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Probyn-Rapsey, Fiona S. Professor

Head of School

  • School of Humanities and Social Inquiry
  • Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts

Overview

Prior to coming to the University of Wollongong in 2016, Fiona was Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney, 2003-2016.

Research Overview

  • Fiona’s research connects feminist critical race studies and Animal studies (also known as human-animal studies), examining where, when and how gender, race and species intersect.

    Her first book Made to Matter: White Fathers, Stolen Generations (2013), examines how the white fathers of Indigenous children (many now part of the Stolen Generations) reacted to and were positioned by Australian assimilation policies. This book highlights a research interest in the reproductive and biopolitical nature of settler colonial societies, a common thread that extends into more recent research in animal studies, including 2 co-edited books, Animal Death (2013) and also Animals in the Anthropocene: Critical Perspectives on Non-human futures (2015).

    From 2011-2015, Fiona was convener (and founder) of HARN: Human Animal Research Network, at the University of Sydney.

    Fiona is currently working on an anthology of essays with Professor Lori Gruen (Wesleyan University) called Animaladies, as well as monograph on the cultural politics of eradication. 

Selected Publications

Advisees

  • Graduate Advising Relationship

    Degree Research Title Advisee
    Doctor of Philosophy Framing contradictions and forms of life: veganism and occupation in Israeli society Alloun, Esther
    Doctor of Philosophy Gender, Species and the Cultural Politics of Eradication Varvaro, Kathleen
    Master of Research -LHA Shark-Human Encounters Along the Coastline of New South Wales Culic, Kat
    Doctor of Philosophy Feral-Feline Fictions Leary, Rachel
    Master of Research -LHA Masculinity, Colonialism and Australian Foxes Jackson-Martin, Charlie

Research Overview

  • Fiona’s research connects feminist critical race studies and Animal studies (also known as human-animal studies), examining where, when and how gender, race and species intersect.

    Her first book Made to Matter: White Fathers, Stolen Generations (2013), examines how the white fathers of Indigenous children (many now part of the Stolen Generations) reacted to and were positioned by Australian assimilation policies. This book highlights a research interest in the reproductive and biopolitical nature of settler colonial societies, a common thread that extends into more recent research in animal studies, including 2 co-edited books, Animal Death (2013) and also Animals in the Anthropocene: Critical Perspectives on Non-human futures (2015).

    From 2011-2015, Fiona was convener (and founder) of HARN: Human Animal Research Network, at the University of Sydney.

    Fiona is currently working on an anthology of essays with Professor Lori Gruen (Wesleyan University) called Animaladies, as well as monograph on the cultural politics of eradication. 

Selected Publications

Advisees

  • Graduate Advising Relationship

    Degree Research Title Advisee
    Doctor of Philosophy Framing contradictions and forms of life: veganism and occupation in Israeli society Alloun, Esther
    Doctor of Philosophy Gender, Species and the Cultural Politics of Eradication Varvaro, Kathleen
    Master of Research -LHA Shark-Human Encounters Along the Coastline of New South Wales Culic, Kat
    Doctor of Philosophy Feral-Feline Fictions Leary, Rachel
    Master of Research -LHA Masculinity, Colonialism and Australian Foxes Jackson-Martin, Charlie
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  Publication History