Karen Fox
BA(Hons), MA; PhD candidate

Karen Fox completed her BA(Hons) with a double major in History and Political Science, at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2003. She completed her MA in February 2005 with Distinction, and moved to Canberra in March 2006 to begin her doctoral research at ANU.

Her thesis is entitled Representing Difference: Prominent Maori and Aboriginal Women in the Print Media, 1950-2000 . It is a study of the lives and representations of well-known Indigenous women in Australia and New Zealandduring a time of intense social and political change.

During 2005, Karen tutored three first year classes in the History Department at Canterbury, and in 2004 and 2005 was a tutor in the Writing and Study Skills programme in the Academic Skills Centre there. She has been a research assistant for several projects since 2003.

Research interests

• Comparative and trans-national history of settler societies; colonialism
• Aboriginal Australian and Maori history
• Women’s, gender and feminist history
• Nineteenth and twentieth century Australian and New Zealand history

Publications and conference papers

Journal articles

K. Fox, 'An Encounter With the White World of Wimbledon: Evonne Goolagong and Representations of Race and Gender in Australia', Melbourne Historical Journal, 35, 2007, pp.35-49.

K. Fox and K. Pickles, ‘Success in Their Own Right: Dames on Top of the New Zealand Royal Honours System, 1917-2000’, History Now, 11 (1 and 2), 2005, pp. 24-30, available online from http://www.hist.canterbury.ac.nz/history_now.shtml.

Conference papers

'The Fame of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa: Prominent Indigenous Women in the Print Media', seminar given in the History Program, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU, 2008.

'Contested Spaces: Honours Systems in New Zealand and Australia', paper given at the Australian Historical Association Biennial Conference, Melbourne, 2008.

'Kath Walker and Patricia Grace: Writing, Representation and the Media', paper given at the New Zealand Historical Association Conference, Wellington, 2007.

'From Kath to Oodgeroo: A Controversial Life in Popular Representations', paper given at the Indigenous Biography and Autobiography Conference, Canberra, 2007.

"Dusky Aspirants for the Role"? Writing a History of the Celebration of Indigenous Women', semin given in the History Program, RSSS, ANU, 2007.

'An Encounter With the White World of Wimbledon: Evonne Goolagong and Representations of Race and Gender in Australia and New Zealand', paper given at the Pacific History Association Conference, Dunedin, 2006.

Grand Dames and Gentle Helpmeets: Gender and the Royal Honours System in New Zealand, 1917-2000, paper given at the New Zealand Historical Association Conference, Auckland, 2005

‘A Graceful, Thoughtful Act’? Bestowing Damehoods in the New Zealand Royal Honours System 1917-2000, departmental seminar, History Department, University of Canterbury, 2005

As Different as Knight and Dame: Titular Honours in New Zealand, 1917-2000, paper given at the University of Canterbury’s History Department Postgraduate Conference, 2004