Joan Beaumont is Professor Emerita at the ANU and Honorary Professor with the Contemporary Histories Research Group.

Joan Beaumont is an internationally recognized historian of Australia in the two world wars, Australian defence and foreign policy, the history of prisoners of war and the memory and heritage of war. Her most recent research has resulted in a major monograph on Australia in the Great Depression, to be published in 2022. Her publications include the critically acclaimed Broken Nation: Australians and the Great War (Allen & Unwin, 2013) and, with Allison Cadzow (eds), Serving Our Country: Indigenous Australians, war defence and citizenship (NewSouth 2018). Past appointments include Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at the ANU (2010-11) and Dean of Arts  at Deakin University Victoria (1998-2008). She is an Honorary Professor at Deakin University, Professor Emerita at ANU, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs; and a member the Editorial Advisory Board of Historical Documents of Australian Foreign Policy, DFAT. She graduated from the University of Adelaide (BA Hons 1969) and the University of London (King’s College) (PhD 1975).