The Australian Studies Institute (AuSI) is pleased to welcome Dr Kate Fitch as a new Visiting Fellow, and the first Fellow from the 2022 – 23 Visiting Fellowship Program.

“I am pleased to welcome Kate to AuSI as a Visiting Fellow to carry out her project on investigating new insights into women and promotional work, focusing on the post-war boom. Her Fellowship with AuSI will allow her to analyse archives in the National Library of Australia, Noel Butlin Archives and National Archives of Australia as well as collaborate with relevant ANU academics.”

- Professor Paul Pickering, Director, Australian Studies Institute

 “I am really delighted to be at the ANU Australian Studies Institute for the month of August. Their Visiting Fellowship Program offers a great opportunity for early and mid-career researchers.

My Fellowship project focuses on Phyllis Parkinson, who worked for the Australian Wine Board from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. Her public relations activities targeted women and helped normalise wine consumption in the home, creating a strong domestic market for Australian wine and changing perceptions around women and alcohol. The findings will provide a better understanding of feminised labour and promotional culture.”

- Dr Kate Fitch, Visiting Fellow, Australian Studies Institute

As the inaugural AuSI Visiting Fellow for the 2022 – 23 Program, Kate hosted AuSI’s August 2022 Visiting Fellows Dinner, alongside internal host, ANU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian P. Schmidt AC. Kate provided insight into her research and lead a thought-provoking discussion on ‘Wine, Women and PR’.

Dr Kate Fitch is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University. Her research foregrounds critical and sociocultural understandings of public relations, drawing on historical, feminist and social justice perspectives. Her first monograph, Professionalizing Public Relations: History, Gender and Education (Fitch, 2016) remains the only book-length, historical investigation of the industry in Australia. Her second book, Popular Culture and Social Change: The Hidden Work of Public Relations (Fitch & Motion, 2021) offers a critical account of the broader societal impact of public relations. Dr Fitch is the Asia-Pacific regional editor for Public Relations Inquiry.