School of Architecture and Building
Faculty of Science and Technology
BArts, Monash, 1973
GDipEd, Monash, 1974
BArts (Hon), Monash, 1981
PhD, Monash, 1989
Dr Ursula de Jong joined the School of Architecture and Building in 1989 after completing her PhD in the Department of Visual Arts at Monash University. Ursula is an architectural historian who has specialised in the 19th century Gothic Revival, particularly the work of William Wardell, who was critical to the establishment of the architectural profession in Victoria in the 1850s - 1870s, in the aftermath of the gold rush. St Patrick's Cathedral, Government House and the ANZ Gothic Bank, all in Melbourne, are among his finest works. Ursula has written widely on the subject, contributes regularly to conferences, and has written a new guide book for the cathedral. Ursula is a founding member of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ); and an active member of the professional body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). In 2004 Ursula was nominated by the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts as an 'expert of international standing'. Ursula has a part time appointment at Deakin and teaches two of the history/theory core units at second year: Utopian Ideals in the Modern World and Australian Perspectives. She guest lectures in other units and supervises numerous post graduate students.
More recently Ursula has been working on landscape and the meaning of place in urban and non-urban contexts, focusing on Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula respectively. Ursula works closely with the local community, being an active member of the Nepean Conservation Group and the Nepean Historical Society, as well as co-ordinator of a Friends Group of a coastal moonah bushland reserve. Ursula is a member of a newly formed network of Australian scholars working on 'place'. She has over the past few years developed a particular expertise on Point Nepean, researching and publishing on the concept 'sense of place', while working towards a holistic understanding of place, and was appointed to the State Government Point Nepean Advisory Committee in December 2003. In March 2004 Ursula was nominated as Director of the Federal Government Point Nepean Community Trust.
