Prof Kate Darian-Smith
Professor Kate Darian-Smith
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Kate Darian-Smith is Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and in 2025 commenced a three-year term as President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. She is a distinguished historian and interdisciplinary scholar, an experienced and transformative academic leader and mentor, and a passionate advocate for humanities, arts and social sciences education and research.
Kate served as Executive Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor, College of Arts, Law and Education, at the University of Tasmania (2018-2024). Previously at the University of Melbourne she held professorial appointments in Australian Studies, History and Cultural Heritage across the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, and senior leadership roles as Director of the Australian Centre, Deputy and Associate Dean and Head of School. Kate has been a Visiting Professor at universities in the US, China and Japan, and is Senior Research Associate at Museums Victoria.
Kate is recognised internationally for her numerous books, chapters, and journal articles in Australian history, cultural heritage, and memory studies, and histories of war and society, settler-Indigenous relations, childhood, education, media and migration. Her current research focuses on Australia’s cultural and social transformations, and her latest book is the co-authored Migrants, Television and Australian Stories: A New History (Routledge 2025).
With deep expertise in research strategy and grant development, Kate has received institutional and national awards as a Mentor of Early Career and postgraduate researchers. She has been the recipient of 15 Australian Research Council (ARC) grants across the Discovery and Linkage schemes and was node convenor for the ARC Cultural Research Network. She has been a member of the ARC’s College of Experts and the Humanities and Creative Arts Evaluation Committee for ERA and assesses grants for several international bodies. Kate has a long record of developing and evaluating partnerships with industry and the community, and in working in interdisciplinary research teams.
Kate is a former editor of Australian Historical Studies and History Compass (Australasia), sits on the editorial boards of several journals, and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Documents on Australian Foreign Policy, at DFAT. She has held director and advisory roles with government, museums, and arts and cultural organisations, with ministerial appointments to the Board, Australia-Japan Foundation, DFAT and the Council, Australian Museum of Democracy, Old Parliament House. A past President of the International Australian Studies Association, and of the executive of the Australasian Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Kate is a Director, Australian Council of Learned Academies.