Biography
Andrea graduated with a PhD in Media and Communication Studies from Central Queensland University in 1997 (her dissertation looked at the Australian National Maritime Museum and situated it within emerging practices in the new museology). She has a Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies and an Honours Degree in History from the University of Sydney. She worked as a social history curator in the lead up to the opening of the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney and then at the National Museum of Australia. After completing her PhD she took up a lectureship in cultural heritage at the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage at Curtin University in Perth in 1996. She was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in 2000. In 2006 she took up an appointment as an Associate Professor (Research) at Deakin University. She was promoted to Professor at the end of 2013. She is the author of Re-Imagining the Museum: Beyond the Mausoleum (Routledge, 2003) and the co-author of From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia (University of NSW Press, 2010) with Kate Gregory. Her edited books include South Pacific Museums: An Experiment in Culture (Monash e-press, 2006) with Chris Healy and, with Kylie Message, Museum Theory, which is volume 1 of the International Handbooks of Museum Studies co-edited by Sharon Macdonald and Helen Rees Leahy (Wiley and Sons 2015).
Read more on Andrea's profileResearch interests
Andrea's research interests range across the museum and heritage fields and are informed by theoretical, historical and professional practice concerns. She brings an interdisciplinary approach to her research, locating her work at the intersection of history, museology and cultural studies. Her interests include
1) Theorising museum practice using cultural studies approaches to the study of exhibitions and the policy discourses that surround them.
2) Embedding these within an awareness of institutional practices and ethos, that is speaking from practice up to theoretical debates rather than the other way round.
3) Focussing on relations between museums and communities.
4) Focussing on the concept of interactivity, using this to understand the impact of current media culture on exhibition design and interpretation practices.
Her contribution to theorizing museums has been to create a parallel space to the governmentality approach informed by the work of Michel Foucault. She has developed an argument for museums as dialogic spaces which use a variety of interpretation strategies and curatorial practices to engage in conversation across difference. She has opened up a space in which museums can be thought of as spaces of potentiality rather than either hegemonic closure or consumed by instrumentalist forms of governmentality.
She has done this along two main axis. The first is through studies of relations between museums and communities where she has looked at the representation of migration and cultural diversity (Witcomb 1998, 2003, 2009 and with Hutchison, 2013 ) and at the ways in which local museums respond to governmentalist agendas (Witcomb and Mauldon 1996, Witcomb 2003). The other has been to analyse the ways in which contemporary media culture has influenced interpretation strategies, either by creating spaces in which visitors can insert themselves into the exhibitions (Witcomb 1994, 2003, 2007) or, more recently, by exploring the connection between the use of multimedia and spaces for cross-cultural communication that aim to bridge cultural difference rather than emphasising the separation between groups around identity. In this context Andrea is interested in exploring affective experiences in museums and heritage sites either through the use of multimedia (Witcomb 2007, 2015), the art of installation (Witcomb and Gregory 2007) and through objects (2009, 2013, 2016).
Affiliations
International Cultural Studies Association
Teaching interests
Andrea's approach to teaching is always to bring a discussion of practice in conversation with a knowledge of the theory about and the history of, the institutions engaged in producing and representing cultural heritage.
Units taught
Andrea teaches AIM 727 (Exhibitions) and AIM 715 (Virtual Heritage)
Knowledge areas
History and theory of museums
The uses of multimedia in exhibitions and heritage sites
Using heritage to develop cross-cultural understanding
The interpretation of difficult histories
Relations between museums and communities
Professional activities
Director, Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific
National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Collections Committee
Historians Special Interest Group Committee, Museums Australia
Member of editorial boards for the following Journals: International Journal of Cultural Studies (Sage); Museum and Society; International Journal of Heritage Studies (Routledge); Public History Review, MIDAS.
Projects
Current research projects include:
1) An ARC funded project, 'Collecting the West' (LP160100078) led by Prof Alistair Patterson from UWA and Prof. Andrea Witcomb from Deakin. Other Chief Investigators include Professor Jane Lydon, Professor Stephen Hopper; Professor Jenny Gregory; Dr Shino Konishi; Dr Jacqueline Van Gent; Dr Toby Burrows; Dr Tiffany Shellam. The industry partners include the Western Australian Museum, The Alexander State Library, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Brittish Museum.
Recent projects include:
2) An ARC funded project, Australian Heritage Abroad: Managing Australia's Extraterritorial War Heritage (DP1094418). Andrea is the lead CI on this project with Prof. William Logan from CHCAP, Dr Bart Ziino (Deakin) and Professor Joan Beaumont (ANU).
3) An ARC funded project, "Collecting institutions: cultural diversity and the making of citizenship in Australia since the 1970s" (DP120100594). Andrea is the lead CI with A/Prof. Kylie Message (ANU), Dr Ian Mcshane (Swinburne), and PIs Prof. Simon Knell (Leicester University, UK) and Prof. Arne Amundsen (University of Oslo).
4) 'Museum Theory' a volume (co-editing with A/Prof. Kylie Message from the ANU) that is part of a series called the International Handbooks of Museum Studies commissioned by Blackwell. The general series is edited by Professor Sharon MacDonald and Dr Helen Rees Leahy.
5) A series of papers exploring the relationships between objects, exhibitions and affect.
Publications
Port Arthur and the spectre of 'unnatural acts' in Australia
A Witcomb
(2021), Vol. 46, pp. 309-323, Landscape Research, C1
"Nature's Marvels": The Value of Collections Extracted from Colonial Western Australia
A Paterson, A Witcomb
(2021), Vol. 45, pp. 197-220, Journal of Australian Studies, C1
A Witcomb
(2020), pp. 171-189, Museums, History and the Intimate Experience of the Great War: Love and Sorrow, London, Eng., B1
Andrea Witcomb, Alexandra Bounia, Evthymios Papataxiarchis
(2020), pp. 147-163, Migrant, multicultural and diasporic heritage : beyond and between borders, Abingdon, Eng., B1
M Lobo, M Duffy, A Witcomb, C Brennan-Horley, D Kelly, K Barry, D Bissell, C Buckle, R Cretney, T Harada, M Fabian Hasna, N Kon-yu, F Shahani, S Sumartojo, E Van Holstein, P Wolifson
(2020), Vol. 44, pp. 406-426, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, C1
Denise Cook, Andrea Witcomb
(2020), Vol. 35, pp. 89-109, Studies in Western Australian History, Crawley, W. A., C1
Understanding the role of affect in producing a critical pedagogy for history museums
Andrea Witcomb
(2020), pp. 137-167, CULTURE ET MUSEES, C1
Andrea Witcomb, Alexandra Bounia
(2019), pp. 13-21, The Routledge handbook of memory and place, London, Eng., B1
Andrea Witcomb
(2019), pp. 203-218, Remembering Migration : Oral Histories and Heritage in Australia, London, Eng., B1
L Cramer, A Witcomb
(2019), Vol. 25, pp. 128-142, International Journal of Heritage Studies, C1
Affective practices of learning at the museum: children's critical encounters with the past
A Witcomb, Dianne Mulcahy
(2018), pp. 213-229, Emotion, affective practices, and the past in the present, Abington, Eng., B1
Xenophobia: museums, refugees and fear of the other
Andrea Witcomb
(2018), pp. 74-87, The contemporary museum : shaping museums for the global now, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Curating relations between 'us and them': the changing role of migration museums in Australia
Andrea Witcomb
(2018), pp. 262-278, Curatopia: museums and the future curatorship, Manchester, Eng., B1
Remembering and fighting for their own: Vietnam veterans and the Long Tan cross
L Cramer, A Witcomb
(2018), Vol. 49, pp. 83-102, Australian historical studies, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Collections without End The ghostly presences of Captain Matthew McVicker Smyth
Andrea Witcomb, Alistair Paterson
(2018), Vol. 6, pp. 94-111, MUSEUM WORLDS, C1
Melancholy and the continent of fire
T Bristow, A Witcomb
(2016), pp. 72-86, A cultural history of climate change, London, Eng., B1
Beyond sentimentality and glorification: using a history of emotions to deal with the horrors of war
A Witcomb
(2016), Vol. 1, pp. 205-220, Memory, place and identity : commemoration and remembrance of war and conflict, Abingdon, Eng., B1
The Thai-Burma Railway: asymmetrical and transitional memories
J Beaumont, A Witcomb
(2015), Vol. 101, pp. 67-88, The Pacific War: Aftermaths. remembrance and culture, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Cultural pedagogies in the museum: walking, listening and feeling
A Witcomb
(2015), pp. 158-170, Cultural pedagogies and human conduct, London, Eng., B1
Thinking about others through museums and heritage
A Witcomb
(2015), pp. 130-143, The Palgrave handbook of contemporary heritage research, Basingstoke, Eng., B1
Introduction: museum theory, an expanded field
K Message, A Witcomb
(2015), Vol. 1, pp. xxv-Lxiii, Museum theory, Oxford, Eng., B1
Toward a pedagogy of feeling: understanding how museums create a space for cross-cultural encounters
A Witcomb
(2015), pp. 321-344, Museum theory, Chichester, Eng, B1
A Witcomb
(2015), Vol. 28, pp. 461-478, A companion to heritage studies, Oxford, Eng., B1
Thinking about Others through Museums and Heritage
Andrea Witcomb
(2015), pp. 130-143, The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research, London, Eng., B1-1
Museum Theory: An Expanded Field
Kylie Message, Andrea Witcomb
(2015), Vol. 1, pp. 1-30, The international handbook of museum studies, London, Eng., B1-1
M Hutchison, A Witcomb
(2014), pp. 228-243, Museums and Migration: History, memory and Politics, London, Eng., B1
"Look, Listen and Feel": The first peoples exhibition at the Bunjilaka Gallery, Melbourne Museum
Andrea Witcomb
(2014), Vol. 1, pp. 49-62, Thema La revue des Musées de la civilistion, Québec City, C1
A Witcomb
(2013), pp. 152-170, Heritage and tourism : place, encounter, engagement, Oxon, Eng., B1
Testimony, memory, and art at the Jewish Holocaust museum, Melbourne, Australia
A Witcomb
(2013), pp. 260-274, Museums and communities : curators, collections and collaboration, London, England, B1
Messages from Long Tan, Vietnam: memorialisation, reconciliation, and historical justice
W Logan, A Witcomb
(2013), Vol. 45, pp. 255-278, Critical Asian studies, Essex, Eng., C1
Understanding the role of affect in producing a critical pedagogy for history museums
A Witcomb
(2013), Vol. 28, pp. 255-271, Museum management and curatorship, London, England, C1
Engaging with the future of 'critical heritage studies': looking back in order to look forward
A Witcomb, K Buckley
(2013), Vol. 19, pp. 562-578, International journal of heritage studies, Abingdon, England, C1
Using souvenirs to rethink how we tell histories of migration : some thoughts
A Witcomb
(2012), pp. 36-50, Narrating Objects, Collecting Stories, Abingdon, England, B1
On memory, affect and atonement : the Long Tan memorial cross(es)
A Witcomb
(2012), Vol. 24, pp. 35-42, Historic environment, Melbourne, Vic, C1
From the barracks to the burrup : The National Trust in Western Australia
A Witcomb, K Gregory
(2010), Sydney, N.S.W., A1
Remembering the dead by affecting the living : the case of a miniature model of Treblinka
A Witcomb
(2010), pp. 39-52, Museum materialities : objects, engagements, interpretations, New York, N. Y., B1
A Witcomb
(2010), pp. 245-264, Hot topics, public culture, museums, Newcastle, England, B1
Dealing with the past in the present : why displaying the art of holocaust is important
A Witcomb
(2010), pp. 12-15, Out of the dark : the emotional legacy of the Holocaust, Parkville, Vic., J2
Migration, social cohesion and cultural diversity : can museums move beyond pluralism
A Witcomb
(2009), Vol. 15, pp. 49-66, Humanities research, Canberra, A.C.T., C1
The past in the present: towards a politics of care at the national trust of Australia (WA)
A Witcomb
(2008), pp. 169-180, Heritage and identity: engagement and demission in the contemporary world, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
A Witcomb
(2007), pp. 35-48, Theorizing digital cultural heritage : a critical discourse, Cambridge, Mass., B1
Growing up between two languages/two worlds: learning to live without belonging to terra
A Witcomb
(2007), pp. 83-95, Translating lives : living with two languages and cultures, St Lucia, Qld., B1
Beyond nostalgia : the role of affect in generating historical understanding at heritage sites
K Gregory, A Witcomb
(2007), pp. 263-275, Museum revolutions : how museums change and are changed, London, England, B1
'A place for all of us'? Museums and communities
A Witcomb
(2007), pp. 133-156, Museums and their Communities, B1-1
An architecture of rewards: a new poetics to exhibition design?
A Witcomb
(2007), pp. 19-33, Museology, [Greece], C1
How style came to matter : do we need to move beyond the politics of representation?
A Witcomb
(2006), South Pacific museums : experiments in culture, Clayton, Vic., B1
Interactivity: thinking beyond
A Witcomb
(2006), pp. 353-361, Companion to museum studies, Malden, Mass., B1-1
Experiments in Culture : An Introduction
Chris Healy, Andrea Witcomb
(2006), South Pacific Museums : Experiments in Culture, Clayton, Vic., B1-1
How British is the National Trust of Australia (WA)? A case study into the power of a name
A Witcomb
(2004), pp. 840-853, Exploring the British world : identity, cultural production, institutions, Melbourne, Vic., B1-1
Children, media and the public sphere in Chinese Australia
Y Chu, S Hemelryk Donald, A Witcomb
(2003), pp. 261-274, Political communications in greater China : the construction and reflection of identity, London, England, B1-1
Is it armageddon? Some problems of discourses of change in museums
A Witcomb
(2002), pp. 158-172, Start trek and endgame : millenial politics, narratives, images : a selection of papers from the Australian and South Pacific Association for Comparative Literature Studies Conference, Fremantle Western Australia, 11-13 December 1997, Bentley, W.A., B1-1
On the Side of the Object: an Alternative Approach to Debates About Ideas, Objects and Museums
Andrea Witcomb
(1997), Vol. 16, pp. 383-399, Museum Management and Curatorship, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1-1
Postmodern space and the museum-the displacement of 'public' narratives
A Witcomb
(1994), Vol. 4, pp. 239-262, Social Semiotics, Abingdon, Eng., C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
'Place, taste and tradition'. A history of ideas about heritage in Western Australia as a foundation for change
Prof Andrea Witcomb
ARC Linkage - Projects
- 2007: $18,962
Australian Heritage Abroad: Managing Australia's Extraterritorial War Heritage
Prof Andrea Witcomb, Prof William Logan, Prof Joan Beaumont, Dr Bart Ziino
ARC - Discovery Projects
- 2016: $4,815
- 2012: $43,069
- 2011: $38,782
- 2010: $63,694
Collecting Institutions, cultural diversity and the making of citizenship in Australia since the 1970s
Prof Andrea Witcomb, Dr Kylie Message, Dr Ian McShane, Prof Simon Knell, Prof Arne Amundsen
ARC - Discovery Projects
- 2015: $3,397
- 2014: $32,930
- 2013: $17,277
- 2012: $58,059
Collecting the West: Reimagining Western Australia from its collections
Mr Alistair Paterson, Prof Andrea Witcomb, Alec Coles, Jane Lydon, Stephen Hopper, Jenny Gregory, Dr Shino Konishi, Jacqueline Van Gent, Dr Toby Burrows, A/Prof Tiffany Shellam, Jeremy Hill, Sarah Longair, Gaye Sculthorpe, Kathleen (Kate) Gregory, Damien Webb, Corioli Souter, Amy Wegerhoff, Patricia McDonald, Moya Smith, Diana Jones, Melissa Harpley
ARC Linkage - Projects
- 2019: $71,853
- 2018: $66,955
- 2017: $62,505
- 2016: $54,679
Other Public Sector Funding
Landscaping to Manufacturing: The Wool Industry in Geelong
Prof Clare Bradford, Prof Hisham Elkadi, A/Prof Dirk De Bruyn, Prof Andrea Witcomb, Prof Emily Potter
City of Greater Geelong - Creative Communities Grants
- 2013: $5,000
Industry and Other Funding
The provision of a history of the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre, Melbourne, as described in the proposal in Schedule A to this Agreement.
Prof Andrea Witcomb, A/Prof Michele Langfield, Dr Linda Young, Ms Pam Maclean
JHC Grant - Research - Jewish Holocaust Centre Inc
- 2009: $32,212
- 2008: $38,146
Supervisions
Ezra Saldin
Thesis entitled: Excavating the power politics of heritage in post-war Sri Lanka
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Luke Charles James
Thesis entitled: Experts in the World Heritage Regime: Between Protection and Prestige
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Hendrik Willem Berrevoets
Thesis entitled: The Myth of Chinese Market Gardening
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Tanya Zoe Robinson
Thesis entitled: Museums as Fashion Media: Assembling Fashion in Australasian Museums
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Junjie Su
Thesis entitled: Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding in the Context of Tourism: A Case Study of Lijiang, China
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Karen Schamberger
Thesis entitled: Identity, Belonging and Cultural Diversity in Australian Museums
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Paulette Wallace
Thesis entitled: Approaching cultural landscapes in post-settler societies: ideas, policies, practices
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ashton Sinamai
Thesis entitled: An Un-Inherited Past: Preserving the Khami World Heritage Site, Zimbabwe
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Anne Faithfull
Thesis entitled: Hair samples from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in museum collections
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Michelle Joy Stevenson
Thesis entitled: Snowflakes in a Sunburnt Country: Heritage Ensembles of Australian Skiing
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Sofya Shahab
Thesis entitled: Weaponising Affect: The turbulent displacements of heritage destruction in Iraq and Syria
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Anne Laura Kraak
Thesis entitled: World Heritage and Human Rights in Bagan, Myanmar
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Anne Helen Kershaw
Thesis entitled: Coproduction in Museums: A study of museum work with culturally diverse communities
Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Marketing
Diane Christine Siebrandt
Thesis entitled: Military Occupation of Heritage Sites: Orientalism, Archaeology and the Iraq War
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Sally Watterson
Thesis entitled: Jinhin Mongol / True Mongolian: Mongolian museums and the construction of national identity
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Louise Fortunata Zarmati
Thesis entitled: Teaching History in Australian Museums: Pedagogy and Praxis of Museum Educators
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences