Rate My Professor Ann Genovese

Ann Genovese is Professor at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, where she teaches and researches in public law, history, and jurisprudence. She is a specialist in Law and Humanities, with particular expertise in archival sources and techniques that demonstrate how Australian people have engaged with their legal systems over time. Her scholarly contributions have been pivotal in developing jurisography, an interdisciplinary approach combining law and humanities. Genovese's research encompasses feminist jurisprudence, historical analysis, relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and broader interdisciplinary legal studies. Throughout her career, she has secured six Australian Research Council (ARC) grants, frequently partnering with cultural and research institutions to explore the historical, theoretical, and experiential dimensions of Australian law's interactions with diverse publics.

She earned her arts and law degrees from the University of Adelaide and a PhD in history from the University of Melbourne, with her doctoral work titled The Battered Body (1998). Genovese joined Melbourne Law School in 2006 and has since published several influential books, including Rights and Redemption: History, Law, Indigenous People (2008, co-authored with Ann Curthoys and Alexander Reilly), Sovereignty: Frontiers of Possibility (2013, co-authored with Julie Evans, Patrick Wolfe, and Alexander Reilly), Australian Critical Decisions: Remembering the Koowarta and Tasmanian Dam Case (2017), The Court as Archive (2019, co-edited with Kim Rubenstein and Trish Luker), and Feminist Jurisography: Law, History, Writing (2022). In addition to her research, she has served on numerous committees, including the JD Selection Committee (2016-2023), Reconciliation and Recognition Committee (2018-2020), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Oversight Committee (2021-2024), as Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee (2022-2025), Scholarships Committee (2024-), and Graduate Research Committee (2025-). Her work fosters collaborations on topics including Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations, Australian archival ethics, and feminist and queer jurisprudence and history.