Dr Vanessa Bible

Biography

Dr Vanessa Bible is Lecturer in History and Peace Studies in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

Qualifications

PhD (Chancellors Doctoral Research Medal, UNE), MEA (UNE), BA (Hons Class I, University Medal, UNE)

Awards

2019 - HASSE CARES Award (UNE)

Citizenship for Achievement in Research, Education and Service

2017 - Unit Commendations (UNE)

Awarded for excellence in teaching (PEAC 304/504: Environmental Security and Peaceful Futures and HIST151: Modern Australia)

2017 - Bush Retreat for Eco-Writers (BREW) Writing Residency

Ten-day writing residency at Tamborine Mountain

2016 - Chancellor’s Doctoral Research Medal (UNE)

Awarded for excellence in PhD research and international impact

2012 – 2016 - Australian Postgraduate Award (UNE)

PhD Scholarship

2010 - University Medal (UNE)

Awarded for excellence in Honours thesis and coursework

Teaching Areas

Within the discipline of Peace Studies, Vanessa has coordinated:

• PEAC100: Introduction to Peace Studies
• PEAC102: Environmental Peace
• PEAC304/504: Environmental Security and Peaceful Futures
• PEAC308/508: Creating Cultures of Peace
• PEAC328/528: Resolution or Transformation of Conflict
• PEAC373/573: Globalisation as if People and Ecosystems matter
• PEAC388/588: Refugees, Rights, and Responsibilities across the Contemporary World

Within the discipline of History, Vanessa has coordinated:

• HIST151: Modern Australia
• HIST329/529: Australia and the World: An International History
• HIST336/536: Blood and Guts: A History of Medical Practice
• HIST510: Massacre and Genocide: Histories of Atrocity
• HIST512: Cities of the Ancient and Modern World
• HINQ100: What is History?
• HINQ101: The Historian
• HINQ200: Uses and Abuses of History
• HINQ201: Researching and Applying History

Vanessa has also taught in a wide range of other units, including HIST165: Europe and the Modern World, HIST330/430: Local and Community History, HIST376/476: Oral History, and HIST515: History for the Classroom.

Vanessa has also taught, marked and tutored in other disciplines within the School, including units in Humanities, Criminology, Sociology, and Religious Studies, and she regularly tutors students at the Oorala Aboriginal Centre. She has supervised a number of students across a range of research projects, including at HUMS301, HUMS505, HUMS507, Honours, Masters, and PhD level.

Primary Research Area/s

Research Interests

Vanessa’s principal research interests lie in the field of the environmental humanities. A multidisciplinary field, her approach draws on the disciplines of peace studies, environmental history, and place studies. Vanessa is particularly focused on the practical application of the environmental humanities to confront the environmental challenges of the Anthropocene, and cultivating community as one of the most important ways in which we can address the crises we face. Central to this is the importance of peacebuilding, environmental and social justice, and the relationship between ecosystem health and human health. Vanessa is also interested in Australian environmental history, with a particular interest in rural histories, activist histories, and the history of the Australian counterculture.

Research Supervision Experience

PhD –  Heather Gartshore, ‘Kempsey New South Wales - Crossroads in Development: An analysis of economic, political, cultural, and environmental events in Kempsey’s history, and their influence on Kempsey’s historic socio-economic development’

Obayedal Patwary, ‘Climate-Induced Displacement and Conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh’

Masters – Tom Cavanagh, ‘Opportunities for environmental peacebuilding between refugees and host communities in Ghana’ (University of Sydney, completed 2021, High Distinction)

Helena Widolf, ‘Ideology and Propaganda Foundational to Animal Industries & Their Patrons: A Case of Speciesism & Moral Disengagement’

Honours – Alvine Mulligan, ‘Day-Tripping and Holidaying on the Fringes: Pleasure Gardens and Parks in Sydney’s South, 1879-1909’ (completed 2021, First Class Hons, Louise T Daley Medal)

Publications

Books

Bible, V.Terania Creek and the Forging of Modern Environmental Activism, Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History, Cham, 2018.

Bible, V. Environmental Peace in the Anthropocene (book currently under contract with Routledge, forthcoming 2023)

Book chapters

Bible, V. ‘Anti-environment, or pro-livelihood? Dissecting environmental conflict and its key drivers in Northern New South Wales’ in Handbook of Anti-Environmentalism, David Tindall, Mark C.J. Stoddart, and Riley E. Dunlap (eds), Edward Elgar Publishing (forthcoming 2021).

Bible, V. & Howard, T. ‘Evolving values of wilderness in the Age of Extinction: Environmental campaigning in Australia’ , Rethinking Wilderness and the Wild: Conflict, Conservation and Co-existence, Robyn Bartel, Marty Branagan, Fiona Utley & Steven Harris (eds), Routledge, 2020.

Bible, V. ‘‘May the Long Time Sun Shine Upon You’: A short his­tory of eco-arts in the Northern Rivers’ in Building Sustainability With the Arts, David Curtis (ed.),Cambridge Scholars Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2017, pp. 37-48.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Thesis

Bible, V. 2016, On Common Ground. Cultivating Environmental Peace: A History of the Rainbow Region, University of New England, Armidale.

Articles

Rogers, M., Johnson, A., Bird, J.; Serow, P.; Harrington, I. & Bible, V. ‘Stakeholder engagement in an online community education project via diverse media engagements’, Issues in Educational Research, vol. 31, no. 2, 2021, pp. 626-643.

Rogers, M., Serow, P., Bird, J., Johnson, A., Bible, V. & Harrington, I. (2021). Stakeholder engagement with steering committees, funding bodies and surveys: Benefits and challenges for education projects. Australian Educational Researcher, forthcoming 2021

Rogers, M., Bible, V., Johnson, A., Bird, J., Harrington, I. & Serow, P. (2021). International programs and resources to support children from military families: A literature review, Armed Forces and Society (under review)

Bible, V. ‘Climate Matters: Love could save us from climate change’, Armidale Express, 24 May 2018.

Bible, V. ‘Perched on the edge of the Wollumbin caldera’, The Brew Network, 18 October 2017, https://thebrewnetwork.org/news/

Bible, V. & Garnett, G.  ‘Why an Education for the Environment is an Education for Peace’, Nucleus: Peace and Politics Issue, September 2013, p. 19.

Bible, V. ‘Aquarius Rising: Terania Creek and the Australian Forest Protest Movement’, The Change Agency, 2012, www.thechangeagency.org/download.asp?varAction=part2&ID=1151.

Reviews

‘Between the rocks and the stars: narratives in natural history’ [Book Review], H-Net Review (forthcoming 2021)

‘Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace’ [Book Review], Global Change, Peace and Security (forthcoming 2021)

‘Migrant nation: Australian culture, society and identity’ [Book Review], Journal of Australian Colonial History, vol. 20, 2018, pp. 195-197.

‘David Hunt, Girt: The Unathorised History of Australia’ [Book Review], Journal of Australian Colonial History, vol. 19, 2017, pp. 201-202.

‘Avan Judd Stallard, Antipodes: In Search of the Southern Continent’ [Book Review], Journal of Australian Colonial History, vol. 19, 2017, pp. 186-187.

‘Genocide in Australia: By Accident or Design? [Book Review]’, Journal of Australian Colonial History, vol. 16, 2014, pp. 277-279.

‘Men and a River: Richmond Rivers district 1828-1895 [Book Review]’, Journal of Australian Colonial History vol. 15, July 2013, pp. 235-236.

Memberships

2020 – present Australian Historical Association

2018 – present UNE Early Career Researcher Network

2017 – present Australia and New Zealand Environmental History Network

2016 – present International Association for Society and Natural Resources

2016 – present International Australian Studies Association

2015 – present University of New England Environmental Humanities Network

2014 – present Association for the Study of Literature, Environment and Culture (ASLEC-ANZ)

2014 – present European Society for Environmental History

2012-2015 Master of Environmental Advocacy Course Advisory Committee

Community and Advocacy Organisation Collaborations

Peace group convenor, Sustainable Living Armidale

External Profiles

• ORCid Profile