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:
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
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
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Bennett, J. A. (2018). Pacific coconut: Comestible, comfort and commodity. Journal of Pacific History, 53(4), 353-374. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2018.1523705
Journal - Research Article
Bennett, J. A. (2018). Voices of Rotuma: Enduring refrain. Journal of Pacific History, 53(4), 502-520. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2018.1507728
Journal - Research Article
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: Full paper
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].
Other Research Output
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].
Journal - Research Other
Wanhalla, A. & Bennett, J. (2017, March). Mothers' darlings of the South Pacific. Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].
Other Research Output
Bennett, J. (2017, January). Voices of Rotuma: Enduring refrain. Verbal presentation at the Valued Coconuts Symposium and Workshop: Hear Our Voices, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
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
Journal - Research Other
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.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
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.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in 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.
Edited Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
Bennett, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Oceanian journeys and sojourns: Home thoughts abroad. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 390p.
Edited Book - Research
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
Journal - Research Other
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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].
Other Research Output
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].
Journal - Research Other
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.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
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.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
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].
Other Research Output
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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
Journal - Research Other
Bennett, J. (2013). Pacific Research Protocols from the University of Otago [Introduction]. Contemporary Pacific, 25(1), 96-100.
Journal - Research Other
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 Article
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.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
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].
Journal - Research Other
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.
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].
Journal - Research Other
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.
Edited 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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Bennett, J. (2011, September). "Somewhere in the Pacific": History's silences of World War Two. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Inaugural Professorial Lecture].
Other Research Output
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].
Other Research Output
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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
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.
Journal - Research Other
Bennett, J. (2009). [Review of the book Tell it as it is]. New Zealand International Review, 34(6), 26-27.
Journal - Research Other
Bennett, J. A. (2009). Natives and exotics: World War II and environment in the southern Pacific. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, 439p.
Authored Book - Research
Bennett, J. A. (2009). [Review of the book Memories of war: Micronesians in the Pacific War]. Journal of Pacific History, 44(2), 232-233.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
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 Article
Bennett, J. (2009). [Review of the book Island ministers: Indigenous leadership in nineteenth century Pacific Islands Christianity]. Pacific Affairs, 82(1), 172-173.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
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
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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
Journal - Research Article
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].
Other - Edited Journal
Bennett, J. A. (2005). Big picture, myopic gaze: Histories of the Solomons' crisis. Journal of Pacific Studies, 28(1), 118-133.
Journal - Research Article
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
Ballantyne, T., & Bennett, J. A. (Eds.). (2005). Landscape/community: Perspectives from New Zealand. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press, 181p.
Edited Book - Research
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.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
Journal - Research Other
Bennett, J. (2004). Review of the book A Solomon Islands chronicle. Journal of Pacific History, 39(1), 134-135.
Journal - Research Other
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 Article
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.
Chapter in 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.
Edited Book - Research
Bennett, J. A. (2003). Local resource use in the Pacific War with Japan: Logging in Western Melanesia. War & Society, 21(1), 83-118.
Journal - Research Article
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.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Bennett, J. A. (2002). Loggers and Degradation in the Asia-Pacific: Corporations and Environmental Management. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies. [Book Review].
Journal - Research Other
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 Article
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]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Bennett, J. A. (2001). Germs or rations? Beriberi and Japanese Labor Experiment in Colonial Fiji and Queensland. Pacific Studies, 24(3), 1-17.
Journal - Research Article
Bennett, J. A. (2001). War, emergency and the environment: Fiji, 1939-1946. Environment & History, 7, 255-287.
Journal - Research Article
Bennett, J. A. (2000). [Review of the book Environmental Change in the Pacific Basin: Chronologies, Causes, Consequence. Environment & History, 6. [Book Review].
Journal - Research Other
Bennett, J. A. (2000). Across the Bougainville strait: Commercial interests and colonial rivalry, c.1880-1960. Journal of Pacific History, 35(1), 67-82.
Journal - Research Article
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.
Authored Book - Research
Bennett, J. A. (2000). [Review of the book Big Wok: Storian blong Wol Wo Tu long Vanuatu]. Asia Pacific Viewpoint. [Book Review].
Journal - Research Other
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 Article
Bennett, J. A. (1999). Solomons Islands History: Christianity and Colonialism. Honiara: Curriculum Development Centre, 100p.
Authored Book - Research
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]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
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
Journal - Research Other
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.
Journal - Research Article
