Adjunct A/Prof Wendy Beck

Adjunct Associate Professor - School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Wendy Beck

Phone: +61 02 6773 3165

Email: wbeck@une.edu.au

Biography

Retired  UNE academic.

Qualifications

PhD LaTrobe University

BSc Melbourne University

Awards

Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow

Teaching Areas

Primary Research Area/s

1. Plants in archaeology My early research was concerned with the knowledge of plants held by Aboriginal people, and included analysis of a range of different sources, including archaeology, ethnographic fieldwork in northern Australia, documentary sources, as well as laboratory work in chemistry and genetics. ; 2. Place studies in archaeology I am interested in how archaeology helps us to understand how and why people used spaces and the concept of place as an organising principle in research. Space operates at a number of levels from the continent as a whole, through regions, such as drainage basins and down to the site level. My research in Indigenous community archaeology has included a number of areas in this general field, ranging from the spatial analysis of a single rockshelter, to spatial patterns at Gumbaingirr nation level. This area is the subject of three large ARC grants. More recently I have been working on aspects of cultural heritage of water- both as a planning issue and as an archaeological one. And at the request of local Aboriginal people I am carrying out excavation, dating and analysis of local axe-grinding grooves.; 3. Learning and teaching in Higher Education I have contributed to research into developing and applying Standards of various kinds in Archaeology degrees, stressing the range of transferable and subject-specific skills which can be gained, as well as how general degrees can assist students to become employable. This completed (December 2008) project collaboratively developed a successful set of benchmarks and sustained the formation of the Australian National Committee on Archaeology Teaching and Learning. The revised Benchmark document was launched in 2020.

Research Interests

Research Supervision Experience

I have supervised many successful postgraduates and I am available to co-supervise graduate research students on topics related to the Australian Aboriginal archaeology, especially those areas listed above.

Publications

1. Books:

2002 Beck, W., Brown, C. Murphy, D. Perkins, T. Smith, A., and Somerville, M. . Yarrawarra Places. Making Stories, Book 5: Yarrawarra Place Stories. Yarrawarra Place Stories Series. University of New England, Armidale

2001 Smith, A., Beck, W., Brown, C. Murphy, D. Perkins, T. and Somerville, M. Red Rock. Camps, holidays and exchange. Book 4: Yarrawarra Place Stories Series. University of New England, Armidale

2000 Brown, C., Beck, W.,Perkins, T., Smith, A, and Somerville, M. The Old Camp. Book 3: Yarrawarra Place Stories Series. University of New England, Armidale.

2000 Murphy, D., Beck, W., Brown, C., Perkins, T., Smith, A, and Somerville, M. No-Man's Land: Camps at Corindi South.. Book 2: Yarrawarra Place Stories Series. University of New England, Armidale.

1999 Somerville, M., Beck, W., Brown, C., Perkins, T., and Smith, A. Arrawarra: Meeting Place. Book 1:Yarrawarra Place Stories Series.University of New England, Armidale.

2. Edited Volumes

1995 Balme, J.and Beck, W (eds). Gendered Archaeology. Occasional Papers in Prehistory, Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Australian National University. 183pp. ISBN 0 73152174 9

1989 Beck, W., Clarke, A. and Head, L (eds).Plants in Australian Archaeology. Queensland Anthropology Museum. Tempus 1 1989. 213pp. ISBN 909611 40 8

3. Book Chapters

2021 Beck, W and Bartel, R. Apples and oranges? Exchanging offsets for a place agency-based approach. Chapter 22 in Handbook on space, place and law edited by Bartel, R and Carter, J. Elgar Press eISBN: 978 1 78897 720 3

2017 Bartel, R., Noble, L. and Beck, W.E.. Heterotic water policy futures using place agency, vernacular knowledge, transformative learning and syncretic governance. In Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation. Edited by R. Bartel, L. Noble, J. Williams and S. Harris Routledge.

2017 Bartel, R. Noble, L. Beck, W. E. Quixotic water policy and the prudence of place-based voices in Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation: Interdisciplinary approaches, p. 211-233, Edited by R. Bartel, L. Noble, J. Williams and S. Harris Routledge.

[1]

2012 Beck. W. Biographical entry for Graham Connah. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology.  Smith, C (editor-in-chief), Heidelberg: Springer

2014 Beck, W. and Dotte, E. Chapter 11: Plant remains. In Balme, J.and Paterson, A., Archaeology in Practice: A student’s guide to archaeological analysis.  Blackwell, Oxford pp.336-360 second revised edition.

2006, Beck. W. ‘Chapter 8: Aboriginal archaeology’. In Atkinson, A. Ryan, J., Davidson I, and Piper, A (eds) High Lean Country. Land, people and memory in New England. Allen and Unwin pp. 88-97.

2006 Beck, W. Chapter 10: The analysis of plant macroremains. In Balme, J.and Paterson, A., Archaeology in Practice: A student’s guide to archaeological analysis. Blackwell, Oxford pp.296-315.

2006 Beck. W. & Torrence, R. Chapter 4 Starch Pathways in Torrence, R. and Barton, H (eds) Ancient Starch, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California, USA. pp. 53-75

2005 Beck, W. Murphy, D. Perkins, C, Perkins, T. with Somerville, M and Smith, A. ‘Aboriginal Ecotourism and Archaeology in Coastal NSW, Australia: Yarrawarra Place Stories project’. In Smith, C. and Wobst, M.(eds), Indigenous Peoples and Archaeology: The Politics of Practice.One World Series, Routledge.pp. 226-241.

1995 Beck, W. and Somerville, M. Aboriginal Relationship to Place. In Bancroft, R. , Davidson,I Lovell-Jones, C. (eds). Aborigines and Archaeologists Working together., UNE Press, pp 7-11.

1994 Beck, W. Women in Archaeology: Australia and the United States. In Nelson, P Nelson, S., and Wylie, A.(eds) Equity Issues for Women in Archaeology Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropology Association No. 5, pp. 99-104, 1994

1994 Beck, W. Women and archaeology in Australia. In Claassen, C (ed) Women in Archaeology.University of Pennslyvania Press, Philadelphia,pp. 210-218,

1994 Beck, W. Food Processing. In Horton, D. (ed) Aboriginal Encyclopedia of Australia, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Press. pp. 380-382

1993 Balme, J and Beck, W. The Origins of the Division of Labour: A comparison of feminist and archaeological ideas. In Women in Archaeology: A feminist critique. H. Du Cros and L-J Smith (eds) Department of Prehistory, RSPac. S. Australian National University. pp 61-74.

1989 Beck, W. The Taphonomy of Plants. In Beck, W., Clarke, A. and Head, L (eds). Plants in Australian Archaeology. Queensland Anthropology Museum. Tempus 1 pp. 31-53.

1989 Beck, W., Clarke, A. and Head, L Plants in hunter-gatherer archaeology. In Beck, W., Clarke, A. and Head, L (eds). Plants in Australian Archaeology. Queensland Anthropology Museum. Tempus 1 pp. 1-13.

1988 Beck, W., Fullagar, R. and White, N.G. Archaeology and Ethnography, the Aboriginal Use of Cycad as an example. In Meehan, B., Jones, R. (Eds.) Archaeology with Ethnography, R.S.Pac.S., A.N.U., pp. 137-147.

4. Refereed Journal Articles

2020 Sheridan, A., O’Sullivan, J., Fisher, J., Dunne, K. and Beck, W., Responding to institutional climate change in higher education: the evolution of a writing group to group peer mentoring. Gender and Education32(7), pp.891-907.

2019 Sheridan, A., O'Sullivan, J., Fisher, J., Dunne, K. and Beck, W., Escaping from the City Means More than a Cheap House and a 10-Minute Commute. M/C Journal22(3) (electronic).

2015  Beck, W. Haworth, R. and Appleton, J. Aboriginal resources change through time in New England upland wetlands, south-east Australia. Archaeology in Oceania. Vol. 50 Supplement: 46-56.

2008 Beck, W, Dunne, K, Fisher, J, O’Sullivan, J, Sheridan, A. Turning Up The Heat: Collaboration As A Response To A Chilly Research Environment TEXT 12 (2) (electronic) http://www.textjournal.com.au

2008, W. and Clarke, C. Archaeology Teaching and Learning in Australia 2003-2008 Perspectives from the Academy. Research in Archaeological Education Journal 1(electronic) http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/hca/archaeology/RAEJournal

2006 Beck, W. Narratives of World Heritage in Travel Guidebooks. International Journal of Heritage Studies 12 (6): 521-535.

2006 Beck, W., Dunne, K., Fisher, J., O’Sullivan, J. & Sheridan, A. A Capella and Diva: A Collaborative Process for Individual Academic Writing. M/C Journal, 9, (2) [electronic] Retrieved 05 Jan. 2007 from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0605/09-divas.php>.

2005 Beck, W. and Balme, J. Benchmarking for Archaeology Honours Degrees In Australian Universities. Australian Archaeology 61: 32-40. [Special Issue on Education in Archaeology, edited by S.Colley and S. Ulm.]

2005 Beck, W. and Somerville, M. Conversations Between Disciplines: Historical Archaeology and Oral History At Yarrawarra. World Archaeology 37(3): 467-482.

2003 Smith, A. and Beck, W. The Archaeology of No man’s Land: Indigenous camps at Corindi Beach, mid north coast NSW . For special issue volume on Cross-cultural contact in archaeology edited by A. Clarke and A. Paterson. Archaeology in Oceania 38: 63-74.

2003 Beck, W. and Balme, J. Dry Rainforests: a productive habitat for Australian hunter-gatherers. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2003(2): 4-20.

2002 Beck, W. and Somerville, M. Embodied Places in Indigenous ecotourism: the Yarrawarra project. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2002(2): 4-13.

2002 Balme, J. and Beck, W. Starch and charcoal: useful measures of activity areas in archaeological rockshelters. Journal of Archaeological Science 29: 157-166.

1998 Theunissen, R. Balme, J and Beck,W. Headroom and Human Trampling: Cave ceiling height determines the spatial patterning of stone artefacts at Petzkes Cave, Northern NSW. Antiquity72(275): 80-89

1996 Balme, J and Beck, W. Aboriginal mounds in south eastern Australia. Australian Archaeology 42: 39-52.

1994 Beck, W. and Balme, J. Gender in Aboriginal Archaeology: Recent Research. Australian Archaeology 39: 39-46.

1992 Beck, W. Aboriginal preparation of Cycas seeds in Australia. Economic Botany. 46: 133-147.

1990 Beck, W. and Head, L. Women in Australian prehistory. Australian Feminist Studies. 11: 29-48.

1986 Beck, W. and McConnell, A. The practice of Archaeology in Victoria: a proposal for guidelines. Artefact 11, 3-11.

1984 Webster, J., W. Beck and B. Ternai. 1984. Toxicity and bitterness in Australian Dioscorea bulbiferaL. and Dioscorea hispida Dennst. from Thailand. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 32: 1087-1090.

5. Other papers and reports

2011 Beck, W. and Bartel, R. Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Offsets in Mining Areas. Report prepared for NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, (91pp.)

2010 Beck, W. Why didn't ancient Australians adopt agriculture? Australasian Science (2000), 31, no.2, March 2010: 19-21

2003 Beck,W. Somerville, M. Duley, J. and Kippen K. An assessment of the cultural significance of Mt.Yarrowyck Nature Reserve (123pp) Prepared for NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

1996 Beck, W. and Burke, H. An archaeological investigation of Burying Ground Creek bridge, near Armidale. Prepared for Maunsell Pty. Ltd.

1995 Appleton, J., W. Beck and Yarrawarra Aboriginal Corporation. The archaeological investigation of the site of the proposed Corindi Sewerage Scheme, north of Coffs Harbour, Mid North Coast, NSW. Prepared for the Department of Public Works and Services, Part 1, 55p. Part 2, 36pp.

1990 Beck, W. and Appleton, J. A report of the archaeological survey of the proposed development site at Rockvale Road/Box Hill Drive, Armidale, NSW. Prepared for L.M. Knight and Co. (26pp).

1990 Beck, W. and Appleton, J. A report of the archaeological survey of the proposed development site, at Cooks Rd./Tilbuster Ponds, Armidale NSW. Prepared for T. J. Stewart and Co.(23pp).

1990 Beck, W. and Appleton, J. A report of the archaeological survey for the proposed residential development at the Macdonald Site, Armidale, NSW . Prepared for the NSW Department of Housing.(22pp).

1985 Beck, W.E. Report on Bush Food Survey of the Alligator Rivers Region, for the Office of the Supervising Scientist (123pp).

1981 Wesson, J.P and Beck, W.E. 'Report on an Archaeological Survey of the site of the proposed Driffield Project for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria'.


Clinical Skills and Experience

Memberships

ANCATL Australian National Committee for Archaeology Teaching and Learning, Australian Archaeological Association.

Consultancy Interests

Community and Advocacy Organisation Collaborations

External Profiles

Related Links

Further Information