Dr Claire Brennan is a lecturer in History at JCU.  She teaches and supervises at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Claire's honours project led her to an interest in the history of sport hunting, first in New Zealand, then globally.  Her University of Melbourne PhD thesis looked at the history of hunting in New Zealand and Australia, and placed it in a global context.

While based in Townsville Claire's interests have become more tropical.  She continues to research the history of hunting (including the history of recreational fishing and of the safari) but her interest in animal history has extended to include the history of livestock breeding.  Her teaching has led her to publish within global history, and her place at James Cook University has led her to an interest in the physical process of early European exploration within the Pacific and across the Australian continent.

Claire's current research focuses on crocodile hunting in tropical Australia.  She is regularly interviewed by the media. Claire is a successful supervisor, and supervises a wide range of topics at doctorate, masters, and honours levels.

Teaching

• BA1001: Time, Truth and the Human Condition (Level 1; TSV)
• BA4102: Communicating Research (Level 4; CNS & TSV)
• HI2001: The History of Global Connections (Level 2; CNS & TSV)
• HI3284: Researching History in Australia (Level 3; CNS & TSV)

Interests

Professional

• Media and Community Engagement: Claire has granted numerous interviews in order to promote her research within the broader community. In particular she has been interviewed about the history of crocodile hunting in Australia
• Supporting the Teaching of History in Townsville's Schools: since 2017 Claire has co-organised History Teachers' Professional Development Days.
• Community Engagement with Local History: Claire has given numerous public lectures in Townsville on local topics. In addition she organises a JCU history stall at Townsville City Council's Heritage Day, and produces local history exhibitions

Research

• Environmental History of Australia and New Zealand
• History of Hunting: Claire has published on this topic and continues to research the history of sport hunting; the history of recreational fishing; and commercial and sport hunting of crocodiles within Australia
• Digital History: Claire has published an overview of the field of digital history
• Townsville History: Claire has been part of projects supported by small grants to research and produce public exhibitions: Townsville Turns 150: the Old and the News; Between Battles: Commemorating the Cultural Lives of Soldiers. She is part of JCU grant funded projects exploring Tropical Heritage and Townsville naming practises. She is presently completing a Townsville Council-funded project that will make student research conducted a JCU accessible to the public

Teaching

• Digital History: in 2017-2018 Claire recieved an LTSE grant and updated assessment across the history major to include digital history components
• History of Exploration: Claire teaches in this area and has published on debates surrounding Pacific exploration, and on the constraints Cook's ship imposed on his first circumnavigation.

Experience

• 2006 to present - Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 2005 to 2006 - Casual tutor, University of Auckland (Auckland)
• 2001 to 2004 - PhD candidate, University of Melbourne (Melbourne)
• 1999 - History Honours Student (1st class), University of Auckland (Auckland)

Research Disciplines

• Historical Studies (2103)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Understanding Past Societies (9505)
• Expanding Knowledge (9701)

Memberships

• 2003 to 2018 - Membership of Australian Historical Association

Other

• 2019 - Nomination for CHASS Australia Distinctive Work Prize
• 2018 - Nomination for Supervisor of the Year
• 2017 - Nomination for JCU Awards for Excellence: Community Engagement.
• 2016 - Nomination for JCU Awards for Excellence: Cross-Unit Collaboration

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Brennan C (2019) The physical Endeavour: how a wooden ship shaped Cook's first circumnavigation. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 105 (2), pp. 135-158.
• Brennan C (2018) Digital humanities, digital methods, digital history, and digital outputs: history writing and the digital revolution. History Compass, 16 (10), DOI:10.1111/hic3.12492.
• Brennan C (2017) Australia's Northern Safari. M/C Journal, 20 (6).
• Brennan C (2015) "An Africa on your own front door step": the development of an Australian safari. Journal of Australian Studies, 39 (3), pp. 396-410, DOI:10.1080/14443058.2015.1052833.
• Brennan C (2002) Animal and destruction on a scale unprecedented outside a state of war: 1080 and the rabbit. Melbourne Historical Journal, 30, pp. 55-65.

Book Chapters

• Brennan C and Kocsis L (2011) Lemuria is not the invention of religious enthusiasts, but rather, actually existed. In: Prehistory and Early Civilizations. Popular Controversies in World History: Investigating history's intriguing questions, 1. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, pp. 179-206
• Haarmann H and Brennan C (2011) The Hawaiian and other Polynesian seafarers developed navigation methods based on observation of constellations and currents, so that they could sail intentionally from Tahiti to Hawaii and back. In: The Ancient World to the Early Middle Ages. Popular Controversies in World History: investigating history's intriguing questions, 2. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, pp. 257-279

Other research outputs

• Brennan C (2019) Book review of "Animals Count: how population size matters in animal-human relations" edited by Nancy Cushing and Jodi Frawley, London, UK, Routledge Environmental Humanities, 2018. ISBN 978-0-81538136-5. Journal of Australian Studies, 43 (4), pp. 542-544, DOI:10.1080/24750158.2019.1682770.
• Brennan C (2019) Tropical Australia's crocodile entrepreneurs. Arcadia, Spring 2019, Article: 4, DOI:10.5282/rcc/8584.
• Brennan C, Sharp R and Mercer P (2018) BBC Radio 5 Live Up All Night: interview with Claire Brennan, 4 July 2018. [Radio]
• Brennan C and Karvelas P (2018) Why are these unexpected animals protected in Australia? [interview]. [Radio]
• Brennan C (2016) Croc safari: why selling licences to rich hunters isn’t fair. The Conversation, 21 September 2016.

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 38+ research outputs authored by Dr Claire Brennan from 2002 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation:

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• An Army of Naturalists: John Gould's Australian Network of Collectors and Correspondents. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Science, Agriculture and Environment: The Ideas, Culture, Practices and Programs of Agricultural Science in Queensland during the Early to Mid~Twentieth Century (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• "In any direction it would be difficult to find one acre of level ground”: The Mining and Social Landscapes of the Normanby Goldfield, near Bowen, North Queensland (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The Deep North and the Near North: The Relationship Between North Queensland and Japan, 1894-1991 (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Developing the Queensland Tropics: The Ideas and Politics of Northern Development 1901-2014 (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Management of South East Queensland Forestry: On the Boundary between Economy and Ecology (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• An Investigation into the Treatment of Military History as a Subject Area in Queensland Schools (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• ‘Fine Cattle Country’, the early pioneer economy of the Alice River community: from home to business to home business. (Masters , Primary Advisor)

Completed

• Slavery and feminism in the writings of Madame De Stael (2020, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Small sugar farmer agency in the tropics 1872-1914 and the anomalous Herbert River Farmers' Association (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Flu, society and the state: the political, social and economic implications of the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic in Queensland (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Fathoming the reef: a history of European perspectives on the Great Barrier Reef from Cook to GBRMPA (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Empty spaces and smiling faces: the New Settlers' League and Australian immigration (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Women serving in the Royal Australian Navy: the path towards equality 1960 to 2015 (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)