Associate ProfessorJoanna Cruickshank

Joanna Cruickshank researches the role of religion in Australia, Britain and the British Empire, with a particular focus on the relationship between Christianity and colonisation. Her most recent publications examine the history of Aboriginal missions in Australia, the Stolen Generations and attitudes to history in Australia.. 

Joanna Cruickshank came to Deakin in 2009. Her PhD research, undertaken at the
University of Melbourne, examined the way that eighteenth-century British
people made sense of their experiences of suffering through the practice of
writing and singing hymns. This research involved a particular focus on
questions of gender.

Since coming to Deakin, Joanna has worked primarily on the history of religion
and race in Australia and the British Empire, with a continuing focus on
women's experience. Her research on women and Aboriginal missions has examined
the way that religious belief shaped white women's attitudes to race and
gender as well as their relationships with Aboriginal women. She is currently
part of an ARC Discovery Indigenous Project which examines Aboriginal
leadership in the conduct of lawful relations in Victorian history.

Joanna's research on these topics is shaped by the experience of working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the community on projects to promote truth-telling and reparations in the Australian churches and the wider society. She has helped to develop and lead the Deakin Contemporary History Survey, which surveys Australian attitudes to history and historical truth-telling. Joanna teaches units on gender and colonial history. She is currently the Discipline Convenor for the History discipline at Deakin.

Research Groups
Centre for Contemporary Histories