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Associate Professor

Victoria Duckett

Associate Dean, International & Engagement

Faculty of Arts and Education/Office of the Executive Dean Arts and Education/Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation

Orcid identifier0000-0001-7867-5014
  • Associate Dean, International & Engagement
    Faculty of Arts and Education/Office of the Executive Dean Arts and Education/Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
  • +61 3 924 46961 (Work)
  • 0480598970 (Mobile)
  • Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125

BIO

I am an Associate Professor in Film and Co- Director of the Deakin Motion Lab. An internationally recognised scholar, feminist, researcher, and teacher with over 30 years experience in renowned universities worldwide, I promote female leadership in the creative industries and bring exposure to untold stories.

I am also the Associate Dean, Partnerships and International, in the Faculty of Arts and Education. In this capacity, I facilitate partnerships between Deakin University and fellow Universities, Colleges and arts institutions/initiatives that align with our own values and aims, both as an education and arts institution, and as a place of inclusive learning that engages students at all levels and from all backgrounds.

A peripatetic scholar, I was born in Hong Kong and subsequently educated in Australia, Finland, the US, and France. I had the good fortune to pioneer the Youth for Understanding exchange program to Finland, and to be the first international scholar to be awarded a 2 year MA scholarship and a 4 year Ph D scholarship (including a 2 year residency at the Sorbonne) in the School of Film and Television, UCLA. My PhD was completed under the supervision of Peter Wollen, Carlo Ginzburg, Vivian Sobchack, and Teshome Gabriel.

My research remains feminist, intradisciplinary and transnational in focus.
I am author of two monographs and the Chief Investigator of Deakin's first Omeka archive:

Transnational Trailblazers of Early Cinema: Sarah Bernhardt, Gabrielle Réjane, Mistinguett (University of California Press [Open Access], 2023)

Guglielmo Giannini: A Digital Archive of Film, Theatre, Entertainment, and Political Activism (Deakin University Library Repositories in collaboration with the State University of Milan, the Centro Studi del Teatro Stabile (Turin theatre archives), and with support from the Giannini family (granddaughter Sabina Ciuffini).

Seeing Sarah Bernhardt: Performance and Silent Film (University of Illinois Press [Winner of the Choice Outstanding Award for scholarly excellence] 2015)

My edited collections include:

Duckett, V., Solomon, M, Noble-Olson, M. eds. (forthcoming, 2025) Peter Wollen: Beyond Auteurism, SUNY (14 chapters, including Sarah Keller, Mark Francis, Mark Peploe, Laura Mulvey)

Myers, M., Morrison, K., Duckett, V., Torre, L. eds. (2023), Special issue: Extending Realities in Australia, Continuum.

Cambiaghi, M., De Berti, R., Duckett, V., Mosconi, E. eds. (2021) Guglielmo Giannini: Uomo di Spettacolo. Edizioni di Pagina. [The Visioni teatrali series has 18 books in its series, and is the foremost theatre publishing series in Italy].

Duckett, V., Adriaenses, V. eds (2018) The Actress Manager and Early Film, Special issue of Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, Vol. 45, SAGE

Duckett, V., Matthews, J. eds (2016) Archives and Archivists, Special issue of Feminist Media Histories, Vol. 2:1 (5 articles; 6 'Archivists speak' interviews conducted by myself with leading audiovisual archivists from national audiovisual archives in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, and Canberra).

Duckett, V., Potter, S. eds. (2015), Women and the Silent Screen, Screening the Past, Vol. 40. 11 articles, including essays by Shelley Stamp, Richard Abel, Hillary Hallett, Pam Cook.

Dall'Asta, M., Duckett, V., Tralli, L. (2013) Researching Women in Silent Cinema: New Findings and Perspectives. University of Bologna [Open Access], (437 pages, 30 chapters, including chapters by Christine Gledhill, Jane Gaines, Heide Schlüpmann).


In the words of mentor Carlo Ginzburg: “It always began with a discovery originating on the fringe of a wholly different investigation [. . . .] On each occasion I felt the sudden sensation that I had come upon something, perhaps even something important; at the same time I felt an acute awareness of ignorance.” [Ginzburg, No Island Is an Island (2000)]. I welcome MA and PhD students motivated by this same spirit of inquiry.

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CURRENT APPOINTMENT

  • Associate Dean, International & Engagement
    Deakin University, Office of the Executive Dean Arts and Education

MEDIA

Showing media thumbnails 1 to 4 out of 4.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Lecturer
    Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Centre for Ideas, Australia2009 - 2013
  • Docente
    Universita Cattolica, Communication and Performing Arts, Milan, Italy2003 - 2009
  • Lecturer
    University of Manchester, Drama, Manchester, United Kingdom2000 - 2003
  • Lecturer
    Centre Parisien d'études critiques, France1999 - 1999

NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Associate Head of School, Partnerships & International
    Deakin University, School of Communication and Creative Arts, Geelong, AustraliaFeb 2022 - Mar 2024
  • Associate Head of School, Partnerships & International
    Deakin University, School of Communication and Creative Arts1 Apr 2019 - 31 Aug 2019
  • Course Director
    Deakin University, Entertainment Production, Geelong, AustraliaFeb 2016 - Dec 2018

DEGREES

  • PhD
    University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United StatesSep 1995 - Sep 1999
  • MA
    University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United StatesSep 1993 - Sep 1995
  • Honours
    University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AustraliaFeb 1992 - Dec 1992
  • BA
    University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AustraliaFeb 1989 - Dec 1991

LANGUAGES

  • Italian
    Can read, write, speak, understand and peer review
  • French
    Can read, speak, understand and peer review
  • Finnish
    Can understand

FIELDS OF RESEARCH (2020)

  • Screen and digital media
  • Performing arts
  • Cinema studies

AVAILABILITY FOR SUPERVISION

  • Masters by Research and PhD supervision

AREA/FACULTY

  • Faculty of Arts and Education

DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL/INSTITUTE

  • Office of the Executive Dean Arts and Education

STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CENTRE

  • Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation

RESEARCH STRENGTHS