The making of a historian: Class, race and the other

Abstract

This article discusses the personal factors which influenced my decision to become a historian. It traces the impact of my family background and the diverse cultural and parental influences of my childhood on my growing awareness of social, racial and political issues. These, I suggest inspired my later focus on social, political and gender history. The piece then goes on to discuss the impact on my historical interests and perspectives of my education at Oberlin College and the University of Wisconsin and of my experience living and teaching in Paris while researching and writing my PhD. It concludes with my choice to come to the University of Melbourne and my arrival there in 1974.