A/Prof. Helen Gardner

Helen's first book, 'Gathering for God: George Brown in Oceania' was published in 2006 by the University of Otago Press, and was shortlisted for the Ernest Scott History Prize in 2007.

Helen is currently working on two major research projects. The first is a book on  nineteenth century anthropology in Oceania with a particular focus on the early study of kinship in the region published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015:   Southern Anthropology - A History of Fison and Howitt's Kamilaroi and Kurnai

http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/southern-anthropology-the-history-of-fison-and-howitts-kamilaroi-and-kurnai-helen-gardner/?K=9781137463807. 

The second is a collaborative study on the decolonisation of Melanesia and the role of the churches in the politics of the Pacific.

Honours Coordinator School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)

The World After the War 1945-1990

Race, Science and Religion in Australasia, 1860-1920

The Decolonisation of Papua New Guinea

Pacific History - History of Christian Missions; Colonisation and Decolonisation in the Pacific - local, national and global perspectives; Church and State in the Pacific; Nation building in the Pacific Islands, historical and contemporary perspectives.

History of Anthropology: The history of anthropology in Oceania. Missionary anthropology in Oceania in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The field and the metropole in the spread of anthropological theories. The culture concept in  twentieth century Pacific history. 

2014: The Pacific History  Association Converence Taiwan

           Lorimer Fison and 'Land Tenure in Fiji'

2013: The Australian History Association Conference, Wollongong, Australia

          Theology and the Culture Concept in the Pacific 

2012: Pacific History Association Conference, Wellington, New Zealand

          Theologies of Nation in the decolonisation of the Pacific.

2010: American Anthropology Association Meeting, New Orleans, U.S.A.

          James Unaipon's kinship;

           The descent of kinship in Australia: Lorimer Fison and A. W. Howitt 

Internationalism in the Pacific: Associate Professor Fiona Paisley, Associate Professor Christopher Waters, Dr Jonathan Ritchie, Dr Geoff Gray, Dr Helen Gardner.

Decolonisation in Melanesia: Associate Professor Christopher Waters, Professor Clive Moore, Professor Judith Bennett, Dr Anne Dixon Waiko, Dr Jonathan Ritchie, Dr Helen Gardner.

Before the Field, Anthropology in Oceania: Dr Robert Kenny, Dr Martin Thomas, Dr Samuel Furphy, Dr Bronwen Douglas, Professor Jane Lydon, Associate Professor Peggy Brock.