Rate My Professor John Kinder

Professor John Kinder is Emeritus Professor of Italian Studies in the School of Humanities at the University of Western Australia, where he taught for 33 years until his retirement in 2021. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD at Victoria University of Wellington, with his doctoral thesis examining Italian migrants in New Zealand. His early career included lectureships in Italian at Victoria University of Wellington (1980-1982), James Cook University of North Queensland (1983-1985), and Flinders University of South Australia (1986-1987). Joining UWA in 1988 during Australia's bicentenary year, Kinder advanced from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor. He also served as Director of the Faculty of Arts Multimedia Centre from 1996 to 1999, contributing to innovative teaching and research in digital humanities.

Kinder's research focuses on Italian linguistics, the history of the Italian language and dialects, particularly among migrants in Australia and New Zealand since 1850, language diversity, national language ideologies, communication networks, and the migrant experience. Key publications include the co-authored book Using Italian: a guide to contemporary usage (Cambridge University Press, 2004), Da Ancona agli Antipodi: Raffaele Martelli, missionario in Australia (2026), and The Canon of Ancona: Raffaele Martelli, missionary in Western Australia (UWA Publishing, 2026). Other significant works are 'Il recupero della sintassi nell'italiano della seconda generazione in Australia' (1994), 'Strategie verbali per segnalare l'interferenza nell'italiano della Nuova Zelanda' (1985), and 'Italian as a language of communication in nineteenth century Italy and abroad' (2012, with M. Colombo). He has produced 82 research outputs overall. Among his honors are Fellowship of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA, 2009), Corresponding Fellow of the Accademia della Crusca (2016), Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy (2014), and Honorary Life Membership (2014). Kinder has held roles such as Head of Section for European Languages and Cultures in the Australian Academy of Humanities (2016-2018), member of the Italian Ambassador’s National Language Advisory Group (since 2015), and Deputy-Chair of the Management Committee of the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies (since 2010).