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Professor Ruth Balint

Professor Ruth Balint

Professor

PhD (University of Sydney) 2004.

Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA)
School of Humanities & Languages

My research focuses on transnational histories of Australian migration, postwar Europe, refugees and the family, with a current focus on the refugee family in Australia during the years of 1933 to 1954. I currently lead two Australian Research Council - funded projects:ÌýRussian Immigrants and Anti-Communism in Cold War Australia, 1946-1966, andÌýThe Holocaust as an Australian Story, 1933-1954: An Intimate History. These two projects are both located in Australian migration history, with a special current focus on Jewish refugee migration to Australia. I am particularly interested in the ways in which women experienced displacement and resettlement, and how they challenged and navigated ideas about the family in Australia.Ìý

My recent monographÌýDestination Elsewhere: Displaced Persons and their Quest to Leave Postwar EuropeÌýis published with Cornell University Press (November 2021) . It exploresÌýthe encounters of refugees with theÌýinternational aid agencies, western migration agents and Allied forces after the war, and immigration to Australia.ÌýMy co-authored book with Julie Kalman, Smuggled: An Illegal History of Journeys to AustraliaÌý(NewSouth Publishing, 2021), explores myriad historiesÌýof refugees and their smugglersÌýsince the Holocaust:ÌýÌý

I welcome applications for supervision from students interested in Australian history, migration histories (including European migration history), modern Jewish history and histories of the family.Ìý

I am also the co-lead of the ºÚÁÏÍø´óÊÂ¼Ç Forced Migration Research Network.Ìý
Phone
+61 2 9385 827
E-mail
r.balint@unsw.edu.au
Location
345 Morven Brown
  • Books | 2021
    Balint R; Kalman J, 2021, Smuggled: An Illegal History of Journeys to Australia, NewSouth Publishing, Sydney,
    Books | 2021
    Balint R, 2021, Destination Elsewhere: Displaced Persons and their Quest to Leave Postwar Europe After 1945, Cornell University Press, New York
    Books | 2005
    Balint R, 2005, Troubled waters: borders, boundaries and possession in the Timor Sea, Allen and Unwin, St Leonards, NSW
  • Book Chapters | 2023
    Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S, 2023, 'Introduction: Departures – Why Migrants Fail to Stay', in Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S (ed.), When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departures and Migration, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 1 - 18,
    Book Chapters | 2023
    Balint R, 2023, 'Hopscotch Australia: Displaced Persons Taking the Long Way Around to the Rest of the World', in Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S (ed.), When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departures and Migration, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 35 - 49,
    Book Chapters | 2015
    Balint R, 2015, 'The Use and Abuse of History: Displaced Persons in the ITS Archive', in Boehling R; Urban S; Anthony E; Brown-Fleming S (ed.), Freilegungen Spiegelungen der NS-Verfolgung und ihrer Konsequenzen, Wallstein Verlag, Gottingen, pp. 173 - 188
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Balint R, 2014, 'Representing the Past and the Meaning of Home in Péter Forgács's Private Hungary', in Young G; Monahan B (ed.), Amateur Filmmaking : the home movie, the Archive, the Web., Bloomsbury Academic, Oxford, England, pp. 193 - 206,
    Book Chapters | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, 'The War Crimes Case of Karoly Zentai and the Quest for Historical Justice', in Tatz C (ed.), Genocide Perspectives IV; Essays on Holocaust and Genocide, UTSePress, Sydney, pp. 272 - 311,
    Book Chapters | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, 'The Yellow Sea', in Walker D; Sobocinka A (ed.), Australia's Asia: From Yellow Peril to Asian Century, UWA Publishing, Perth, WA, pp. 345 - 366
    Book Chapters | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'Der »Somerton Man«: Eine dokumentarische Fiktion in drei Dimensionen', in Butis Butis (ed.), Goofy History: Fehler Machen Geschichte, Bohlau, Weimar, pp. 264 - 279
    Book Chapters | 2007
    Balint R, 2007, 'Mare Nullius and the Making of a White Ocean Policy', in Perera S (ed.), Our Patch: Enacting Australian Sovereignty Power after 9/11, Network Books, Perth, pp. 87 - 105
  • Edited Books | 2023
    Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S; Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S, (eds.), 2023, When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departure and Migration, Bloomsbury Publishing, London,
  • Journal articles | 2023
    Balint R, 2023, 'Margaret Taft delves into the lives of two remarkable Australian Jews', History Australia, 20, pp. 182 - 183,
    Journal articles | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, 'Before Australia: Historicising Russian Migration via China after World War II', Australian Historical Studies, 50, pp. 3 - 20,
    Journal articles | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, 'My grandmother's cookbook: a personal history of migration', Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society, 24, pp. 486 - 500
    Journal articles | 2018
    Alba A; Balint R; Lanicek J, 2018, 'Holocaust Education at Australian Universities in the Twenty-first Century: Challenges and Opportunities', Australian Humanities Review, pp. 131 - 133,
    Journal articles | 2018
    Balint R; Simic Z, 2018, 'Histories of Migrants and Refugees in Australia', Australian Historical Studies, 49, pp. 378 - 409,
    Journal articles | 2017
    Balint R, 2017, 'Alexander and Anastayzia: the separation and search for family among Europe’s displaced', The History of the Family, 22, pp. 432 - 445,
    Journal articles | 2016
    Balint R, 2016, 'Children left behind: Family, refugees and immigration in postwar Europe', History Workshop Journal, 82, pp. 151 - 172,
    Journal articles | 2015
    Balint R, 2015, ''To Reunite the Dispersed Family': War Displacement and Migration in the Tracing Files of the Australian Red Cross', History Australia, 12, pp. 124 - 142,
    Journal articles | 2014
    Balint R; Balint , 2014, 'Industry and Sunshine: Australia as 'Home' in the Displaced Persons Camps of Postwar Europe', History Australia, 11, pp. 102 - 127,
    Journal articles | 2014
    Balint R, 2014, 'The Idea of Home in Postwar Australia', History Australia, 11, pp. 6 - 12,
    Journal articles | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, 'Aboriginal Women and Asian Men: A Maritime History of Color in White Australia', Signs, 37, pp. 544 - 554,
    Journal articles | 2011
    Balint R, 2011, 'Soft Histories: Making history on Australian television', History Australia, 8, pp. 175 - 195
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, ''Remembering Balibo'', History Australia, 7, pp. 15.1 - 15.2,
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, 'Boats to Burn: Bajo Fishing Activity in the Australian Fishing Zone [Review]', Asian Studies Review, 34, pp. 262 - 263
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, 'The Somerton Man: An Unsolved History', Cultural Studies Review, 16, pp. 159 - 178
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, 'The Ties That Bind: Australia, Hungary and the Case of Károly Zentai', Patterns of Prejudice, 44, pp. 281 - 303,
    Journal articles | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'First Australians: An Illustrated History [Review]', Journal of Australian Studies, 33, pp. 489 - 491,
    Journal articles | 2008
    Balint R; Dolgopolov G, 2008, 'Film', Sydney Journal, 1, pp. 33 - 44,
    Journal articles | 2008
    Balint R, 2008, 'Being Australian, Narratives of National Identity [Review]', Journal of Australian Studies, 32, pp. 147 - 148,
    Journal articles | 2008
    Balint R, 2008, 'I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film [Review]', Journal of Australian Studies, 32, pp. 406 - 407,
    Journal articles | 2007
    Balint R, 2007, 'A Death in the Harbour', The Monthly, pp. 32 - 38
    Journal articles | 1999
    Balint R, 1999, 'The last frontier: Australia's maritime territories and the policing of Indonesian fishermen', Journal of Australian Studies, 23, pp. 30 - 39,
  • Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, ABC Radio Documentary 'Cooking for Assimilation', written and produced by Ruth Balint, ABC Radio National, Radio, Published: 26 March 2019, Duration: 30 minutes, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works,
    Reports | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, Michael Robert Staindlv Joshua Anthony Frydenberg High Gourt of Australia Proceedings No. M96 of 2019
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2014
    Balint R, 2014, Radio Program, ABC Radio National - The Somerton Man: A Mystery in Four Acts, Published: 23 February 2014, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works,
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2013
    Balint R, 2013, The Pearling Families of Broome - a two part documentary series, ABC Radio National, Radio National, Editor(s): ABC , Published: 2013, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works
    Creative Written Works | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, Small Fry: The Story of a People Smuggler, The Monthly, Schwartz Publishing
    Creative Written Works | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, Australia, Hungary and the Case of Karoly Zentai, Inside Story: Current Affairs and Culture, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, and Australian National University
    Creative Written Works | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, Where are the Historians?, Inside Story: Current Affairs and Culture, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, and Australian National University
    Conference Papers | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'Australia Gets Lost and Goes Missing: Baz's Tourism Australia ad', http://www.nma.gov.au/research/baz_luhrmanns_australia_reviewed/speakers_and_program/, National Museum of Australia, National Museum of Australia, 07 December 2009 - 08 December 2009
    Conference Presentations | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'The Somerton Man Mystery and the Unsolved Case of History', presented at Scandals, Crime and Corruption, State Library of NSW, 09 September 2009
    Conference Presentations | 2008
    Balint R, 2008, 'The Water Hemisphere: Australia and its exilic sea', presented at Graduate School Mediale Historiographien, Bauhaus Universität, Weimar, Germany, 19 June 2008
    Conference Presentations | 2007
    Balint R, 2007, 'Mare Nullius and a White Ocean Policy', presented at Indian Association for the Study of Australia Annual Conference, Pune India
    Conference Presentations | 2006
    Balint R, 2006, 'Sweeping the Seas Clean: A White Ocean policy in Australia's north', presented at Historicising Whiteness, University of Melbourne, 22 November 2006 - 24 November 2006
    Conference Presentations | 2005
    Balint R, 2005, 'Seascape and Memory in the Australian Psyche', presented at EASA conference: ReVisions of Australia: Histories, Images, Identity, Debrecen, Hungary, 20 September 2005 - 24 September 2005
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2003
    Balint R, 2003, The Death of Mansur, SBS Television, Sydney, Video, Published: 2003, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2001
    Balint R, 2001, Troubled Waters, Resonance Production, Sydney, Video, Published: 2001, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works
  • Media | 2022
    Balint R, 2022, Young women’s memoirs of migration, dispossession and Australian ‘unbelonging’ demand to be heard, ,

The Ernst Keller European Fellowship, Australian Academy of the Humanities, 2011.

The National Film and Sound Archive, Scholar-In-Residence, 2010.

The Centre for Media and History (Mediale Historiographien), Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany, 1 March, 2008 – 30 June, 2008.

The Centre for Pasts Inc, Historical Studies, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, 1 July, 2008 – 1 November, 2008.

Australian Vogel Literary Award 2004

Dendy Documentary Award 2002