Emeritus Professor Judy Bennett, Our People, History

Contact Details

Academic Qualifications

1980: PhD (History) Australian National University

Research Interests

Professor Bennett's research interests are in Pacific History, Environmental History and Australia's and New Zealand's relations with the Pacific Islands.

Judy's most recent books include Oceanian Journeys and Sojourns: Home thoughts Abroad, which she edited in 2015, which considers human mobility and its social meanings in the Pacific.

Judy was the lead investigator of her first Marsden-funded project, entitled "Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen” with Associate Professor Angela Wanhalla in 2010-2012. That book has been published by University of Hawaii Press and the University of Otago Press (2016)
If you are looking for further information on the Mothers' Darlings research project, or you are looking for your American serviceman father or relative, please follow this link:

http://www.otago.ac.nz/usfathers

and see Youtube: Children of Conflict, a documentary shown in Maori TV on Anzac Day 2014 which traces the experiences of some of the children of the wartime Pacific.

Currently leading her second Marsden project (2015-2017: Constant coconuts), the project focuses on the history of the coconut and its related commodities in the tropical Pacific and seeks to discover the meanings and implications attached to these commodities along the chain from producer to consumer.

Research Profile

• Former co-editor and current board member of 'The Journal of Pacific History' (Canberra).
• Editorial Board of 'Pacific Affairs' (Vancouver).
• Assessor of Pacific-related applications for the Australian Research Council.
• Referee for 'Agricultural History' (USA), 'Pacific Studies' (Hawaii), 'Global Environmental Politics' (Sydney).
• Board member of the Pacific History Association.
• Member of the Forest History Society
• Member of the University of Otago's Centre for Research on Colonial Culture.

Publications

Bennett, J. A., & Poyer, L. (2023). World War II and the Pacific. In A. P. Hattori & J. Samson (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Pacific Ocean (Vol. 2): The Pacific Ocean since 1800. (pp. 588-613). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108226875.031 Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2023). The Pacific world: Doing history from lagoons to the deep. In R. T. Jones & M. K. Matsuda (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Pacific Ocean (Vol. 1): The Pacific Ocean to 1800. (pp. 107-124). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108539272.008 Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2022). Growing coconut palms in the Pacific Islands: Colliding knowledge and values. Environment & History, 28(1), 17-52. doi: 10.3197/096734019X15755402985659 Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2021). Fluid frontiers and uncertain geographies: US controls on immigration from the Pacific, c. 1880−1950. Journal of Pacific History, 56(3), 236-257. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2017.1406319 Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2020). [Review of the book Pursuing respect in the Cannibal Isles: Americans in nineteenth-century Fiji]. Journal of World History, 31(4), 817-820. doi: 10.1353/jwh.2020.0058 Journal - Research Other

2023

Chapter in Book - Research

2022

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2022). Growing coconut palms in the Pacific Islands: Colliding knowledge and values. Environment & History, 28(1), 17-52. doi: 10.3197/096734019X15755402985659

2021

Journal - Research Article

2020

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2020). [Review of the book Pursuing respect in the Cannibal Isles: Americans in nineteenth-century Fiji]. Journal of World History, 31(4), 817-820. doi: 10.1353/jwh.2020.0058

2018

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2018). Pacific coconut: Comestible, comfort and commodity. Journal of Pacific History, 53(4), 353-374. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2018.1523705

Bennett, J. A. (2018). Voices of Rotuma: Enduring refrain. Journal of Pacific History, 53(4), 502-520. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2018.1507728

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Bennett, J. A. (2018). After the plane crashed: Reactions to the deaths of Japanese World War Two internees at Whenuapai, New Zealand. In N. Guo & T. Shogimen (Eds.), Proceedings of the Overseas Symposium in Otago: Japanese Studies Down Under: History, Politics, Literature and Art. (pp. 163-170). Kyoto, Japan: International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Retrieved from http://publications.nichibun.ac.jp/en/item/symp/2018-03-30/pub

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Bennett, J. (2018). 'Put the lime in the coconut': Competing Cook Islands products seeking markets, c.1860-1914. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the New Zealand Studies Association (NZSA). (pp. 8). Retrieved from http://www.nzsa.co.uk/conferences.htm

2017

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2017). [Review of the book Niue 1774–1974: 200 years of contact and change]. Pacific Affairs, 90(3), 637-639. [Book Review].

Bennett, J. A. (2017). [Review of the book Isles of amnesia: The history, geography, and restoration of America’s forgotten Pacific Islands]. Journal of Pacific History, 52(1), 120-121. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2016.1268670

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Bennett, J. (2017, January). Voices of Rotuma: Enduring refrain. Verbal presentation at the Valued Coconuts Symposium and Workshop: Hear Our Voices, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Other Research Output

Baars, R., Hayhurts, J., Bryant-Tokalau, J., & Bennett, J. (2017, September). The scary bit at the end? The oral defence: Convenors' and candidates' experiences. Social Science Network New Zealand (esocsci) seminar, Wellington, New Zealand. [Webinar].

Wanhalla, A. & Bennett, J. (2017, March). Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific. Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].

2016

Edited Book - Research

Bennett, J. A., & Wanhalla, A. (Eds.). (2016). Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, 379p.

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2016). Prologue: War comes to the Pacific. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. xxi-xxiv). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Wanhalla, A., Bennett, J. A., & Anderson, R. (2016). Epilogue. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 300-308). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). On the atolls: Gilbert Islands. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 270-299). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). The Solomon Islands: Off the radar. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 228-242). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). Tonga in the time of the Americans. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 165-182). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). Wallis (Uvea) Island: A different kind of love story. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 146-164). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). No Bali Ha'i: New Hebrides. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 118-145). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). Bora Bora: "Like a dream". In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 31-41). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A., & Wanhalla, A. (2016). Introduction: A new net goes fishing. In J. A. Bennett & A. Wanhalla (Eds.), Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific: The children of indigenous women and US servicemen, World War II. (pp. 1-30). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2016). War surplus? New Zealand and American children of indigenous women in Sāmoa, the Cook Islands, and Tokelau. In K. Pickles & C. Coleborne (Eds.), New Zealand Pacific empire. (pp. 179-194). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Bennett, J. (2016, November). After the plane crashed: Reactions to the deaths of Japanese World War II internees at Whenuapai, New Zealand. Verbal presentation at the 23rd Nichibunken International Symposium: Japanese Studies Down Under: History, Politics, Literature and Art, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Bennett, J. (2016, May). Discovering "native" copra: The changing lens of Australian development in New Guinea (1920-1975). Verbal presentation at the 22nd Pacific History Association Conference: Mo'na: Our Past Before Us, Guam, Mariana Islands.

2015

Edited Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Oceanian journeys and sojourns: Home thoughts abroad. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 390p.

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2015). John Burke, historian and collector: Taking Solomon Islands back to the United States after World War II. In J. A. Bennett (Ed.), Oceanian journeys and sojourns: Home thoughts abroad. (pp. 246-275). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press.

Bennett, J. A. (2015). Seeking the heart of mobility. In J. A. Bennett (Ed.), Oceanian journeys and sojourns: Home thoughts abroad. (pp. 10-36). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press.

Bennett, J. A., Leckie, J., & Wanhalla, A. (2015). Mothers' darlings: Secrets and silences in the wake of the Pacific War. In C. Twomey & E. Koh (Eds.), The Pacific War: Aftermaths, remembrance and culture. (pp. 214-232). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2015). [Review of the book The history manifesto]. Journal of Pacific History, 50(1), 98-99. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2015.1006550

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Bennett, J. A. (2015). The Pacific Islands: Using indigenous resources in wartime. In P. Dennis (Ed.), Proceedings of the Chief of Army History Conference: Geo-strategy and War: Enduring Lessons for the Australian Army. (pp. 257-286). Sydney, Australia: Big Sky. [Full Paper]

2014

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2014). A vanishing people or a vanishing discourse? W.H.R. Rivers’s ‘psychological factor’ and the depopulation of the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides. In E. Hviding & C. Berg (Eds.), The ethnographic experiment: A. M. Hocart and W. H. R. Rivers in Island Melanesia, 1908. (pp. 214-251). New York: Berghahn Books.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2014). [Review of the book Once were Pacific: Māori connections to Oceania]. New Zealand Journal of History, 48(1), 144-145. [Book Review].

Bennett, J. A. (2014). [Review of the book Hollywood's South Seas and the Pacific War: Searching for Dorothy Lamour]. Journal of Pacific History, 49(3), 368-369. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2014.944335

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Bennett, J. A. (2014, December). Uncertain boundaries: World War Two and US exclusion of Asians and Pacific Islanders. Verbal presentation at the 21st Pacific History Biennial Conference: Lalan, Chalan, Tala, Ara: Path: Reconnecting Pacific-Asia Histories, Taipei and Taitung, Taiwan.

Bennett, J. A. (2014, December). The Pacific: Worlds within worlds. Keynote presentation at the 21st Pacific History Biennial Conference: Lalan, Chalan, Tala, Ara: Path: Reconnecting Pacific-Asia Histories, Taipei and Taitung, Taiwan.

Other Research Output

Talley, S. R. (producer), J. Bennett (producer), & P. Holter (producer), (2014, April). Born of Conflict: Children of the Pacific War. Television broadcast on Māori Television. [Television Broadcast].

Bennett, J. & Wanhalla, A. (2014, November). Archival remains: Searching for family in the wake of the Pacific War. NZ Presbyterian Research Network Christmas Lecture, Knox College, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].

2013

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2013). Meditations: New directions in the study of the decolonisation of Melanesia. Journal of Pacific History, 48(3), 323-329. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2013.840430

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. (2013). Pacific Research Protocols from the University of Otago [Introduction]. Contemporary Pacific, 25(1), 96-100.

Bennett, J. A. (2013). [Review of the book: Pacific worlds: A history of seas, peoples, and cultures]. Pacific Affairs, 86(3), 694-696. [Book Review].

Bennett, J., Brunton, M., Bryant-Tokalau, J., Sopoaga, F., Weaver, N., & Witte, G. (2013). Pacific Research Protocols from the University of Otago. Contemporary Pacific, 25(1), 95-124.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Bennett, J. (2013, November). Nimble moves and stumbles on the way to Mothers' darlings. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Historical Association Biennial Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand.

2012

Edited Book - Research

Bayliss-Smith, T., & Bennett, J. A. (Eds.). (2012). An Otago storeman in Solomon Islands: The diary of William Crossan, copra trader, 1885-86. Canberra, Australia: ANU E Press, 95p.

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2012). 'Inevitable erosion of heroes and landmarks': An end to the politics of Allied war memorials in Tarawa? In M. Gegner & B. Ziino (Eds.), The heritage of war. (pp. 88-106). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2012). [Review of the book Islanders: The Pacific in the age of empire]. Pacific Affairs, 85(4), 869-870. [Book Review].

2011

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2011). The American imperial threat to New Zealand's Pacific dependencies in World War Two. In I. Conrich & D. Alessio (Eds.), New Zealand, France and the Pacific. (pp. 41-57). Nottingham, UK: Kakapo Books.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2011). Author's response: War, damage, and environment: In the eye of the beholder? [Forum: Natives and exotics]. Journal of Pacific History, 46(1), 126-131. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2011.573641

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Bennett, J. (2011, December). The bones of the dead and the flesh of the living: Views from the islands. Verbal presentation at the Pacific War 1941-45 Conference: Heritage, Legacies & Culture, Melbourne, Australia.

Other Research Output

Bennett, J. (2011, September). "Somewhere in the Pacific": History's silences of World War Two. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Inaugural Professorial Lecture].

Mother's Darlings Study Group, including Bennett, J. (principal researcher), Wanhalla, A. (researcher), & Leckie, J. (researcher), (2011, September). Generation GI. Television broadcast for Sunday, Television New Zealand (TVNZ) One. [Television Broadcast].

2010

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2010). [Review of the book The ivory tower and beyond: Participant historians of the Pacific]. New Zealand Journal of History, 44(1), 108-110.

2009

Authored Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2009). Natives and exotics: World War II and environment in the southern Pacific. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, 439p.

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2009). Japanese wartime internees in New Zealand: Fragmenting Pacific Island families. Journal of Pacific History, 44(1), 61-76. doi: 10.1080/00223340902900795

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. (2009). [Review of the book Tell it as it is]. New Zealand International Review, 34(6), 26-27.

Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Bennett, J. A. (2009). [Review of the book Memories of war: Micronesians in the Pacific War]. Journal of Pacific History, 44(2), 232-233.

Bennett, J. (2009). [Review of the book Island ministers: Indigenous leadership in nineteenth century Pacific Islands Christianity]. Pacific Affairs, 82(1), 172-173.

2006

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2006). Framing the exotic. In P. Ahrens (Ed.), Tour of paradise: An American soldier in the South Pacific. (pp. 21-30). Queensland, Australia: Vulgar Press.

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2006). Gorai and population decline in the Shortlands: A reply to Peter Sack. Journal of Pacific History, 41(1), 97-102. doi: 10.1080/00223340600652482

Bennett, J. A. (2006). Malaria, medicine, and Melanesians: Contested hybrid spaces in World War II. Health & History, 8(1), 27-55. Retrieved from http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/hah/8.1/bennett.htl

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Bennett, J. A. (2006). New Zealand and the American imperial threat in New Zealand's Pacific colonies in World War II. Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference of the New Zealand Studies Association. (pp. 14). Retrieved from http://www.nzsa.co.uk/conferences.htm

Other - Edited Journal

Bennett, J. A., Brookes, B., & Stuart, A. (Eds.). (2006). Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine: Health and History: Special Issue: History, Health, and Hybridity, 8(1). [Journal Editors].

2005

Edited Book - Research

Ballantyne, T., & Bennett, J. A. (Eds.). (2005). Landscape/community: Perspectives from New Zealand. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press, 181p.

Chapter in Book - Research

Ballantyne, T., & Bennett, J. A. (2005). Introduction. In T. Ballantyne & J. A. Bennett (Eds.), Landscape/community: Perspectives from New Zealand. (pp. 9-16). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.

Bennett, J. (2005). From ignorance to intervention: The role of Australia. In J. Henderson & G. Watson (Eds.), Securing a peaceful Pacific. (pp. 430-441). Christchurch, New Zealand: University of Canterbury.

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2005). Big picture, myopic gaze: Histories of the Solomons' crisis. Journal of Pacific Studies, 28(1), 118-133.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2005). Review of the books Na masu'u kia'i Kwara'ae [Our forest of Kwara'ae] and A Solomon Islands chronicle. Anthropological Forum, 15(1), 75-77.

2004

Chapter in Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2004). Pests and disease in the Pacific War: Crossing the line. In R. P. Tucker & E. Russell (Eds.), Natural enemy, natural ally: Towards an environmental history of war. (pp. 217-251). Oregon State University Press.

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2004). Fears and aspirations: US Military Intelligence operations in the South Pacific, 1941-1945. Journal of Pacific History, 39(3), 283-307.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. (2004). Review of the book A Solomon Islands chronicle. Journal of Pacific History, 39(1), 134-135.

2003

Edited Book - Research

Bennett, J. A., & Russell, K. J. (Eds.). (2003). Journeys in a small canoe: The life and times of a Solomon Islander [by L. M. Gina]. Canberra: Pandanus Books, 301p.

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2003). Local resource use in the Pacific War with Japan: Logging in Western Melanesia. War & Society, 21(1), 83-118.

2002

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2002). Wartime Emergency and the Displacement of Indians in Fiji: Cost and Compensation. Journal of Pacific History, 37(2), 205-219.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2002). Loggers and Degradation in the Asia-Pacific: Corporations and Environmental Management. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies. [Book Review].

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Bennett, J. A. (2002). Allied logging and milling in Papua New Guinea during World War II. In J. Daragavel, D. Gaughwin & B. Libbis (Eds.), Australia's ever-changing Forests V: proceedings of the Fifth National conference of the Australian Forest History Society. (pp. 410-431). Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies. [Full Paper]

Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report

Bennett, J. A. (2002). Roots of conflict in Solomon Islands: Though much is taken, much abides: Legacies of tradition and colonialism, ″State, Society and Governance in Melanesia″. Discussion Paper 2002, 5. Canberra: Australian National University. 16p.

2001

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2001). Germs or rations? Beriberi and Japanese Labor Experiment in Colonial Fiji and Queensland. Pacific Studies, 24(3), 1-17.

Bennett, J. A. (2001). War, emergency and the environment: Fiji, 1939-1946. Environment & History, 7, 255-287.

2000

Authored Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (2000). Pacific Forest: A History of Resource Control and Contest in Solomon Islands, c.1800-1997. Brill Academic, Leiden: White Horse Press, Cambridge, 512p.

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (2000). Across the Bougainville strait: Commercial interests and colonial rivalry, c.1880-1960. Journal of Pacific History, 35(1), 67-82.

Bennett, J. A. (2000). The grievous mistakes of the Vanikoro concession: The Vanikoro Kauri Timber Company, Solomon Islands, 1926-1964. Environment & History, 6(3), 317-347.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (2000). [Review of the book Environmental Change in the Pacific Basin: Chronologies, Causes, Consequence. Environment & History, 6. [Book Review].

Bennett, J. A. (2000). [Review of the book Big Wok: Storian blong Wol Wo Tu long Vanuatu]. Asia Pacific Viewpoint. [Book Review].

1999

Authored Book - Research

Bennett, J. A. (1999). Solomons Islands History: Christianity and Colonialism. Honiara: Curriculum Development Centre, 100p.

Journal - Research Other

Bennett, J. A. (1999). [Review of the book The Cambridge history of the Pacific Islanders. International History Review, 21(2), 453-455. doi: 10.1080/07075332.1999.9640867

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Bennett, J. A. (1999). Australian logging interests in the Solomon Islands, c.1920-1970. In J. Dargarvel & B. Libbis (Eds.), Australia's Ever-changing Forests IV: Proceedings of the Fourth National Conference on Australian Forest History. (pp. 275-292). Canberra: Australian National University. [Full Paper]

1996

Journal - Research Article

Bennett, J. A. (1996). Logging labour on Vanikoho, Solomon Islands: The achievements of "The most deeble in the commercial world" 1923-1964. Pacific Studies, 19(2), 1-36.