Rachel Caines

Rachel Caines

School of Humanities

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Rachel Caines is a cultural historian of the British Empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She has a particular interest in the ways in which understandings of gender, race, and nation/Empire intersected during this period. Much of her research centres around the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the 1920s and 1930s. Her current research explores depictions of imperial gender ideals in First World War propaganda from across the British Empire, with a focus on colonial expressions of gender.

Her MPhil (2018-2020, the University of Adelaide) analysed the commemoration of Indigenous Australian and Maori First World War soldiers in Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand national sites of memory, and how these commemoration reflect wider socio-political attitudes towards race, remembrance, and reconciliation. Her thesis was awarded a Dean's Commendation for Research Excellence in May 2020.

Rachel has four years casual teaching experience in the Department of History, both in-person and online via zoom. She currently works as a Research Assistant on the ARC Discovery Project 'Envisioning Australian Citizenship: Australian Histories & Global Connections' with Professor Amanda Nettelbeck. Rachel also has experience working in research administration, and is currently the Faculty of Arts Research Support Officer. She also provides administrative and research support to the Australian Centre for Housing Research, including research, writing, and editing assistance for AHURI Final Reports and grant applications. Rachel also undertakes contract work to provide assistance with conference organisation and running (particularly zoom integration), webpage updates and development (Drupal, Wix), and social media administration (Twitter, Eventbrite).

My research focuses on the cultural history of the British Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I have a particular interest in the following:

  • Indigenous military service in the First World War
  • National war commemorations, with a focus on Indigenous inclusion in these commemorations
  • Interwar Indigenous activism in Australia
  • Gender and race in First World War propaganda
  • Settler colonialism studies

I also have experience and knowledge of the following research areas:

  • Histories of non-white British subjects in the Australian colonies
  • Histories of Indigenous Australian labour in the late nineteenth century
  • Impacts of COVID-19 on the Australian housing sector, particularly the rental sector
  • Policy responses to COVID-19 in Australia
  • Housing inequalities in Australia

Australian Research Training Program Tuition Fee Offset and Stipend (2022-2025)

Hugh Martin Weir Prize (2019-2020)

Australian Research Training Program Tuition Fee Offset and Stipend (2018-2020)

Tutor for HIST1109 - Revolutions that Changed the World - Semester 2 2018

Tutor for HIST1108 - Empires in World History - Semester 1 2019; Semester 1 2021

Marker for HIST3057 - Nations and Nationalism - Semester 1 2019

Marker for ARTS 3011 - Humans and Technology: From Stone Tools to Cyborgs - Summer School 2021

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2020 - ongoing Board Member Lilith: A Feminist History Journal Editorial Committee Australian Women's History Network Australia
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