all debt owe…
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Now with a signatory Peter Tesch (former ambassador to Germany, Russia, and former Dep Sec Defence) on ABC radio at 35 minute mark, explaining and demonstrating the value of his BA: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
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Age of Revolutions @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Working on fall syllabi? Consider incorporating @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social articles in your courses! Check out Erika Vause's "Teaching Students to Read Secondary Sources with Age of Revolutions" here. ageofrevolutions.com/2022/03/14/t...
ageofrevolutions.com
Teaching Students to Read Secondary Sources with Age of Revolutions
By Erika Vause In his seminal 1961 essay “The Historian and His Facts,” E.H. Carr compared writing history to preparing fish. Carr argued against seeing history as a “corpus of ascertained facts” l…
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
‘If Labor won’t act to defend equity in education, what is the point of them – I mean, what do they really stand for?’ Tim Winton in @australia.theguardian.com today. Good question @australianlabor.bsky.social
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
The @austhistassoc.bsky.social is proud to have initiated this open letter asking for the repeal of the egregious JRG punishment of humanities and social sciences in Australia. Read about the 100 signatories below, and please sign in solidarity yourself: www.openpetition.org/au/petition/...
openpetition.org
Repeal Job-Ready Graduates Policy Now: Restoring Equity in Higher Education - Online petition
We sign this petition in solidarity with those who signed the Open Letter to the Prime Minister on 28 July 2025 (about:blank). We also write as individuals with a range of political beliefs. We are de...
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
"I can guarantee you no side of politics will justify a quarter of a billion dollars a year on someone’s Cybernetic futures interdisciplinary vanity project, no matter how well meaning they are." @ouranu.bsky.social www.reddit.com/r/Anu/commen...
reddit.com
From the Anu community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the Anu community
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frankbongiorno.bsky.social @frankbongiorno.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
"Professor Parry has defended the Change Proposals by stating that the ADB could easily have been cut altogether. She appears to regard the ADB as an academic unit within the gift of the dean rather than as a collaborative national institution" inside.org.au/the-jewel-in...
inside.org.au
The jewel in the crown of the ANU • Inside Story
Celebrated by previous vice-chancellors, the Australian Dictionary of Biography and its fellow national project, the Australian National Dictionary, are threatened by university cuts
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Tamson Pietsch @capandgown.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
insidestory.org.au/how-to-disap... this is a great article. Let me point out that major major structural reform has happened in our school system before. In the second part of the 19thC all Australian states abolished all state aid to private schools. #histed
insidestory.org.au
How to disappear a problem • Dean Ashenden
The school system has spent fifty years not fixing one of its central flaws
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
An especially good one today on the humanities in Oz. Every word true. graemeturner.org/2025/07/20/w...
graemeturner.org
Why do they hate us? That’s the question academics in the humanities are asking. - Graeme Turner
This is the question I was asked last week. Why are government, the media, even university administrations, so carelessly participating in the gradual demolition of one of the foundation stones of our...
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Excellent from @chriswallace.bsky.social on the decline of history in Australia. Late Night Live www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
abc.net.au
The decline of history teaching threatens our future leaders - ABC listen
History Professor Chris Wallace is worried about the decline in both enrolments in, and the offering of, history and other humanities subjects at Australian universities, which she says has resulted i...
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
None. Of. This. Matters. Scandal will not help you guys. You gotta know this by now. Find a constitutional way.
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Delighted to see this conversation out in J18, reproducing our workshop on #joshuareynolds, #mai and #18thcenturyart www.journal18.org/nq/reflectio...
journal18.org
Reflections on Mai, Joshua Reynolds, and Eighteenth-Century Art — A Roundtable
Roundtable Participants: Kate Fullagar, Miriama Bono, Pauline Reynolds, Jocelyn Hackforth-Jones, Peter McNeil, Monica Anke Hahn, Carl Vail, Peter Brunt. In March 2023, the longstanding battle for owne...
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Quite. Why anyone thinks that trump being revealed in the Epstein files would make the slightest difference is beyond me.
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
If you agree with our 5 requests to our universities, please sign 🖊️ the open letter and don’t forget to confirm your email! ☺️🙏 openletter.earth/open-letter-...
• Resist the introduction of AI in our own software systems, from Microsoft to OpenAI to Apple. It is not in our interests to let our processes be corrupted and give away our data to be used to train models that are not only useless to us, but also harmful.

• Ban AI use in the classroom for student assignments, in the same way we ban essay mills and other forms of plagiarism. Students must be protected from de-skilling and allowed space and time to perform their assignments themselves.

• Cease normalising the AI hype and the lies which are prevalent in the technology industry's framing of these technologies. The technologies do not have the advertised capacities and their adoption puts students and academics at risk of violating ethical, legal, scholarly, and scientific standards of reliability, sustainability, and safety.

• Fortify our academic freedom as university staff to enforce these principles and standards in our classrooms and our research as well as on the computer systems we are obliged to use as part of our work. We as academics have the right to our own spaces.

• Sustain critical thinking on AI and promote critical engagement with technology on a firm academic footing. Scholarly discussion must be free from the conflicts of interest caused by industry funding, and reasoned resistance must always be an option.
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Wonderful as ever from Patrick Mullins @insidestory.bsky.social insidestory.org.au/richard-ellm...
insidestory.org.au
Richard Ellmann’s extraordinary achievement • Patrick Mullins
An exhilarating account of a biographer at work
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
humanities.org.au/power-of-the...
humanities.org.au
Australia can't withstand further humanities cuts
The Australian Academy of Humanities views with great concern the impact on staff, students and the wider community of the ANU’s plan for the humanities and social sciences. Now is not the time to red...
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Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
exactly
Post: being recommended to stop using em dashes because ChatGPT uses them a lot. 

Image of two guys, one saying: no way. Should I change? He’s the one who sucks.
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Deakin uni postdoc fellowships :) www.deakin.edu.au/faculty-of-a...
deakin.edu.au
Research
Explore Deakin University's Faculty of Arts and Education research initiatives, fostering innovation and knowledge across diverse disciplines and communities.
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Elad Nehorai @eladn.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Truly imagine if Mamdani had used the word “Shylock.” It would have quite literally destroyed his career and every org and leader calling him out would be making this into a month long news cycle. Trump? Hardly a peep. When you accept antisemitism from the president, you aren’t fighting it.
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AHA (Australia) @austhistassoc.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
We're being looked after so well here at JCU Townsville -- even the wallabies are coming out to greet us! It's so beautiful here on Bindal country. #AHA2025 #OzHA2025
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Koen Stapelbroek @stplbrk.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
#AHA2025 @austhistassoc.bsky.social in Townsville officially complete with last minute salt water croc spotting on the Friday arvo. Thanks everyone for all the inspiration and see you next year at Macquarie!
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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Interesting that BBC accepted that British were the agents here. They usually like to say it’s just ‘Australians’. In the 1830s.
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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
real glad we spent two fucking years pretending the real antisemitism was students asking their colleges to divest from apartheid
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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
FINAL REMINDER: *JULY 1* deadline for abstracts for the Romantic Studies Association of Australasia / David Nichol Smith conference in Wellington, New Zealand The theme is "Living / Building" w/ keynotes Manu Samriti Chander, Karen Harvey, and Ngarino Ellis ⭐ CFP👇 www.wgtn.ac.nz/fhss/about/e...
wgtn.ac.nz
Living / Building—A joint RSAA & David Nichol Smith Conference | Te Wāhanga Aronui / Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Exploring eighteenth-century connections in today’s world.
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