Andrew May

Professor Andrew May is Professor in Australian History in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne. A social historian, May's expertise encompasses Australian urban history, colonialism in north-east India, and digital techniques in the humanities. He has maintained a long-standing career at the University of Melbourne, advancing from doctoral studies to his current professorial role. May directs the Melbourne History Workshop, a digital humanities initiative that pools expertise to investigate Melbourne's historical narratives through collaborative projects. He also leads the Medical Humanities Research Lab and serves as lead Chief Investigator on the 'Cancer Culture: understanding anti-cancer campaigns in Australia' project.

May's publications include authored monographs such as Melbourne Street Life (1998), Espresso! Melbourne Coffee Stories (2001), Federation Square (2003, with Norman Day), and Welsh Missionaries and British Imperialism: The Empire of Clouds in North-East India (2012). As editor, he has produced The Living Heart: Images and Prospects for Central Melbourne (1993), The Encyclopedia of Melbourne (2005, with Shurlee Swain), Evangelists of Empire?: Missionaries in Colonial History (2008, with A. Barry, J. Cruikshank, and P. Grimshaw), and Missionaries, Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Exchange (2010, with P. Grimshaw). Key articles feature 'Young People and the Shaping of Public Space in Melbourne, 1870–1914' (2014), 'Homo in Nubibus: Altitude, Colonisation and Political Order in the Khasi Hills of Northeast India' (2014), and 'Australian Responses to the Indian Famine, 1876–78: Sympathy, Photography and the British Empire' (2012). His honors include the H.J. Dyos Prize (1995), election as Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (2018), and Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (2013). May contributes to public history through articles in Pursuit by the University of Melbourne on topics including department stores, COVID-19 experiences, and skin cancer messaging.

Professional Email: a.may@unimelb.edu.au