Our histories of the First World War often focus on those who died. This project follows those who survived as they pursued their careers in the 1920s and 30s. It presents an alternate account of the importance of WWI to Australian nation-building, one founded not on the battlefield of Gallipoli, but in the expansion and professionalization of expertise.
This project has produced a collected volume, The First World War, the Universities and the Professions, which is due for publication by Melbourne University Press in February 2019. The book examines how Australia’s extraordinary contribution to World War I extended well beyond the nation’s military forces to the expertise of its universities and professional associations, and opportunities for training its men and women. In making these links […]
Dr James Waghorne one of the Chief Investigators on the Expert Nation project published an article for Remembrance Day, November 11 2017. Appearing in the University of Melbourne’s Pursuit publication the article reveals how research for this project has identified 156 additional names, which were absent from the original University of Melbourne’s War Memorial Book. One of the names added is Dr Mary De Garis, the second female […]
British intelligence tends to conjure up thoughts of MI6, James Bond and of course the Cold War. It was WWI, however, that was the first international conflict that British intelligence agencies became an important part of the government’s overall war effort. This is of particular relevance to the Expert Nation project. While doing research on the graduates of the Women’s College within the University of […]
