Ann Curthoys

Ann Curthoys is Honorary Professor in the Discipline of History, School of Humanities, at the University of Sydney. She earned her BA (Honours) degree from the University of Sydney in 1966 and her PhD from Macquarie University in 1973. Her academic career spans several prestigious institutions in Australia. She has held teaching positions at the University of Sydney, the University of Adelaide, and the Australian National University, where she served as Manning Clark Professor of History and ARC Professorial Fellow. Curthoys is Professor Emerita at the Australian National University. As a student at the University of Sydney, she participated in the historic 1965 Freedom Ride, which addressed Indigenous rights and segregation. Her extensive career reflects a commitment to historical scholarship and education.

Ann Curthoys has researched, taught, and published extensively on many aspects of Australian history, including race, class, and gender, as well as on feminism, cultural studies, and historical theory. Key publications include Freedom Ride: A Freedom Rider Remembers (2002), For and Against Feminism: A Personal Journey into Feminist Theory and History (1988), Is History Fiction? co-authored with John Docker (2005, revised edition 2010), and How to Write History that People Want to Read co-authored with Ann McGrath (2009, revised edition 2011). Other notable works encompass Quakers and Gender: Studies in Gender and Society (1991) and contributions to edited volumes on transnational history and Indigenous history. She has delivered public lectures, such as the 2018 Allan Martin Lecture at the Australian National University. Curthoys received the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours for significant service to tertiary education, social history, and the Freedom Ride. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) and the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA). The Australian Historical Association established the Ann Curthoys Prize in her honour for early career researchers in Australian history, Indigenous history, or theory and methodology. Her scholarship has profoundly influenced understandings of Australian colonial history and historiographical debates.

Professional Email: ann.curthoys@sydney.edu.au