The former St Mary’s and Assumption College student received the 2021 Hansen PhD scholarship in history.
She will receive a stipend to investigate gender and sexuality in late eighteenth to early nineteenth-century French art.
Georgia has been a Melbourne University student for four years, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree before writing her thesis in an honours year.
“I’ll be investigating a particular period of French art history. It covers 25 years from the French Revolution through the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period,” Georgia said.
“I did my honours thesis on a similar area. I’m interested in visual culture and the way societal change is conveyed through visual culture.
“I enjoy studying the changes in ideas through images, especially painting.”
Georgia said history had always been an important part of her life and started with her grandfather sharing stories from his time as a train driver.
“My interest started with his stories and all the fascinating things he used to tell me about the past,” she said.
“That interest expanded at school when I studied the French Revolution in Year 12.
“It captured my imagination and I decided studying and teaching history was the path I wanted to take in life.
“Once I’ve completed my PhD, I would like to stay on at the university. I want to teach and inspire budding historians.”
Georgia encouraged others to consider history as a topic of study and she said understanding and knowing where we come from was important.
“History is expanding to include the voices of a more diverse group of people,” she said.
“We’re starting to get a more complete picture of the past and it’s very interesting to study and learn about.
“It’s important to learn about where we have come from and situate it within world history.
“My advice for anyone thinking about studying history is not to get overwhelmed by it. Pick something you're passionate about and it becomes like learning a story rather than work.”
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