Professor Roy Jones at UoG

  5th June 2014

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Over the course of the last year History at UoG has benefitted hugely from our links with three new colleagues: Tim Copeland researches on public archaeology and the Roman period; Charlie Whitham looks at the impact of American air bases in the context of new approaches to the study of the Cold War (and has also published on Anglo-American Post-War Planning and on British and American Policy Towards the West Indies immediately after WW2); and Roy Jones is an historical geographer, with an interest in how and why places change and the impacts of such change on their populations and environments.

Professor Jones is currently visiting us from Western Australia, where he holds an Emeritus post in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Curtin. Roy has been here for the last three weeks, meeting with staff and talking with our postgrads about further (funded) research opportunities. He has also given two well-attended staff seminars – and found the time to record two short videos.

Roy is vastly experienced in the teaching and learning expectations of students across the globe and in this video he talks about his latest writing project: a textbook for Year 11 and 12 students.

In this second video, meanwhile, Roy talks to Dr. Christian O’Connell about his research and the relationship between history and geography:

As an historical geographer, Roy has an interest in how and why places change and the impacts of such change on their populations and environments. Much of his early work, including his secondment to the federal government in Canberra focussed on aspects of regional disadvantage. More recently, as the power of tourism to change places has become more apparent, he has worked in the areas of tourism and leisure, with a particular focus on heritage and cultural issues. Much of this research is conducted in Australia, though he has also worked in Canada and the UK. Roy says that his current research projects include the following:

• Community impacts of the World Heritage inscriptions of Shark Bay and Ningaloo Reef
• ‘Shackie’ settlements on the Western Australian coast
• Literary and cultural tourism
• Heritage from below – with myself!

Roy has taught at Curtin and its predecessor institution, the Western Australian Institute of Technology, since arriving in Australia in 1970. Prior to that he was a Research Assistant at North Western Polytechnic and a Lecturer in Geography and Economic History at South East Northumberland Technical College. He spent a year on secondment to the Department of Territories and Local Government in Canberra and has been a visiting Lecturer/Fellow/Professor at the Universities of Bristol and Plymouth in the UK and Carleton, Queens (Kingston) and British Columbia in Canada.