APrf Paul Sendziuk
Associate Professor
School of Humanities
College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Paul Sendziuk has initiated interdisciplinary, collaborative and path-breaking research in various areas of Australian history, including cultural responses to HIV/AIDS, higher education, immigration, labour history, and oral history. He collaborates with international and Australian scholars, and has partnered with leading international organisations such as Visual AIDS (New York), General Motors-Holden, the National Library of Australia, and the State Library of South Australia. He has published four monographs, two edited books, and nearly 50 scholarly journal articles and book chapters.
Three of Paul's monographs have won or been short-listed for prizes. Learning to Trust: Australian Responses to AIDS (UNSW Press, 2003) was short-listed for the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Human Rights Award (non-fiction) and remains the most comprehensive and authoritative text on this subject. His second book, A History of South Australia (co-authored by Robert Foster, Cambridge University Press, 2018) was awarded the Keain Medal by the Historical Society of South Australia for the best publication on South Australian history. His third book, In the Eye of the Storm: Volunteers and Australia’s Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis (co-authored by Robert Reynolds and Shirleene Robinson, UNSW Press, 2021) was the joint-winner Oral History Australia’s Best Book Award. A fourth monograph, Vision and Hope: A History of St Mark's College, 1925-2025 (co-authored by Carolyn Collins, UNSW Press, 2025) has recently been published.
Paul's current research projects include:
'People, Places and Promises: Social Histories of Holden in Australia' - a history of working life and workplace culture at General Motors-Holden. This Australian Research Council-funded project is a collaboration between the research team (CIs Sendziuk, Jennifer Clark, Alistair Thomson, Graeme Davison and Carolyn Collins) and General Motors-Holden, the National Library of Australia and the National Motor Museum. So far, outcomes include the recording of nearly 100 oral histories with former Holden workers (now available from the National Library of Australia), two major public exhibitions (including 'Holden & Me: Treasures from a Working Life' at the National Motor Museum) and six scholarly journal articles.
'Assembling for War: General Motors-Holden and the Mobilisation of Private Industry in World War II' - an on-going Australian Research Council-funded project conducted by the research team (CIs Sendziuk, Jennifer Clark, Joan Beaumont and Carolyn Collins) and the State Library of South Australia and the National Archives of Australia. A major outcome has been the co-production of an exhibition about the history of GMH and its wartime contributions that travelled between Adelaide (State Library of SA, 2025) and Canberra (National Archives of Australia, 2026). Paul is currently co-writing a book on this theme.
At undergraduate level, Paul coordinates and teaches 'The Making of Modern Australia', and teaches into the School of Humanities' other History courses. He also supervises a number of Honours and postgraduate students. In recognition of his teaching, Paul was awarded the Executive Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award, and the University of Adelaide's highest teaching honour, the Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching. More recently he was the recipient of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. For his work as a supervisor in 2017 he won the Faculty of Arts Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision Prize, a Beacon Commendation for Implementing Effective HDR Supervision Practices, and his second Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in HDR Supervisory Practice.
Paul has held a variety of leadership positions, including Head of the Department of History. Paul has served on the Australian Historical Association's Executive Committee, incuding two two-year terms as the AHA's Treasurer; the Australasian Board of the International Society of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in History; and is a Council Member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the journals 'Health and History', 'Labour History' and 'New Zealand Journal of History'.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 - ongoing | Associate Professor | The University of Adelaide |
| 2008 - 2011 | Senior Lecturer | The University of Adelaide |
| 2005 - 2007 | Lecturer | The University of Adelaide |
| 2003 - 2005 | Postdoctoral Fellow | Monash University |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Award | Oral History Australia Book Award, for In the Eye of the Storm: Volunteers and Australia's Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis | Oral History Australia | Australia | $1500 |
| 2019 | Award | Keain Medal awarded by the Historical Society of South Australia | Historical Society of South Australia | Australia | - |
| 2017 | Teaching Award | Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision Prize | Faculty of Arts, The University of Adelaide | Australia | $1000 |
| 2017 | Teaching Award | Beacon Commendation for the Enhancement and Innovation of Student Learning | The University of Adelaide | Australia | $2000 |
| 2017 | Teaching Award | Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in HDR Supervisory Practice | The University of Adelaide | Australia | $8000 |
| 2012 | Research Award | Visiting Researcher at Brocher Foundation | Brocher Foundation | Switzerland | $20,000 |
| 2011 | Teaching Award | Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning | Australian Learning & Teaching Council | - | $10,000 |
| 2009 | Teaching Award | Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching | The University of Adelaide | - | $10,000 |
| 2007 | Teaching Award | Executive Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award | The University of Adelaide | - | $3,000 |
| 2004 | Award | Short-listed, 2004 Human Rights Award (non-fiction section) | Australian Human Rights Commission | Australia | - |
| 2002 | Award | Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal, Monash University | Monash University | Australia | - |
| 2001 | Scholarship | Rotary Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship to Russia, 2001-02 | - | - | - |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 - 2009 | The University of Adelaide | Australia | Grad. Cert. Ed. (Higher Education) |
| 2002 | Monash University | Australia | PhD |
| 1992 - 1995 | The University of Western Australia | Australia | BA (Hons) |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Sendziuk, P., Gilbert, M., Collins, C., Clark, J., Thomson, A., & Beaumont, J. (2025). Rear Vision: The Holden Collection (No. Of Pieces: 4 months) [exhibition]. State Library of South Australia. |
| 2025 | Sendziuk, P., Gilbert, M., Collins, C., Clark, J., Thomson, A., & Beaumont, J. (2025). Rear Vision: The Holden Collection (No. Of Pieces: 4 months) [exhibition]. State Library of South Australia. |
| 2008 | Sendziuk, P. J. (2008). Militancy and Mourning (No. Of Pieces: Online exhibition of artwork and accompanying essay) [Exhibition]. New York City: Visual AIDS. |
Large, nationally-competitive grants
- Project leader, Australian Research Council, Linkage Grant, ‘Assembling for War: General Motors-Holden and the Mobilisation of Private Industry in World War II', 2022-24, $403,236
- CI, Australian Research Council, Linkage Grant, ‘People, Places and Promises: Social Histories of Holden in Australia’, 2019-21, $354,866
- CI, Australian Research Council, Discovery Grant, ‘Volunteers in Crisis: Analysing Responses to HIV/AIDS in Australia’, 2016-18, $214,131
- Project leader, Australian Research Council, Linkage Grant, ‘The Art of AIDS Prevention: Cultural Responses to HIV/AIDS in Australia and the United States’, 2007-09, $122,045
Smaller competitive grants
- Department of Environment and Water (SA), Research Grant, 'A History of Gladstone Gaol, 1880-1975', 2022, $20,000
- History SA, South Australian History Fund Research Grant, ‘A Forgotten Odyssey: A Study of Polish-Australian Displacement, Identity and Memory through Life Stories and Material Culture’, 2013, $3,300
- Ian Potter Foundation Conference Hosting Grant, 2010, $5000
- Conference Hosting Grant, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2010, $5,000
- Faculty Small Grant, ‘Stalin’s Poles: Oral Histories of Displacement from Poland to Australia’, The University of Adelaide, 2009, $8,000
- Faculty Small Grant, ‘Recording the History of Cultural Responses to AIDS in South Africa: An Oral and Electronic Database’, The University of Adelaide, 2006, $6,500
- Faculty Strategic Initiatives Grant, The University of Adelaide, 2006, $1,000
- Conference Travel Grants, The University of Adelaide, 2005 ($1,000) and $2000 (2007)
- Small Grant, ‘Recording the History of Cultural Responses to AIDS in Australia and the United States: An Oral and Electronic Database’, Monash University, 2003-04, $8,000
Funded fellowships
- Scholar in Residence, St Mark's College, Adelaide, 2022
- Scholar in Residence, Brocher Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland, 2012
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, La Trobe University, 2005-07 (offer declined)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, 2003-05
At undergraduate level, Paul coordinates and teaches 'The Making of Modern Australia and the World' and contributes to the teaching of the School of Humanities' other History courses. He also supervises Honours and postgraduate students. Paul's excellence in the area of teaching and supervision has been recognised with the following university and national awards:
- Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in HDR Supervisory Practice, 2017. This is the University's highest honour for supervisors and awarded to only one person per year.
- Faculty of Arts Excellence in HDR Supervision Award, The University of Adelaide, 2017
- Beacon Commendation for the Enhancement and Innovation of Student Learning, The University of Adelaide, 2017
- Australian Learning & Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, 2011
- Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching – the University of Adelaide’s highest teaching and learning honour, 2009
- Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, The University of Adelaide, 2007
Paul was invited to participate in the 'History Passion Project' and videos of him speaking about his approach to teaching History can be viewed here and here.
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | An Inquiry into the Origins of Poverty in Rural Colonial South Australia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Elizabeth Mary Bor |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The New Guard: A New History of Australian Fascism in the 1930s | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Anthony Christopher Zougras |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The New Guard: A New History of Australian Fascism in the 1930s | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Anthony Christopher Zougras |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | An Inquiry into the Origins of Poverty in Rural Colonial South Australia | - | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Elizabeth Mary Bor |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The New Guard: A New History of Australian Fascism in the 1930s | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Anthony Christopher Zougras |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | How did the defection of Australian communists to the Australia First Movement shape fascism in Australia? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Alexander James McKenny |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | The role of private charities in Adelaide during the Depression Decade 1927-37 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Liam Michael Horwood |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | How did the defection of Australian communists to the Australia First Movement shape fascism in Australia? | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Alexander James McKenny |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | The role of private charities in Adelaide during the Depression Decade 1927-37 | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Liam Michael Horwood |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | The role of private charities in Adelaide during the Depression Decade 1927-37 | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Liam Michael Horwood |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | How did the defection of Australian communists to the Australia First Movement shape fascism in Australia? | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Alexander James McKenny |
| 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Documenting Suicides by South Australian First World War Veterans. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Jessie Kate Lewcock |
| 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Documenting Suicides by South Australian First World War Veterans. | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Jessie Kate Lewcock |
| 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Documenting Suicides by South Australian First World War Veterans. | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Jessie Kate Lewcock |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Natural Allies or Natural Enemies? Labour-Environmentalism in Australia, 1975-1990 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Nicholas James Herriot |
| 2021 - 2025 | Principal Supervisor | “Out of This Great Grief We Can Open Our Hearts and Soar”: Artistic Community Non- Profit Responses to the AIDS Crisis in New York City, 1987-1998 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Caitlin Amy Merlin |
| 2020 - 2023 | Co-Supervisor | South Australian Art Needlework 1876-1909 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Jodie Vandepeer |
| 2020 - 2023 | Principal Supervisor | “Dear Daddy”: Australian Children and their Servicemen Fathers during the Second World War | Master of Philosophy | Master | Full Time | Miss Jade Tayla Ryles |
| 2019 - 2023 | Co-Supervisor | ‘Three Great Forces are at Work Trying to Control Events’: Australian Anglican Views on the League of Nations, Communism, and Fascism, 1927-1939 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Alex Parsons |
| 2019 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Australian Military Service and the Emotions of Separation, 1939-1945 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Emma Gwen Carson |
| 2016 - 2020 | Principal Supervisor | In a State of War: Women's Experiences of the South Australian Home Front, 1939-45 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Rachel Diane Wszolek |
| 2016 - 2022 | Co-Supervisor | History, Territory and Sovereignty: Celebrating Settler Nationalism in South Australia, 1900–1968 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Dr Carmel Pascale |
| 2015 - 2021 | Principal Supervisor | The Solidarity Wave: Settlement Experiences and their Influence on the Identity of Polish Migrants Arriving in Australia During the 1980s |
Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Jessica Jocher |
| 2013 - 2017 | Co-Supervisor | Banking on Hearts and Minds: American Banks, Popular Confidence, and the Public Sphere During the Gilded Age and Progressive Era | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Thomas Ashley Mackay |
| 2012 - 2016 | Co-Supervisor | 'Plenty of Opal Back Then: Opal Pulkah': A History of Aboriginal Engagement in the Northern South Australian Opal Industry c.1940-1980 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Mike Harding |
| 2012 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | 'Those Women With Banners': A history of the Save Our Sons movement, 1965-1973. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Carolyn Collins |
| 2011 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | Formidable Rivals: Canada, Australia, and the Pursuit of British Agricultural Migrants, 1896 - 1914 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Jill Allison MacKenzie |
| 2011 - 2013 | Co-Supervisor | 'Yet we are told that Australians do not sympathise with Ireland.' A study of South Australian support for Irish Home Rule, 1883 - 1912 | Master of Philosophy | Master | Full Time | Dr Fidelma McCorry |
| 2011 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | Death of a Spectacle: The Transition from Public to Private Executions in Colonial Australia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Steven Glenn Anderson |
| 2011 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | "We Are Entitled To Some Control": The Australian Army Medical Corps in the First World War | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Alexia Moncrieff |
| 2010 - 2013 | Principal Supervisor | Abortion, Homosexuality and the Slippery Slope: Legislating 'Moral' Behaviour in South Australia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Clare Margaret Parker |
| 2007 - 2012 | Principal Supervisor | Orphans of Vietnam: A History of Intercountry Adoption Policy and Practice in Australia 1968-1975 | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Joshua Forkert |
| 2006 - 2009 | Co-Supervisor | Gospel Power for Civilization: The CMS Missionary Perspective on Maori Culture | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Sarah Dingle |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - ongoing | Board Member | Labour History: a journal of labour and social history | The University of Adelaide | Australia |
| 2019 - ongoing | Board Member | New Zealand Journal of History | The University of Auckland | New Zealand |
| 2012 - ongoing | Board Member | Health and History | - | - |
| Date | Office Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Vice-President, Australasian Board | International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in History | Australia |
| 2013 - ongoing | Treasurer, Australian Historical Association | Australian Historical Association | - |
| 2009 - ongoing | Council member, Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine | Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine | - |