Back to
Professor Ruth Balint

Professor Ruth Balint

Professor

PhD (University of Sydney) 2004.

Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA)
School of Humanities & Languages

My research focuses on transnational histories of refugees, and migration, primarily between Europe and Australia. I currently lead two Australian Research Council - funded projects: Russian Immigrants and Anti-Communism in Cold War Australia, 1946-1966, and The Holocaust as an Australian Story, 1933-1954: An Intimate History. These two projects are both located in Australian migration history, with a special current focus on Jewish migration. I am particularly interested in the ways in which immigrant women experienced displacement and resettlement, and how they challenged and navigated ideas about the family. I have now secured a new Australian Research Council grant to lead a project exploring The Pearl Rush: Pearl Merchants in Broome and the Global Pearl Trade, which returns me to an earlier interest of mine, the tradeways of the Indian Ocean. This project makes visible the stories of the adventurers and the itinerant travellers who connected remote outposts to thriving commercial centres across the globe, often relying on old networks of family and community connections.

My monograph Destination Elsewhere: Displaced Persons and their Quest to Leave Postwar Europe is published with Cornell University Press (November 2021) https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501760228/destination-elsewhere/#bookTabs=1. It explores the encounters of refugees with the international aid agencies, western immigration agents and Allied forces after the war, which helped shape the creation of international refugee law and the instruments of refugee welfare and humanitarianism that emerged after 1945. Smuggled: An Illegal History of Journeys to Australia (NewSouth Publishing, 2021, co-authored by Julie Kalman) is a direct intervention in current political discourse linking people smuggling and refugees, giving people with lived experience of flight to Australia a chance to tell their experiences to an Australian audience: https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/smuggled/ 

I welcome applications for supervision from students interested in Australian history, migration histories (including European migration history), modern Jewish history and histories of the family. 

I am currently UNSW lead of the Scholars at Risk program, and the co-lead of the UNSW Forced Migration Research Network. 
Phone
+61 2 9385 827
E-mail
r.balint@unsw.edu.au
Location
345 Morven Brown
  • Books | 2021
    Balint R; Kalman J, 2021, Smuggled: An Illegal History of Journeys to Australia, NewSouth Publishing, Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2021.1989829
    Books | 2021
    Balint R, 2021, Destination Elsewhere: Displaced Persons and their Quest to Leave Postwar Europe After 1945, Cornell University Press, New York
    Books | 2005
    Balint R, 2005, Troubled waters: borders, boundaries and possession in the Timor Sea, Allen and Unwin, St Leonards, NSW
  • Book Chapters | 2024
    Balint R, 2024, 'Australian Perceptions of Russian Women in the Cold War', in Fitzpatrick S; Deery P (ed.), Russians in Cold War Australia, Lexington Books, Lanham, Boulder, New York, London, pp. 83 - 106, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unsw/reader.action?docID=31033958&ppg=100
    Book Chapters | 2023
    Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S, 2023, 'Introduction: Departures – Why Migrants Fail to Stay', in Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S (ed.), When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departures and Migration, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 1 - 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350355514.0004
    Book Chapters | 2023
    Balint R, 2023, 'Hopscotch Australia: Displaced Persons Taking the Long Way Around to the Rest of the World', in Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S (ed.), When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departures and Migration, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 35 - 49, http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350355514.ch-002
    Book Chapters | 2015
    Balint R, 2015, 'The Use and Abuse of History: Displaced Persons in the ITS Archive', in Boehling R; Urban S; Anthony E; Brown-Fleming S (ed.), Freilegungen Spiegelungen der NS-Verfolgung und ihrer Konsequenzen, Wallstein Verlag, Gottingen, pp. 173 - 188
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Balint R, 2014, 'Representing the Past and the Meaning of Home in Péter Forgács's Private Hungary', in Young G; Monahan B (ed.), Amateur Filmmaking : the home movie, the Archive, the Web., Bloomsbury Academic, Oxford, England, pp. 193 - 206, http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/amateur-filmmaking-9781441191496/
    Book Chapters | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, 'The War Crimes Case of Karoly Zentai and the Quest for Historical Justice', in Tatz C (ed.), Genocide Perspectives IV; Essays on Holocaust and Genocide, UTSePress, Sydney, pp. 272 - 311, http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/research/bitstream/handle/10453/19824/GenocidePerspectivesIV_Tatz.pdf?sequence=1
    Book Chapters | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, 'The Yellow Sea', in Walker D; Sobocinka A (ed.), Australia's Asia: From Yellow Peril to Asian Century, UWA Publishing, Perth, WA, pp. 345 - 366
    Book Chapters | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'Der »Somerton Man«: Eine dokumentarische Fiktion in drei Dimensionen', in Butis Butis (ed.), Goofy History: Fehler Machen Geschichte, Bohlau, Weimar, pp. 264 - 279
    Book Chapters | 2007
    Balint R, 2007, 'Mare Nullius and the Making of a White Ocean Policy', in Perera S (ed.), Our Patch: Enacting Australian Sovereignty Power after 9/11, Network Books, Perth, pp. 87 - 105
  • Edited Books | 2023
    Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S; Balint R; Damousi J; Fitzpatrick S, (eds.), 2023, When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departure and Migration, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02619288.2024.2327236
  • Journal articles | 2023
    Balint R, 2023, 'Margaret Taft delves into the lives of two remarkable Australian Jews', History Australia, 20, pp. 182 - 183, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2022.2159460
    Journal articles | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, 'Before Australia: Historicising Russian Migration via China after World War II', Australian Historical Studies, 50, pp. 3 - 20, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2018.1543333
    Journal articles | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, 'My grandmother's cookbook: a personal history of migration', Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society, 24, pp. 486 - 500
    Journal articles | 2018
    Alba A; Balint R; Lanicek J, 2018, 'Holocaust Education at Australian Universities in the Twenty-first Century: Challenges and Opportunities', Australian Humanities Review, pp. 131 - 133, http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2018/12/02/holocaust-education-at-australian-universities-in-the-twenty-first-century-challenges-and-opportunities/
    Journal articles | 2018
    Balint R; Simic Z, 2018, 'Histories of Migrants and Refugees in Australia', Australian Historical Studies, 49, pp. 378 - 409, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2018.1479438
    Journal articles | 2017
    Balint R, 2017, 'Alexander and Anastayzia: the separation and search for family among Europe’s displaced', The History of the Family, 22, pp. 432 - 445, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2017.1292181
    Journal articles | 2016
    Balint R, 2016, 'Children left behind: Family, refugees and immigration in postwar Europe', History Workshop Journal, 82, pp. 151 - 172, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbw021
    Journal articles | 2015
    Balint R, 2015, ''To Reunite the Dispersed Family': War Displacement and Migration in the Tracing Files of the Australian Red Cross', History Australia, 12, pp. 124 - 142, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2015.11668573
    Journal articles | 2014
    Balint R; Balint , 2014, 'Industry and Sunshine: Australia as 'Home' in the Displaced Persons Camps of Postwar Europe', History Australia, 11, pp. 102 - 127, http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/1103
    Journal articles | 2014
    Balint R, 2014, 'The Idea of Home in Postwar Australia', History Australia, 11, pp. 6 - 12, http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/1138
    Journal articles | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, 'Aboriginal Women and Asian Men: A Maritime History of Color in White Australia', Signs, 37, pp. 544 - 554, http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/662685
    Journal articles | 2011
    Balint R, 2011, 'Soft Histories: Making history on Australian television', History Australia, 8, pp. 175 - 195
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, ''Remembering Balibo'', History Australia, 7, pp. 15.1 - 15.2, http://dx.doi.org/10.2104/ha100015
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, 'Boats to Burn: Bajo Fishing Activity in the Australian Fishing Zone [Review]', Asian Studies Review, 34, pp. 262 - 263
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, 'The Somerton Man: An Unsolved History', Cultural Studies Review, 16, pp. 159 - 178
    Journal articles | 2010
    Balint R, 2010, 'The Ties That Bind: Australia, Hungary and the Case of Károly Zentai', Patterns of Prejudice, 44, pp. 281 - 303, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2010.489737
    Journal articles | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'First Australians: An Illustrated History [Review]', Journal of Australian Studies, 33, pp. 489 - 491, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443050903308725
    Journal articles | 2008
    Balint R; Dolgopolov G, 2008, 'Film', Sydney Journal, 1, pp. 33 - 44, http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/sj.v1i2.659
    Journal articles | 2008
    Balint R, 2008, 'Being Australian, Narratives of National Identity [Review]', Journal of Australian Studies, 32, pp. 147 - 148, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443050801995185
    Journal articles | 2008
    Balint R, 2008, 'I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film [Review]', Journal of Australian Studies, 32, pp. 406 - 407, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443050802294158
    Journal articles | 2007
    Balint R, 2007, 'A Death in the Harbour', The Monthly, pp. 32 - 38
    Journal articles | 1999
    Balint R, 1999, 'The last frontier: Australia's maritime territories and the policing of Indonesian fishermen', Journal of Australian Studies, 23, pp. 30 - 39, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443059909387530
  • Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, ABC Radio Documentary 'Cooking for Assimilation', written and produced by Ruth Balint, ABC Radio National, Radio, Published: 26 March 2019, Duration: 30 minutes, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works, https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-history-listen/cooking-for-assimilation/10595470
    Reports | 2019
    Balint R, 2019, Michael Robert Staindlv Joshua Anthony Frydenberg High Gourt of Australia Proceedings No. M96 of 2019
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2014
    Balint R, 2014, Radio Program, ABC Radio National - The Somerton Man: A Mystery in Four Acts, Published: 23 February 2014, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/hindsight/somerton-man/5259946
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2013
    Balint R, 2013, The Pearling Families of Broome - a two part documentary series, ABC Radio National, Radio National, Editor(s): ABC , Published: 2013, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works
    Creative Written Works | 2012
    Balint R, 2012, Small Fry: The Story of a People Smuggler, The Monthly, Schwartz Publishing
    Creative Written Works | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, Australia, Hungary and the Case of Karoly Zentai, Inside Story: Current Affairs and Culture, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, and Australian National University
    Creative Written Works | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, Where are the Historians?, Inside Story: Current Affairs and Culture, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, and Australian National University
    Conference Papers | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'Australia Gets Lost and Goes Missing: Baz's Tourism Australia ad', http://www.nma.gov.au/research/baz_luhrmanns_australia_reviewed/speakers_and_program/, National Museum of Australia, National Museum of Australia, 07 December 2009 - 08 December 2009
    Conference Presentations | 2009
    Balint R, 2009, 'The Somerton Man Mystery and the Unsolved Case of History', presented at Scandals, Crime and Corruption, State Library of NSW, 09 September 2009
    Conference Presentations | 2008
    Balint R, 2008, 'The Water Hemisphere: Australia and its exilic sea', presented at Graduate School Mediale Historiographien, Bauhaus Universität, Weimar, Germany, 19 June 2008
    Conference Presentations | 2007
    Balint R, 2007, 'Mare Nullius and a White Ocean Policy', presented at Indian Association for the Study of Australia Annual Conference, Pune India
    Conference Presentations | 2006
    Balint R, 2006, 'Sweeping the Seas Clean: A White Ocean policy in Australia's north', presented at Historicising Whiteness, University of Melbourne, 22 November 2006 - 24 November 2006
    Conference Presentations | 2005
    Balint R, 2005, 'Seascape and Memory in the Australian Psyche', presented at EASA conference: ReVisions of Australia: Histories, Images, Identity, Debrecen, Hungary, 20 September 2005 - 24 September 2005
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2003
    Balint R, 2003, The Death of Mansur, SBS Television, Sydney, Video, Published: 2003, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2001
    Balint R, 2001, Troubled Waters, Resonance Production, Sydney, Video, Published: 2001, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works

Australian Historical Association

Australian Feminist History Group

Australian Studies Research Network

My Research Supervision

I am currently supervising two HDR theses as primary supervisor.

  1. Gender and Perpetration in Histories of the Holocaust: Enduring Misrepresentations. An Analysis of the absence of female perpetrators at memorial and perpetrator sites of the Holocaust.

  2. The growth, commercialisation and decline of the jewellery business in Sydney between 1901-1929.

My Teaching

I teach across all level of the Bachelor of Arts degree.

ARTS1271: The History of the Present

ARTS2271: Inventing Modern Australia

ARTS3289: Documentary Film and History.

ARTS3292: Migrants and Refugees in Australian History.