MissAnabelle Selvaggio

A PhD student at Deakin University, Anabelle is researching Sicilian history in Australia, charting Sicilian migration and considering how Sicilian migrants and second and third generation migrants remember Australian history. This research will engage with oral histories with generations of Sicilian migrants and their children and grandchildren living in Australia, also considering the impacts of Sicilian migration on Australia today.

Guided by Principal Supervisor, Dr Jonathan Ritchie, and Associate Supervisor Dr Sarah Pinto, Anabelle’s research will consider how historians can reapproach Australian history by including ‘other’ voices in our national archive. 

Anabelle’s Honours thesis, completed in 2023, charted the Australian perceptions of Papua New Guinea in newspaper articles before, during and after colonisation, reflecting on the relationship between colonialism and Australia’s national identity.