Kate credits her fascination for and involvement in Asian Studies – and especially Indonesian history – to an eight-week backpacking holiday that she took with some friends in her late teens. She says it changed the way she looked at the world and drove her to learn more about Indonesia, and especially its history. An historian by training, Kate says that the discipline has offered her valuable perspectives for understanding how and why people create and propagate memories about their pasts. In her work, Kate has been particularly interested in discovering who tells the stories about the past, who is included in those stories, and who is left out (and sometimes silenced). This has directed her research to focus on marginalised peoples in society, including women. Kate has a longstanding involvement in the ASAA, having served both President and Vice-President, as well as a Southeast Asia Councillor, among other roles. She was instrumental in setting up the Indonesia Council in the early 2000s, which brings together leading Indonesianists from Australia, Indonesia, and elsewhere.

Watch Kate’s interview below or on the ASAA’s youtube channel here. See the other interviews in the series here.