Dr Hilary Howes
Areas of expertise
- Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies 200201
- Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander History 210301
- Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Repatriation 450114
- Critical Heritage, Museum And Archive Studies 430202
- European History (Excl. British, Classical Greek And Roman) 210307
- German Language 200307
- History And Philosophy Of Science (Incl. Non Historical Philosophy Of Science) 220206
- Pacific Cultural Studies 200210
- Pacific History (Excl. New Zealand And Maori) 210313
- Pacific Peoples Repatriation 451316
- Te Whakahoki Taonga A Te Maori Ki Te Kainga (Maori Repatriation) 450719
Biography
I am an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow based in the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies at The Australian National University (ANU). My current project, "Skulls for the Tsar: Indigenous human remains in the collections of Imperial Russia", aims to produce the first detailed investigation of the acquisition of Indigenous human remains from Australia, New Zealand and the broader Pacific by the Russian Empire during the long 19th century. My research to date addresses the German-language tradition within anthropology, archaeology and ethnology in Australia and the Pacific region.
I hold a PhD in History, completed in 2011 in the School of Culture, History and Language at ANU, as well as a Master of Arts in History and Philosophy of Science, a Bachelor of Arts (Degree with Honours), a Bachelor of Science, and a Diploma in Modern Languages (German), all from the University of Melbourne. From 2011 to 2015 I was employed as Executive Assistant to the Ambassador at the Australian Embassy in Berlin, where my responsibilities included bilateral research collaboration and the repatriation of Australian Indigenous ancestral remains from German collecting institutions.
Past student projects
Erin Gates - a biography of Dr Marie Olive Reay
Michelle Richards - the ongoing contribution of Pacific museum collections to archaeology
Eve Haddow - missionaries and archaeology in Oceania
Victor Melander - Thor Heyerdahl as Pacific archaeologist
Joanna Barrkman - the significance of ethnographic museum collections for source communities today
Publications
- [Book review] Howes, H 2020, 'U Hofmeister, Die Bürde des weißen Zaren: Russische Vorstellungen einer imperialien Zivilisierungsmission in Zentralasien (The White Tsar's Burden: Russian Ideas of an Imperial Civilizing Mission in Central Asia) [2019]', Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, vol. 21, no. 1.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2020, 'AW Hurley, Ludwig Leichhardt’s ghosts: the strange career of a traveling myth [2018]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 64-65.
- Govor, E & Howes, H 2020, 'Physical anthropology in the field: Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay', in C Fforde, C McKeown & H Keeler (eds), The Routledge Companion to Indigenous Repatriation: Return, Reconcile, Renew, Routledge, London & New York, pp. 521-537.
- Govor, E & Howes, H 2020, 'Russia and the Pacific: expeditions, networks, and the acquisition of human remains', in C Fforde, C McKeown & H Keeler (eds), The Routledge Companion to Indigenous Repatriation: Return, Reconcile, Renew, Routledge, London & New York, pp. 295-315.
- Howes, H 2020, 'Germany's engagement with the repatriation issue', in C Fforde, C McKeown & H Keeler (eds), The Routledge Companion to Indigenous Repatriation: Return, Reconcile, Renew, Routledge, London & New York, pp. 83-100.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2019, 'Review forum: P O'Brien, Tautai: Samoa, world history, and the life of Ta'isi O.F. Nelson [2017]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 271-281.
- Howes, H & Murray, T 2019, 'Unheimliche Begegnung in Kriegszeiten | Close encounters of the wartime kind’, Federkiel, no. 69 (July 2019), pp. 1-6, available from: http://www.daszentrum.org.au/res/Federkiel%202019-07%20FINAL.pdf
- Howes, H 2019, 'Otto Finsch: images of the Pacific, 1879-1885 | Otto Finsch: images du Pacifique, 1879-1885', Tribal Art, vol. XXIII-2, no. 91, pp. 130-143.
- Murray, T & Howes, H 2019, 'Douglas Grant and Rudolf Marcuse: Wartime encounters at the edge of art', History and Anthropology, DOI: 10.1080/02757206.2019.1607730
- Murray, T & Howes, H 2019, 'How we tracked down the only known sculpture of a WWI Indigenous soldier', The Conversation, 5 June, available from: https://theconversation.com/how-we-tracked-down-the-only-known-sculpture-of-a-wwi-indigenous-soldier-117246
- Howes, H & Spriggs, M 2019, 'Writing the history of archaeology in the Pacific: voices and perspectives', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 295-306.
- Howes, H 2019, 'Lothar Becker's contributions to anthropology', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 138-145, 199.
- Richards, M, Howes, H & Govor, E 2019, 'Origins of archaeology in the Pacific: the emergence and application of archaeological field techniques', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 307-329.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2019, 'F Cahir, ID Clark & PA Clarke, Aboriginal biocultural knowledge in south-eastern Australia: perspectives of early colonists [2018]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 60-61.
- Howes, H 2018, '"Far better than their reputation": the Tolai of East New Britain in the writings of Otto Finsch', in MP Fitzpatrick & P Monteath (eds), Savage worlds: German encounters abroad, 1798-1914, Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp. 42-62.
- Howes, H 2018, '"M. le Dr Leichardt, savant allemand": 19th-century French perspectives on his scientific contributions', Queensland Museum online exhibition 'Leichhardt: a scientist in a strange land', available from: http://www.leichhardt.qm.qld.gov.au/~/media/Microsites/Leichhardt/1001+words/howes-french-perspectives-ed-hh.pdf
- Howes, H 2018, 'A "perceptive observer" in the Pacific: life and work of Otto Finsch', Bérose – Encyclopédie internationale des histoires de l’anthropologie, Paris, IIAC-LAHIC, UMR 8177, available from: http://www.berose.fr/?A-Perceptive-Observer-in-the-Pacific-Life-and-Work-of-Otto-Finsch
- [Book review] Howes, H 2018, 'T Beigel & S Mangold-Will (eds), Wilhelm II. Archäologie und Politik um 1900 [2017]', European Journal of Archaeology, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 151-155.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2017, 'F Sysling, Racial science and human diversity in colonial Indonesia [2016]', Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania), vol. 173, no. 2-3, pp. 409-411.
- Howes, H 2017, 'German-speaking archaeologists in the Pacific', Learningguild Letter, no. 2.2016, pp. 7-8, available from: http://learningguild.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2.2016-Learningguild-Letter.pdf
- [Book review] Howes, H 2017, 'HF Vermeulen, Before Boas: the genesis of ethnography and ethnology in the German Enlightenment [2015]', History of the Human Sciences, published online 25 April 2017, available from: www.histhum.com/?p=348
- [Book review] Howes, H 2017, 'P Suren, Germany in the Pacific: were the Germans before the rise of National Socialism racists? [2016]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 122-123.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2017, 'G Cederlöf, Founding an empire on India's north-eastern frontiers 1790-1840: climate, commerce, polity [2014]', Asian Highlands Perspectives, vol. 45, pp. 172-180.
- Howes, H 2017, 'Early German-language analyses of potsherds from New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago', Journal of Pacific Archaeology, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 35-46.
- Howes, H 2016, 'Provenance report: Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory (BSAEP), Berlin, Germany, April-August 2016'. Prepared for the Australian German Association Inc., available from: http://www.aga.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/161125_HilaryHowes_BSAEP-ProvenanceReport.pdf
- [Book review] Howes, H 2016, 'T Yates, The conversion of the Maori: years of religious and social change, 1814-1842 [2013]', Itinerario: International Journal on the History of European Expansion and Global Interaction, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 562-564.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2016, 'BC Schär, Tropenliebe: Schweizer Naturforscher und niederländischer Imperialismus in Südostasien um 1900 [2015]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 348-349.
- Howes, H 2016, 'Missionar und Wissenschaft: In Memoriam Pater Otto Meyer M.S.C. (1877-1937) [Missionary and science: in memory of Father Otto Meyer MSC (1877-1937]', Hiltruper Monatshefte, no. 5/2016, pp. 148-151, available from: http://www.hiltruper-missionare.de/h_downloads/Monatsheft_Ausgabe_05_2016.pdf
- [Book review] Howes, H 2016, 'A Roginski, The hanged man and the body thief: finding lives in a museum mystery [2015]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 92-93.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2016, 'PA Clarke, Discovering Aboriginal plant use: the journeys of an Australian anthropologist [2014]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 97-98.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2016, 'LJ Hare, Excavating nations: archaeology, museums, and the German-Danish borderlands [2015]', Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 1-2.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2016, 'V Squires et al. (eds), Towards sustainable use of rangelands in north-west China [2010]', Asian Highlands Perspectives, vol. 40, pp. 465-471.
- Howes, H 2015, 'How is higher education funded in Germany?', Learningguild Letter, no. 1.2015, pp. 13-15, available from: http://learningguild.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/learningguild-letter-1-2015.pdf
- Howes, H 2015, 'À propos de cent trente-cinq crânes de Papous: A.B. Meyer et la controverse autour de la craniologie [On one hundred and thirty-five Papuan skulls: A.B. Meyer and contested craniology]', Revue d'Histoire des Sciences Humaines, vol. 27, pp. 109-141.
- Howes, H 2015, 'Between wealth and poverty: Otto Finsch on Mabuyag, 1881', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Culture, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 221-251.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2014, 'H Mückler, Kolonialismus in Ozeanien [2012]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 245-246.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2014, 'L Anemaat, Natural curiosity: unseen art of the First Fleet [2014]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 366-367.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2014, 'E Wosz & A Hermannstädter (eds), Naturalista, czyli Wilhelm von Blandowski w Australii. Wilhelm von Blandowski: Ein Naturforscher in Australien [2013]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 25, no. 2, p. 366.
- Howes, H 2014, 'Anglo-German anthropology in the Malay Archipelago, 1869-1912: Adolf Bernhard Meyer, Alfred Russell Wallace and A.C. Haddon', in H Ellis & U Kirchberger (eds), Anglo-German Scholarly Networks in the Long Nineteenth Century, Brill, Leiden, pp. 126-146.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2014, 'H Stoecker, T Schnalke & A Winkelmann (eds), Sammeln, Erforschen, Zuruckgeben? Menschliche Gebeine aus der Kolonialzeit in akademischen und musealen Sammlungen [2013]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 121-122.
- Howes, H 2013, The race question in Oceania: A.B. Meyer and Otto Finsch between metropolitan theory and field experience, 1865-1914, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2013, 'D Lewis, Where is Dr Leichhardt? The greatest mystery in Australian history [2013]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 339-340.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2013, 'ID Clark & F Cahir (eds), The Aboriginal story of Burke and Wills: forgotten narratives [2013]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 350-351.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2013, 'P West, From modern production to imagined primitive: the social world of coffee from Papua New Guinea [2012]', Southeast Asian Studies (SEAS), vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 413-416.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2013, 'M Thomas, The many worlds of R.H. Mathews: in search of an Australian anthropologist [2011]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 164-165.
- Howes, H 2013, 'Remembering Ludwig Leichhardt: the bicentenary of his birth', Learningguild Letter, no. 1.2013, pp. 6-7, available from: http://learningguild.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/learningguild-letter-1-2013.pdf
- [Book review] Howes, H 2012, 'Schlossmuseum Sondershausen & JM Bade (eds), Zehn Jahre auf den Inseln der Südsee 1887-1897: Aus dem Tagebuch der Paula David. Ten years in the islands of the South Seas 1887-1897: from the diary of Paula David [2011]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 525-527.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2012, 'D Lewis, A wild history: life and death on the Victoria River frontier [2012]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 237-238.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2012, 'B Gammage, The biggest estate on earth: how Aborigines made Australia [2011]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 77-78.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2012, 'V Smith, Intimate strangers: friendship, exchange and Pacific encounters [2010]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 237-238.
- Howes, H 2012, '"Shrieking savages" and "men of milder customs": Dr Adolf Bernhard Meyer in New Guinea, 1873', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 21-44.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2011, 'M Jolly, S Tcherkézoff & D Tryon (eds), Oceanic encounters: exchange, desire, violence [2009]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 136-138.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2011, 'H MacDonald, Possessing the dead: the artful science of anatomy [2010]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 22, pp. 172-173.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2011, 'H Allen (ed.), Australia: William Blandowski's illustrated encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia [2010]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 22, pp. 174-176.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2011, 'A Bandhauer & M Veber (eds), Migration and cultural contact: Germany and Australia [2009]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 22, pp. 179-180.
- Howes, H 2011, '"It is not so!" Otto Finsch, expectations and encounters in the Pacific, 1865-85', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 32-52.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2010, 'E Govor, Twelve days at Nuku Hiva: Russian encounters and mutiny in the South Pacific [2010]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 375-391.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2010, 'PA Clarke, Aboriginal plant collectors: botanists and Australian Aboriginal people in the nineteenth century [2008]', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 21, pp. 109-110.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2010, 'B Triggs, Wombats [2009]', Park Watch: The Quarterly Journal of the Victorian National Parks Association, no. 240, p. 32.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2010, 'M Diesendorf, Climate action: a campaign manual for greenhouse solutions [2009]', Park Watch: The Quarterly Journal of the Victorian National Parks Association, no. 240, p. 32.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2009, 'Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Climate of Australia [2008]', Park Watch: The Quarterly Journal of the Victorian National Parks Association, no. 239, p. 34.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2009, 'D Clode, Prehistoric giants: the megafauna of Australia [2009]', Park Watch: The Quarterly Journal of the Victorian National Parks Association, no. 237, p. 32.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2009, 'S Mönter, Following a South Seas dream: August Engelhardt and the Sonnenorden [2008]', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 106-107.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2008, 'JA Tropp, Natures of colonial change: environmental relations in the making of the Transkei [2006]', Progress in Development Studies, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 377-378.
- Howes, H 2008, 'The spectre at the feast: the emergence of salt in Victoria's irrigated districts', Environment and History, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 217-239.
- Howes, H 2008, 'An Australian researcher in Germany', Learningguild Letter, no. 2.2008, pp. 9-10, available from: http://learningguild.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Letter2-2008.pdf
- [Book review] Howes, H 2007, 'P Grey & E Grey (eds), Fungi down under: the Fungimap guide to Australian fungi [2005]', Park Watch: The Quarterly Journal of the Victorian National Parks Association, no. 230, p. 28.
- [Book review] Howes, H 2007, 'T Sherratt, T Griffiths & L Robin (eds), A change in the weather: climate and culture in Australia [2005]', H-Environment, published online October 2007, available from: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=13682