CASS appoints two Postdoctoral Fellows

The ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) has awarded postdoctoral fellowships to Dr Natasha Fijn and Dr Kynan Gentry as part of a wider College commitment to advancing the opportunities and prominence of early career academics to undertake independent and/or team research within their fields of excellence and to make a contribution to the College’s postgraduate training program.

Dr Natasha Fijn will continue her role with the School of Archaeology and Anthropology to investigate the use of ethnographic film and other visual materials as research tools to investigate Aboriginal peoples’ relationship with specific animals in one of the few largely intact coastal refuges in Arnhem Land. 

Dr Kynan Gentry will join the School of History and further his research on the examination of the use of historical narrative in the cultural politics of history-making in Australia through the lenses of historic preservation and interest in the historical landscape.

The Postdoctoral Fellowships are two out of 21 new academic appointments to be filled across the College’s Schools and Centres as it undergoes a major staff renewal process enhancing teaching and research objectives.

“CASS is a community of scholars committed to generating ideas, challenging stereotypes and accepted wisdom, pushing boundaries of intellectual thought and producing new empirical findings that inform policy and practice debates across the country” says CASS Dean and Director, Professor Toni Makkai.

“The appointment of Dr Fijn and Dr Gentry as postdoctoral fellows along with the additional 19 academic positions is a significant step to build on the world class teaching and research expertise that we have in CASS.  I look forward to the contributions of Dr Fijn and Dr Gentry with great interest.” adds Professor Makkai

Profiles – CASS Postdoctoral Fellowships

Dr Kynan Gentry

Dr Kynan Gentry has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from Victoria University, Wellington and a PhD from the University of Melbourne for his thesis: “Associations Make Identities: the origins and evolution of historic preservation in New Zealand 1890-1955”.  He has published books, chapters and journal articles including “The Penguin Book of New Zealanders at War” (with Gavin McLean and Ian McGibbon, Auckland: Penguin, 2009) and “Raising the Capital” (Auckland: Reed, 2006)  – an economic history of Wellington written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce. Dr Gentry has recently completed a Political Research Fellowship at Ruskin College, Oxford, where he undertook research on the work and legacy of Raphael Samuel, and has previously worked for the University of Melbourne and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage in Wellington, New Zealand.

Dr Natasha Fijn

Dr Natasha Fijn has a Bachelor of Zoology and Ecology and a Master of Science in Ethology with First Class Honours from the University of Canterbury (Christchurch), a Graduate Diploma in Natural Filmmaking and Communications from the University of Otago and completed her PhD in Anthropology from the ANU for her thesis: “Living with Herds in Mongolia”.  She has published a book derived from this thesis with Cambridge University Press.  Key film footage from her field work was part of a major exhibition on The Horse at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  Her ninety minute film, Khangai Herds, was screened at the prestigious RAI ethnographic film festival in Manchester. Dr Fijn is currently co-teaching and tutoring in the Anthropology undergraduate programs at the ANU.


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