Paul Arthur is Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Research Fellow and Chair in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences, in the School of Arts and Humanities.
Background
Paul Arthur speaks and publishes widely on major challenges and changes facing 21st-century society, from the impacts of technology on communication, culture and identity to migration and human rights. He has over 100 publications including 13 books, and has received A$10M in grant funding, individually and in collaboration. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has held visiting positions in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America, and given more than 50 keynote and plenary talks in 20 countries.
Paul Arthur was Australia’s first Professor in Digital Humanities (Western Sydney University, 2013–16) and is known as a leading figure in the development of the field in Australia and internationally. He was appointed to Edith Cowan University as Chair in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences in 2016 and has been director of the Edith Cowan Centre for Global Issues (2016–21) and leader of ECU’s university-wide Society and Culture research theme (2021–22). He was previously Deputy Director of the ANU Centre for European Studies and the National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University where he oversaw the digital production of the largest collaborative project in the humanities and social sciences in Australia as Deputy General Editor, Australian Dictionary of Biography (2010–13). Paul Arthur’s publications include Open Scholarship in the Humanities (2024, with Lydia Hearn), Virtual Voyages: Travel Writing and the Antipodes, 1605–1837 (2010), and the edited volumes Border Crossings: Essays in Identity and Belonging (2019, with Leena Kurvet-Käosaar), Migrant Nation: Australian Culture, Society and Identity (2018), Private Lives, Intimate Readings (2015, with Leena Kurvet-Käosaar), Advancing Digital Humanities: Research, Methods, Theories(2014, with Katherine Bode), Framing Lives (2014), International Life Writing: Memory and Identity in Global Context (2013), Australian Dictionary of Biography, volume 18 (2012, Deputy General Editor), Voices from the West End: Stories, People and Events That Shaped Fremantle (2012, with Geoffrey Bolton), and Recovering Lives (2011).
He has served on the executive boards and councils of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO, Steering Committee 2011–19); centerNet—the worldwide network of digital humanities research centres (Co-Chair, 2015–2019); the International Auto/Biography Association (IABA, Executive Committee 2010–); the Australasian Association for Digital Humanities (founding President 2011–15, Vice-President 2018–22); the Australasian Consortium of Humanities Research Centres (founding board member 2010–19); and the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (Nectar) Super Science initiative of the Australian Government (2012–18).
Paul is also a violinist. He has a long connection with ECU that goes back to the first years of its establishment, when he completed an undergraduate Music sub-major at WAAPA
Professional associations
- Royal Historical Society, UK (Elected Fellow)
- Association of Internet Researchers
- Association for Computers and the Humanities
- Association for the Study of Australian Literature
- Associazione Informatica Umanistica e Cultura Digitale
- Australasian Association for Digital Humanities (Founding President)
- Australasian Consortium of Humanities Research Centres (Founding Advisory Board)
- Australian Historical Association
- Canadian Society for Digital Humanities / Société canadienne des humanités numériques
- Cultural Studies Association of Australasia
- European Association for Digital Humanities
- Forum on Contemporary Theory, India (Life Member)
- International Association for Media and Communication Research
- International Australian Studies Association
- International Auto/Biography Association
- International Communication Association
- International Society for Travel Writing
Awards and recognition
National and International research positions
- 2016 - 2019: Adjunct Professor, School of Humanities and Creative Arts (Digital Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities program), University of Canterbury, New Zealand
- 2016 - 2017: KNAW Visiting Professor (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), hosted by Huygens ING—Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands, The Hague / Amsterdam) (4 months)
- 2016 - 2017: Visiting Fellow, Albert’s Global Researcher Network, hosted by Englisches Seminar I, University of Cologne, Germany (2 months)
- 2016: Indian Government Global Initiative for Academic Network (GIAN) Program for Distinguished International Faculty, hosted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore (2 weeks)
- 2015: Distinguished Visitor, University of New England, New South Wales, Australia
- 2013 - 2014: Dr R. Marika Chair of Australian and Indigenous Studies, University of Cologne, Germany / German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (6 months)
- 2013: Visiting Research Fellow, ANU Centre for European Studies, Australian National University
- 2013: Honorary Associate, Centre for Media History, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- 2010 - 2011: Honorary Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
- 2009 - 2010: Research Fellow, HUMlab, the digital research centre at Umeå University, Sweden (6 months)
- 2009 - 2010: Research Fellow, Center for Cultural Analysis, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA (6 months)
- 2007 - 2009: Adjunct Research Fellow, Research School of Humanities, Australian National University
- 2007: Research Fellow, Centre for Historical Research, National Museum of Australia, Canberra (4 months)
- 2007: Manning Clark Residential Fellow, Manning Clark House, Canberra, co-funded by the Australian Copyright Agency Limited (2 months)
- 2006: Visiting Research Fellow, Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University (3 months)
- 2004: Helen and John S. Best Research Fellow, American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, USA (2 months)
- 2004: International Associate, Center for 21st-Century Studies, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, USA (Fall semester, concurrent with Helen and John S. Best Research Fellowship)
- 2004: Australian Academy of the Humanities Fieldwork Fellowship (for research at the American Geographical Society Library)
- 1998: Visiting Scholar, Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, Australian National University (1 month)
- 1998: Conference Visitorship, Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University (2 weeks)
- 1996: Visiting Scholar, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University (2 months)
National and International awards
- 2018: Best paper award, Digital Humanities in the Nordic Countries 3rd annual conference, University of Helsinki
- 2012: Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, UK (FRHistS)
- 2012: Shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, for Voices from the West End: Stories, People, and Events That Shaped Fremantle (WA Museum, 2012, ed. Paul Longley Arthur and Geoffrey Bolton)
- 2012: Fremantle Heritage and Local History Award, Western Australia, for Voices from the West End: Stories, People, and Events That Shaped Fremantle (WA Museum, 2012, ed. Paul Longley Arthur and Geoffrey Bolton)
- 2008: Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s Prize, Humanities category, Curtin University, Western Australia
Research areas and interests
- Digital Futures
- Digital Society
- Digital Humanities and e-Research
- Globalisation, Communication and Media
- Cultural History and Heritage
- Biography, Identity and Memory
- Travel and Migration
- Literary Studies
- Performance Studies
- Australian Studies
- European Studies
