Dr Heather Neilson
Senior Lecturer
English Program
Phone: +61 2 6268 8908
Fax: +61 2 6268 8879
Email: h.neilson@adfa.edu.au
Professional Background
Heather Neilson has taught in the English program at UNSW@ADFA since 1995. She previously taught at the University of Sydney and the University of Western Australia. From 1998 to 2002, she was president of the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association. From July 2002 to July 2005, she was the Australasian representative on the International Committee of the (US-based) American Studies Association. She has been on the editorial board of the Australasian Journal of American Studies since 1996.
Courses Taught in 2009
Semester 1
ZHSS1101 ‘English 1A: Analytical Reading and Writing’ZHSS2121 ‘Western Literature, Culture and Criticism 1: Classic Literary Texts’
Semester 2
ZHSS2108, ‘National Literatures 2: American Literature’
ZHSS8102, ‘American Empire’
Research Interests / Projects
Dr Neilson’s research interests are primarily in the area of American studies, particularly fictional and cinematic representations of historical/political events. The subject of her doctoral thesis, undertaken at the University of Oxford, was the fiction of Gore Vidal. She also researches in the area of biography and autobiography.
Professional Activities
Dr Neilson appears regularly on ABC radio, discussing books and film. She regularly reviews books for a variety of publications, including the Canberra Times, the Australian Review of Books, and the Australasian Journal of American Studies.
Publications include:
- Book chapters in Impossible Selves: Readings of Cultural Identity (eds. Jacqueline Lo, et al) and Interactions (eds. Dennis Haskell and Ron Shapiro);
- Journal articles in Sydney Studies in English; American Studies International; the Australasian Journal of American Studies;
- Reviews in a variety of journals and newspapers.
- Encyclopaedia entries on Gore Vidal.
Areas of Potential Postgraduate Supervision
- American literature and culture
- The novel (primarily British and American)
- Biography and autobiography