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Dr Jane Hunt

Assistant Professor

Level 4, Building 1a, Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University

Faculty of Society & Design

Accepting PhD Students

Professional biography

Dr Hunt has taught a range of Australian History, Australian Studies, Australian Cultural History and Modern History subjects across seven Australian universities since 1999. Her research interests include various aspects of Australian cultural history, among them female cultural authority; cultural histories of running and triathlon; and the interrelationship between sport and understandings of identity and place. In 2009, Dr Hunt received the Fryer Library Award for her project ‘Daphne Mayo – three snapshots’. This project allowed Hunt to continue her research into female cultural authority- in this instance, the strategies that sculptor Daphne Mayo developed in order to open up Queensland to the arts and artistic thinking endorsed by the art worlds of Europe, America, and the rest of the world. Hunt has published articles in numerous journals, including Australian Historical Studies, Journal of Australian Studies, Australian Cultural History, Australian Literary Studies, and has work forthcoming in Hecate, and the major international journal Women’s History Review. Hunt has also contributed numerous entries to the Australian Dictionary of Biography and delivered conference and seminar papers around Australia, and in Scotland. She is currently working on two book projects: a cultural history of triathlon in Australia, and the sporting histories of the Gold Coast.

Research interests

I have twenty years experience teaching a range of Australian History, Australian Studies, Australian Cultural History and Modern History subjects across seven Australian universities. I graduated from Macquarie University with a Doctor of Philosophy in 2002, having conducted research on women in twentieth century Australian cultural history.

My research is driven by a key question: how does the ordinary person shape cultural practices and tastes? My Honours and doctoral theses focused on the ways in which women initiated, encouraged, and drew attention to a range of creative practices that eventually became institutionalised as features of the Australian fine arts landscape. From 2010 I channeled this interest in the processes of cultural agency into research relating to sport, in particular my own personal hobby, triathlon. This research resulted in the publication in 2014 of a well-received major piece of work, Multisport Dreaming: the foundations of triathlon in Australia www.multisportdreaming.com.

My current research brings the two strands together in the form of a case study of women in triathlon history. Triathlon appears to have a strong track record in terms of gender equity. As Leanne Evans, former EO of the Australian Women Sport and Recreation Association (now Women Sport Australia) put it, we need to understand the "push and shove moments," that appear to lead to advances in the pursuit of gender equity in sport. We also need to understand where the advances are incomplete or vulnerable.

As a cultural historian I am interested in the ways in which women can and have shaped triathlon, and believe that by centering histories of the sport on the stories women choose to share it is possible to gain insight into the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in sport. Part of the challenge relates to the task of accessing the vast array of stories that remain untold in public settings. I am thus also interested in the possibilities inherent in open access digital archives as a means for collecting and sharing digital surrogates of triathlon ephemera and narratives about triathlon's past as told voluntarily and shaped independently by those who choose to tell their stories. I am thus also engaged currently in the task of developing a digital portal with the potential to support my own research, and to become a rich resource for scholars, women, triathletes, sports governing bodies and government sports entities interested in the study of women in sports. 

Teaching expertise

Australian Studies Australian History Australian Cultural History Australian Popular Culture Modern European History

Professional admissions

  • Australian Historical Association (member - former Executive Officer)
  • Network for Research in Women’s History (member)
  • Australian Society of Sports History (member - 2011 conference working group)
  • International Australian Studies Association (member)

Qualifications

  • History, PhD, Macquarie University, Award Date: 10 Apr 2002

Fields of Research

  • Historical studies

Statement for HDR students

I have identified many areas of specific interest for sport, society and culture researchers within the sport of triathlon. Triathlon can be examined for insights into the Olympic order, the tensions between commercial and voluntary forces within established sports, and the relationships between sports and identity, particularly in terms of race, gender and class. It can also be considered from the methodological perspective in terms of the problem commonly faced by many sporting codes, and that is the lack of formal records, particularly in terms of digital solutions.

I have lectured in eight different Australian Universities since 1999 teaching a range of Australian History, Australian Studies, Australian Cultural History and Modern History courses.

I have also supervised Higher Degree Research students working on a range of sporting, cultural or intellectual history topics.

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