Dr Katharine (Kate) McGregor
Senior Lecturer
- Telephone:
- (+61 3) 8344 3379
- Email:
- k.mcgregor@unimelb.edu.au
- Fax:
- (+61 3) 8344 7894
- Location:
- Room 327 Bridge
History, John Medley Building
The University of Melbourne VIC 3010
Academic Profile (click on the link for more information)
Biography
Kate McGregor is a historian of Indonesia. Her research interests include Indonesian historiography, memories of violence, the Indonesian military, Islam and identity in Indonesia and more recently an examination of ‘cross-cultural’ responses to high profile criminal trials. She teaches in the areas of Southeast Asian history and Asian thematic history. Kate also co-ordinates a first year inter-disciplinary arts subject called Understanding Asia.
Kate’s first monograph, History in Uniform: Military Ideology and the Construction of Indonesia's Past, was published by Singapore University Press in conjunction with KITLV and the Asian Studies Association of Australia in February 2007. The book examines military representations of the Indonesian past found in a variety of media including museums, monuments, commemorative days, films and written texts including the National History textbook. Based on extensive Indonesian archival records for museums, monuments and military histories in interviews with Indonesian history makers, propagandists and artists it examine how history is constructed and what choices are made about these representations and why. Military representations of the past are significant because of the military’s elevated position in Indonesian society and their dual defence and socio-political roles. This work has already been translated into Indonesian.
Kate has served as an editorial board member of the widely read magazine, Inside Indonesia. She is currently a councillor of the national Association of Asian Studies of Australia. In 2001 she proposed and co-convened the first national Indonesia Council Open conference as a means of bringing together established academics and postgraduates working on Indonesia. This conference is now a biennial national event.
Kate is currently Co-Convenor of the university-wide Indonesia Forum. The Indonesia Forum (IF) is an informal and open network of academics and administrative staff of the University who share a common interest and professional involvement in Indonesia. For the past ten years the IF has hosted major functions which have brought together the wider Melbourne Indonesian and Indonesia-interested community on campus.
Kate is also Chair of Ethics for the School of Historical Studies.
Kate supervises across a range of topics on Southeast Asian history at both Honours and Postgraduate levels.
Positions Held
- Chair of Ethics, School of Historical Studies, the University of Melbourne, 2007–2009
- Conference Co-Convenor for the international conference 'The 1965-66 Indonesian Killings Revisited', National Univesity of Singapore, 17-19 June 2009.
- Southeast Asia Region Councillor for the Association of Asian Studies of Australia 2006-2010
- Senior Visiting Fellowship in the Religion Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, April-June 2008
- Convenor of the University of Melbourne Indonesia Forum 2007-2008
- Member of the University of Melbourne’s Research Integrity Committee 2007-2009
- Deputy Convenor of the University of Melbourne Indonesia Forum 2006
- Board Member Inside Indonesia 2003-2004
- Conference Co-Convenor for the Indonesia Council (Asian Studies Association of Australia) first National Open Conference for postgraduates and academics 11-12July 2001
Research
Kate is currently working on a project entitled Islam and the Politics of Memory in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia. This project, funded by an Australian Research Council Grant, examines how memories of violence shape personal and group identities. The analysis is based on two cases of violence in Indonesia including the 1965 killings of approximately 500,000 Indonesians. Memories of these killings have created parallel ambiguities and conflicts to the much studied memories of the holocaust in Europe, memories of settler violence in Australia and memories of the Partition in India, but we know far less about how constructions of this past have affected societal attitudes and identities.
Kate has recently commenced work on a collaborative project with Richard Pennell (also in the School of Historical Studies) entitled ‘Enemy Law: Cross-Cultural Responses to the Prosecutions of High Profile Foreign Criminals’. This project focuses on cases of individuals of one culture tried under the laws of another. We will examine both how defendants and prosecutors use ideas of culture in the trials and broader ideological and political intentions.
Grants
2009 ARC APFRN Grant for Australian participants in the international conference ‘The 1965-66 Indonesian Killings Revisited’, National University of Singapore, June 17-19 2009
2007-2009: ARC Discovery Grant ‘Islam and the Politics of Memory in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia’, to the value of $194,000
2007: Melbourne University Publication Grant $4500
2006: Melbourne University Publication Grant $4000
2006: Melbourne University Research Grants Scheme (ARC Near Miss) $20,000
2006: Melbourne University Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme $14750
2004: Melbourne University Seeding Grant $4300
Publications
Books
- McGregor, Katharine E., History in Uniform: Military Ideology and the Construction of Indonesia's Past, Singapore University Press, University of Hawaii Press and KITLV and the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Singapore, 2007
- McGregor, Katharine E. 2008, Ketika Sejarah Berseragam: Ideologi Militer dalam Menyusun Masa Lalu, Syarikat, Yogyakarta, (translated version of History in Uniform)
Book Chapters
- McGregor, Katharine E. (2009). ‘A Bridge and a Barrier: Islam, Reconciliation and the 1965 Killings in Indonesia’, in Birgit Brauchler (ed.), Reconciling Indonesia: Grassroots Agency for Peace, Routledge, London
- McGregor, Katharine E. (2005). ‘Nugroho Notosusanto: The Legacy of a Historian in the Service of an Authoritarian Regime,’ in Mary S. Zurbuchen (ed.), Beginning to Remember: The Past in Indonesia's Present, University of Washington Press and University of Singapore Press, Singapore, pp. 209-232
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McGregor, Katharine E., ‘La Militarization du Passe Indonesien sous Suharto' (History in the Suharto Years: The Militarization of the Indonesian Past), Special Issue ‘Enseigner La Nation: Le Pouvoir de Manuels Scolaires,’ Outre-Terre: Revue Francaise de Geopolotique, October 2005. (Paper delivered at the May 2005 Enseigner La Nation (Teaching the Nation) World Comparative Conference held at La Sorbonne Paris)
- McGregor, Katharine E. (2004). ‘Museums and the Transformation from Colonial to Post-colonial Institutions in Indonesia,’ in Fiona Kerlogue (ed.), Performing Objects: Museums, Material Culture and Performance in Southeast Asia: Contributions on Critical Museology and Material Culture Series, Horniman Museum, London, pp. 15-30
Journal Articles
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McGregor, Katharine E., (2009 in print) ‘A Reassessment of the Significance of the 1948 Madiun Uprising to the Cold War in Indonesia, Kajian Malaysi
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McGregor, Katharine E. (2009) ‘Confronting the Past in Contemporary Indonesia: The Anti-Communist Killings of 1965-66 and the role of the Nahdlatul Ulama’, Critical Asian Studies (June 2009)
McGregor, Katharine E and Richard Pennell, (2008) ‘Beyond A Clash Of Cultures: Schapelle Corby’s My Story and Comparable Cases of High Profile Criminal Trials’, in The Australian Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 26-49 - McGregor, Katharine E. and Vannessa Hearman, ‘The Challenges of Political Rehabilitation in Post New Order Indonesia: the Case of Gerwani (the Indonesian Women’s Movement)’, Southeast Asia Research, Vol 15, No. 3, November 2007, pp. 377-406
- Vickers, Adrian and Katharine McGregor (2005). ‘Public Debates about History: Comparative Notes From Indonesia', History Australia, Vol.2, No. 2. June, 44.1-44.13
- McGregor, Katharine E. (2003). ‘Representing the Indonesian Past: The National Monument History Museum from Guided Democracy to the New Order,' Indonesia, No. 75, April, pp. 91-122
- McGregor, Katharine E. (2002). ‘Commemoration of 1 October, Hari Kesaktian Pancasila: A Post-Mortem Analysis?’ Asian Studies Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, March, pp. 39-72
Encyclopaedia Entry (refereed)
- McGregor, Katharine E, (2009) The 1965 Indonesian Killings, Case Study for the On-line Encyclopaedia of Mass Violence, http://www.massviolence.org/
Published Conference Papers and Working Papers
- McGregor, Katharine E, ‘The Indonesian Military and the Political Legacies of the 1945-49 Independence Struggle’, published conference paper for the International Conference on the Political Legacies of Colonialism in Asia, Hosted by the Institute of Historical Research, Seoul National University, 7 November 2008
- McGregor, Katharine E., ‘Syarikat and the Move to Make Amends for Nahdlatul Ulama’s Violent Past’, Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series, www.ari.nus.edu.sg, 2008
Short Articles
- McGregor, Katharine (2005), ‘Remembering the Coup Attempt of 1965: Forty Years On’, Inside Indonesia, No. 84, October –December
- McGregor, Katharine, (2002) ‘Digging up the Past in Post-Suharto Indonesia,' NIASNytt (Bulletin of Asian Studies Produced by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies), http://nias.ku.dk/nytt) No. 4, December
- McGregor, Katharine, (2001) ‘A Soldier’s Historian’, Inside Indonesia, No. 68. October-December
Recent Conference Papers/Seminars
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‘Memory and Anti-Communism: recurring themes in Narratives of the 1965-66 Indonesian Killings’, On Memory: An Interdisciplinary Symposium, Swinburne University, Melbourne, 23 June 2009
- ‘Mass Graves, Memory and Meaning: Disputes over How to Remember the 1965-66 Killings’, The 1956-1966 Indonesian Killings Revisited (17-19 June 2009), National University of Singapore
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(With Greg Fealy), Nahdlatul Ulama and the Killings of 1965-66: Religion, Politics and Remembrance, The 1956-1966 Indonesian Killings Revisited (17-19 June 2009), National University of Singapore
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‘The Indonesian Military and the Political Legacies of the 1945-49 Independence Struggle’, ‘International Conference on the Political Legacies of Colonialism in Asia, Institute of Historical Research, Seoul National University. November 7, 2008
- With Hani Yulindrasari, ‘Contemporary Discourses of Motherhood and Fatherhood in Ayahbunda a Middle Class Indonesian Parenting Magazine’, presented by Hani Yulindrasari, at conference ‘How Fares the Family? Resilience and Transformation of Families in Asia’, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. 4-5 August 2008.‘The 1948 Madiun Affair: Reverberations for the Indonesian Communist Party’, Re-assessing the Origins of the Cold War, July 10-11, 2008, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
- ‘Narratives of Violence in East Java’, Association of Asian Studies of Australia, Sebel Hotel. Melbourne, July 1-3 2008
- ‘Debating Indonesia’s Violent Past’, May 6 2008, Asia Research Institute Seminar Series, National University of Singapore, (invited paper)
- ‘Syarikat and the Move to Re-examine the Nahdlatul Ulama’s Violent Past’, UC Berkeley, Ten Years of Reformasi: Social Movements in Indonesia, April 24-25, Berkeley, USA (select abstracts only accepted)
- ‘Islam and Memories of Violence in Contemporary Indonesia’, March 24, 2008, Hong Kong University, History Department Seminar Series, (invited paper)
- ‘Schapelle Corby’s My Story and Responses to her Trial in Indonesia and Australia’ March 13, 2008, Monash University, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Seminar Series (invited paper)
- In Search of the True Communist: An Analysis of Putu Oka Sukanta’s Merajut Harkat (Weaving Human Dignity), at the Indonesia Council Open Conference, Monash University, September 2007
- ‘A Bridge and a Barrier: Islam, Reconciliation and the 1965 Killings in Indonesia’, workshop in July on Peace and Reconciliation in Indonesia and East Timor hosted by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, July 2007
- ‘Two Women Remember: Prison Memoirs from 1965 as Counter Narratives in Indonesia’, Association of Asian Studies Conference, March 22-25 2007 Marriot Hotel, Boston, USA
- ‘Madiun in the Discourse of 1965: We were the victims of the PKI’, International Association for Historians of Asia, Hotel Intercontinental, Manila, 22-24 November 2006
- ‘Remembering Tanjung Priok: Contemporary Discourses of Islamic Victimhood in Indonesia’, Asian Studies Association of Australia Conference, University of Wollongong, 26-29 June 2006
Supervision
Current Supervisions (Principal and Co Supervisio
- Vannessa Hearman, (PhD) Political violence and its aftermath in East Java 1965-1968
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Nadia Wright, (PhD) Singapore’s Colonial Past: Images of Raffles and Farquhar
- Lisandro Claudio, Movements and Memories: Remembering the Anti Marcos Struggle
- Mina Elfira, (PhD) Gender Relations in Padang Indonesia
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Philip Bool, Liberal Islam in Indonesia – A Reappraisal
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Nur Hidayah, Gendering Islam: The Role of Muslim Women Organisations in
Contemporary Indonesi -
Robert Westerink (MA) From Colonial Society to Expulsed Community: the Dutch in Indonesia in the 1950
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Jessica Melvin, The 1965-66 Killings in Aceh, Indonesia
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Aimi Ramlee, Ideas of Liberalism in the Constitution of Brunei
Associate Supervisions
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Mark Pendleton (PhD), Memories and Memorialisation of the 1995 Tokyo Subway Gassings
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Erik Ropers (PhD), Debates on World War II Sexual Slavery and Enforced Labour in Japan, 1970s-2002
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Peter O’Toole (PhD), Newspaper & wire service coverage of the Vietnam War in the US, Australia, Singapore & Malaysia
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Mayuko Itoh (PhD) Japanese immigrant women in international marriages in Melbourne: 1980s-2000s
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Jordan Winfield, (PhD) Buddhism and Authority in Burma
Completed Supervisions
- Nina Nurmilla, (PhD) Negotiating Polygamy in Indonesia: Between Islamic Discourse and Lived Reality (2007)
- Hani Yulindrasari, (MA) Gender Discourse in Indonesian Parenting Magazines (2006)
- Jordan Winfield, (MA) Buddhism as a Source of Anti-colonialism (2006)
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Michael Stothers, (Hons), A Disputed Past: Representations of the Tanjung Priok Incident (2008)
- Athalia Zwartz, (Hons), Ideas of Identity Amongst Islamic Youth in Melbourne (2007)
- Sally Wilkin, (Hons) Inside Burma: The Story of a Karen Resistance Fighter (2007)
- Briony Wood-Ingram, (Hons) Method in the Mystery: Understanding the Mysterious Killings in Indonesia (2006)
- Dhara Anjara, (Hons) The Princely State of Baroda in the Minority Administration (2005)
- Tim Stitz, (Hons) Travels to the Dark Side of the Khmer Rouge: The Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide Crimes and The Choeung Ek Centre for Genocide Crimes in Cambodia (2004)
Teaching
100-183 Understanding Asia Arts Faculty IDF Subject (Co-ordinator)
131-217 Modern Southeast Asia
131-405 History, Memory and Violence in Asia