History and Theology experts
Murdoch University’s history experts cover a wide range of areas including cultural history with an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural focus on the histories of Australia, Europe, South-East Asia and the US; regional history focusing on the history of modern nation states; and, thematic history including important international themes in history.
Murdoch’s theology experts encompass a wide range of disciplines: literary and historical analysis of the writings of the Old Testament and New Testament; history of the Church from its beginnings to the present day; Christian thought and philosophy including ethics, in historical and contemporary perspective (Systematic Theology), and Christian practices, their forms, history, and rationale (Practical Theology).
 |
Emeritus Associate Professor Jim MacbethEthics, sustainability and the Utopian tourist With a background in the social sciences, Prof Jim Macbeth’s tourism expertise lies in policy and planning issues, tourists themselves (motivation, impacts) and sustainable tourism (impacts, community, environment). His work has also embraced tourism ethics and protected areas within the general rubric of ecotourism.Besides national projects, Prof Macbeth has been involved in WA research related to Rottnest, Fremantle, Ningaloo, the Great Southern and national parks. Prof Macbeth has written articles for Australian and international journals and has entries in the Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia, in addition to an historical chapter on tourism in the book Voices from the West End (of Fremantle). He is a member of Murdoch’s Nature Tourism Research Group. |
 |
Associate Professor Andrew Webster
Modern European history, international disarmament, peace and conflict studies Associate Professor Andrew Webster teaches modern European history with a particular focus on Britain, France and Germany during the era of the two World Wars, as well as the history of European political development since 1945.His research interests include the history of international disarmament, the League of Nations, and British and French foreign and security policy. He is currently serving as Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities. |
 |
Associate Professor Jan GothardAustralian history, migration, disability, oral history Associate Professor Jan Gothard teaches Australian history, with a particular focus on Australia-Asian historical relations, and environmental history. |
 |
Dr Alexander S JensenContemporary and historical theology Dr Jensen is Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology. His areas of research include questions in contemporary theology as well as the history of Christian thought. |
 |
Associate Professor Rowan StrongEighteenth century British history and Christian history in Australia and New Zealand Associate Professor Rowan Strong is an expert in eighteenth century British religious history, Christian history in Australia and New Zealand, and the Church of England since the sixteenth century.Associate Professor Strong has been published internationally in the field of church history. He is currently examining Anglicanism in the British Empire. |
 |
Emeritus Professor Bob ReeceAustralian and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) history Eminent historian Emeritus Professor Bob Reece is the author of a book and numerous published articles about the life of Daisy May Bates, the eccentric Irish anthropologist and Aboriginal welfare worker who died in 1951.A specialist in Aboriginal history, Australian colonial history, the Irish in Australia, and the history of Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), he is the founding editor of the journals Aboriginal History and The Australian Journal of Irish Studies. Professor Reece is currently working on a biography of Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak. |
 |
Professor Michael SturmaSocial history of crime, naval history in the Pacific, Australian popular culture and film Professor Michael Sturma is an expert on naval history in the Pacific region during World War II, publishing widely-read accounts of historic naval events in Death at a Distance: The Loss of the Legendary USS Harder and The USS Flier: Death and Survival on a World War II Submarine. He is also the editor for The Great Circle, a peer-reviewed journal of the Australian Association for Maritime History. Professor Sturma pioneered research into the social history of crime and policing in Australia, culminating in publishing the book Vice in a Vicious Society: Crime and Convicts in Mid-Nineteenth Century New South Wales in 1983. Other publishing credits include Australian Rock’n’Roll: The First Wave and South Sea Maidens: Western Fantasy and Sexual Politics in the South Pacific, and Surface and Destroy: The Submarine Gun War in the Pacific. |
To reach these experts for media enquiries, contact:
| Rob Payne Media & Communications Coordinator Phone: 08 9360 2491 r.payne@murdoch.edu.au |
Candice Barnes Media & Communications Coordinator Phone: 08 9360 2474 c.barnes@murdoch.edu.au |
Pepi Smyth Media & Communications Coordinator Phone: 08 9360 1289 p.smyth@murdoch.edu.au |
For all other enquiries, please ring reception on 08 9360 6000.
