Biography
After completing my PhD, I spent five years in Higher Education in the UK, first as a Research Fellow and then as a lecturer in Historical and Cultural Geography at the University of Hull. I moved to Australia in 2002 and worked in the heritage sector for 9 years. During this time I had the opportunity to work in some of Victoria's most significant places, including the Old Melbourne Gaol, Polly Woodside and the Shrine of Remembrance. These experiences have shaped my teaching and research interests which lie within the area of heritage, memory and identity.
Read more on Steven's profileResearch interests
The spatialities of difficult history and memory, particulalry as they relate to war and genocide; Holocaust pedagogy.
Affiliations
Australian Museums and Galleries Association
Museums Association (UK)
Australia ICOMOS
Units taught
AIM717 Heritage in the Field
AIM733 Applied Heritage Project
Conferences
Recent Conference Presentations
‘”Somehow the ill winds of war have been favourable to me”: travel, training, and trauma in the life and works of Louis Kahan’, ‘Imaging Emigration––Translating Exile: Cultural Translation and Knowledge Transfer on Alternative Routes of Escape from Nazi Terror in/via Austria’, Vienna, April 2019 (with Anna Hirsh)
‘Understanding emotional engagement: using visual research methodologies for visitor research’ Association of Critical Heritage Studies Conference, Hangzhou, China, September 2018 (with Kristal Buckley)
‘Crossing Geographical and Professional Boundaries: Temporary Holocaust Exhibitions, Jewish Émigré Designers and new Museum Topologies’, Association of Critical Heritage Studies Conference, Hangzhou, China, September 2018
‘Understanding engagement: using visual research methodologies for visitor research’, Museums Galleries Australia Annual Conference, June 2018
Invited speaker – Jewish Emigres Conference, Victorian and Albert Museum, London, November 2017
Before Eichmann: Holocaust Exhibitions and the Myth of Silence- Department Seminar, University of Brighton, June 2017
Invited speaker – ‘The social agency of museums in civic engagement: investigating the impact of education programs at Holocaust Museums’ Reverberations: the Holocaust, Human Rights and the Museum, Sydney February 2017 (with Donna-Lee Frieze)
Professional activities
- Cultural Tourism Victoria (Board Member) 2015 - 2019
- International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance - member of the Australian delegation and member of the Memorial and Museums Expert Working Group. https://www.holocaustremembrance.com
I have been involved in numerous committees that relate to cultural heritage issues, including: the Historic Shipwrecks Advisory Committee (a Statutory Committee reporting to the Victorian Heritage Council) 2007-2008; Australian Register of Historic Vessels Steering Committee, 2007-8; Victorian Cultural Tourism Forum Committee Member, 2007-8; Elected President Australian Maritime Museum Council, 2006-8; Elected Secretary Maritime Museum of Victoria Board of Management, 2005-7.
Publications
Understanding the Social Value of Geelong's Design and Manufacturing Heritage for Extended Reality
Kaja Antlej, Steven Cooke, Meghan Kelly, Russell Kennedy, Lauren Pikó, Ben Horan
(2023), Vol. 6, pp. 3043-3062, Heritage, Basel, Switzerland, C1
Exhibitions, healing and sharing the stories of Australian veterans
Steven Cooke
(2022), pp. 88-102, Archaeology, Heritage, and Wellbeing : Authentic, Powerful, and Therapeutic Engagement with the Past, London, Eng., B1
The Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in Australia Survey
Steven Cooke, Donna-Lee Frieze, Andrew Singleton, Matteo Vergani
(2022), Geelong, Vic., A6
Visual research methodologies and the heritage of 'everyday' places
Steven Cooke, Kristal Buckley
(2021), pp. 143-155, People-centred methodologies for heritage conservation : exploring emotional attachments to historic urban places, London, Eng., B1
Steven Cooke, Anna Hirsh
(2021), pp. 199-216, Cultural translation and knowledge transfer on alternative routes of escape from Nazi terror : meditations through migrations, London, Eng., B1
Teaching Memory: Digital Interpretation at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne
S Cooke, H Lewi
(2021), Vol. 25, pp. 308-327, Architectural Theory Review, C1
New methodologies for exploring sense of place in the historic urban landscape
Steven Cooke, Kristal Buckley
(2020), pp. 166-180, The Routledge Handbook on Historic Urban Landscapes in Asia-Pacific, London, Eng., B1
Investigating 'ordinary' landscapes: Using visual research methods to understand heritage digital technologies and sense of place
Steven Cooke, Dora Constantinidis
(2020), pp. 450-462, The Routledge international handbook of new digital practices in galleries, libraries, archives, museums and heritage sites, London, Eng., B1
Steven Cooke, Sarah Hayes, Edwina Kay, Antony Catrice
(2020), Vol. 32, pp. 28-43, Historic Environment, Melbourne, VIc., C1
Hannah Lewi, Wally Smith, Dirk vom Lehn, Steven Cooke
(2020), Abingdon, Eng., A7
Shifting responses to antisemitism and racism: temporary exhibitions at the Jewish Holocaust Centre
Steven Cooke, Donna Frieze
(2019), pp. 327-349, Holocaust memory and racism in the postwar world, Detroit, Mich., B1
S Cooke
(2018), Vol. 24, pp. 445-465, Holocaust studies, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Using the historic urban landscape to reimagine Ballarat : the local context
S Cooke, K Buckley, S Fayad
(2016), pp. 93-113, Urban heritage, development and sustainability : international frameworks, national and local governance, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Affect and the politics of testimony in Holocaust museums
S Cooke, D Frieze
(2016), pp. 75-92, Heritage, affect and emotion: Politics, practices and infrastructures., Abingdon, Eng., B1
Visitor, contributor and conversationalist: multiple digital identities of the heritage citizen
S Cooke, H Lewi, W Smith, A Murray
(2016), Vol. 28, pp. 12-24, Historic environment, Carlton, Vic., C1
The Sweetland Project. Remembering Gallipoli in the Shire of Nunawading
S Cooke
(2015), Melbourne, Vic., A1
The interior of our memories: a history of Melbourne's Jewish holocaust centre
S Cooke, D Frieze
(2015), Ormond, Vic., A1
Imagination, performance and affect: a critical pedagogy of the Holocaust?
S Cooke, D Frieze
(2015), Vol. 21, pp. 157-171, Holocaust studies. a journal of culture and history, Middlesex, Eng., C1
'On the move'? Maritime heritage and urban redevelopment in Melbourne
S Cooke
(2015), Vol. 27, pp. 24-35, Historic environment, Melbourne, Vic., C1
On an ordinary suburban street: a brief history of Melbourne's Jewish Holocaust Centre
S Cooke, D Frieze
(2015), Vol. 22, pp. 548-568, Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society, [Australia], C1-1
'Its still in your body': identity, place and performance in Holocaust testimonies
S Cooke, D Frieze
(2014), pp. 181-195, Travel and imagination, Surrey, England, B1
Community museums and the creation of a 'sense of place': Holocaust Museums in Australia
S Cooke, A Alba, D Frieze
(2014), Vol. 9, pp. 1-1, reCollections, Canberra, ACT, C1
S Drenner, T Clark, C Whitney, E Martins, S Cooke, S Hinch
(2012), Vol. 7, pp. 1-13, PLoS one, San Francisco, Calif., C1-1
P Butcher, M Broadhurst, K Hall, S Cooke
(2011), Vol. 68, pp. 572-579, ICES Journal of Marine Science, C1-1
The National Museum of Scotland : a symbol for a new Scotland?
F McLean, S Cooke
(2003), Vol. 45, Scottish affairs, Edinburgh, Scotland, C1-1
Our common inheritance? : narratives of self and other in the Museum of Scotland
S Cooke, F McLean
(2002), pp. 109-122, Celtic geographies : old culture, new times, London, England, B1-1
Tales from the Riverbank: place-marketing and maritime heritages
D Atkinson, S Cooke, D Spooner
(2002), Vol. 8, pp. 25-40, International journal of heritage studies, London, England, C1-1
S Cooke, F McLean
(2002), Vol. 118, pp. 283-298, Scottish geographical journal, Oxon, England, C1-1
Your story too? The new Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum
S Cooke
(2001), pp. 590-606, Remembering for the future : the Holocaust in an age of genocides, New York, N.Y., B1-1
S Cooke, L Jenkins
(2001), Vol. 33, pp. 382-390, Area, London, England, C1-1
Communicating national identity : visitor perceptions of the Museum of Scotland
S Cooke, F McLean
(2000), pp. 147-160, Heritage and museums : shaping national identity : papers presented at The Robert Gordon University Heritage Convention 1999, Shaftesbury, England, B1-1
Negotiating memory and identity : the Hyde Park Holocaust Memorial, London
S Cooke
(2000), Vol. 26, pp. 449-465, Journal of historical geography, London, England, C1-1
Conceptualising private and public national identities : the case of the Museum of Scotland
S Cooke, F McLean
(1999), pp. 361-365, European advances in consumer research : Bridging the Atlantic, Jouy-en-Josas, France, B1-1
Beth Shalom : rethinking history and memory
S Cooke
(1999), Vol. 8, pp. 21-41, Journal of holocaust education, London, England, C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
Citizen Heritage: Digital and Community-based Histories of Place - University of Melbourne
A/Prof Hannah Lewi, Dr Wally Smith, Prof Tom Kvan, Dr David Nichols, A/Prof Steven Cooke, Dr Dirk vom Lehn
ARC - Discovery Projects
- 2015: $4,000
- 2014: $4,000
Learning from the Past? Evaluating the impact of Holocaust museum education
Dr Avril Alba, Dr Helena Robinson, A/Prof Steven Cooke, Dr Rebecca Kummerfeld, Dr Breann Fallon, Dr Simon Holloway, Ms Kathy Baykitch
ARC Linkage - Projects
- 2023: $68,280
Other Public Sector Funding
City of Ballarat's Historic Urban Landscape
A/Prof Steven Cooke, Ms Kristal Buckley
City of Ballarat
- 2014: $5,000
- 2013: $9,000
Collaborative approaches to interpretation in Australian and Indonesian museums
A/Prof Steven Cooke
DFAT Australia-Indonesia Institute Council COVID-19 Special Grants
- 2022: $2,500
- 2021: $30,000
Towards a Holocaust Memorial Week in Australia
A/Prof Steven Cooke, Dr Donna-Lee Frieze
Department of Education, Skills and Employment (Cmwlth)
- 2021: $30,000
Industry and Other Funding
Box Hill and the Centenary of the Gallipoli Landings
A/Prof Steven Cooke
Box Hill RSL - Consultancy
- 2015: $13,000
- 2014: $13,000
- 2013: $18,580
Centenary of Box Hill RSL project
A/Prof Steven Cooke
Box Hill RSL - Consultancy
- 2018: $24,250
- 2017: $15,750
- 2016: $15,000
Sites at Risk: Guidelines for Best Practice
A/Prof Steven Cooke
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Sites at Risk Grant
- 2019: $3,134
Reconceptualising travel and trauma: Holocaust Survivors and their impact on Australian Society.
A/Prof Steven Cooke
Sir Wilfred & CH (Roger) Brookes Charitable (The Trust) Foundation
- 2020: $100,000
The Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey in Australia
A/Prof Steven Cooke, Dr Donna-Lee Frieze, Prof Andrew Singleton, Dr Matteo Vergani
Gandel Philanthropy
- 2021: $119,399
Heritage in the urban terrain: Everyday encounters with places of the past (HAUNTED)
A/Prof Olafur Rastrick, A/Prof Steven Cooke
Icelandic Research Fund
- 2022: $3,200
Supervisions
Michelle Joy Stevenson
Thesis entitled: Snowflakes in a Sunburnt Country: Heritage Ensembles of Australian Skiing
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Beatrice Harris
Thesis entitled: Negotiating Colonial Legacies: Museums and the Production of Moral Unsettlement
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Fiona Gatt
Thesis entitled: The lived experience of urbanisation in Hotham/North Melbourne, 1852-1905
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
Lorinda Cramer
Thesis entitled: Needlework and genteel identity in gold rush Victoria
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences