Simon started following the work of Alison Clark, King's College London, Menzies Centre for Australian Studies.
Simon started following the work of Helen Goodman, Royal Holloway, University of London, English.
Simon added a talk.
Faculty Member, History
Monash University (Australia), School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies
Lecturer in Australian History
About
I currently work in the UK as a Lecturer in the Department of History at King's College London. Between 2004 and 2008, with the benefit of a Northcote Scholarship, I studied for my doctorate at Monash University in Melbourne. I also hold an undergraduate degree in history from Warwick University and a Master's in modern history from University College London. Prior to my current appointment I was the 2011 Rydon Fellow with the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King's College London.
My research explores the processes of 'making place', the evolution of youth cultures and the Australian presence in Britain. For my PhD ('The Territories of Youth: Young People and Public Space in Melbourne, c. 1870-1901'), I analysed of the relationship between young people’s activities in the public domain and the shaping of the modern city. Ranging across topics including urban play and autonomy, the hidden economies of the streets, consumerism, courtship, gang culture, the politics of urban display, the regulation of behaviour and national identity, the thesis adopted an interdisciplinary approach to address related issues within urban history and cultural geography.
In July 2010 this study was awarded the Australian Historical Association's biennial Serle Award for best doctoral thesis in Australian history submitted in 2008-09. For further details see: http://www.theaha.org.au/awards/serle/winners.htm. Using this research, I am now completing a book typescript for Ashgate's 'Studies in Childhood Series', with the working title 'Crafting Melbourne's Youthscape, 1870-1914: Young People and Public Space'. For other titles in the series, see: http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=2402
Alongside my interest in historical youth cultures, I have also written on various aspects of the Australian community in Britain, including a short history of the Australian High Commission, a consideration of the role of Walkabout pubs and the 'cultural cringe', and a history of a nineteenth- and twentieth-century expatriate newspaper, the 'British Australasian'.
As well as pursuing these research interests, I co-edit a journal, 'Reviews in Australian Studies', with colleagues at King's College London and the University of New England. For the latest issue see: http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/ras. I also co-convene a seminar series on 'Life-Cylces' at the Institute of Historical Research in London. For details, see: http://www.history.ac.uk/events/seminars/226. I am also an administrator for an online Australian studies research community: in facebook search 'MCAS Australian Studies Network' and select 'like' to receive details of forthcoming events.
Email: simon.sleight@kcl.ac.uk
