About
Christina Clarke
Researcher and Educator
Christina is a historian of metals and metallurgy with a passion for education.
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Research
Christina is an art historian with over two decades’ experience as a practicing metalsmith. Her research centres on historical and archaeological metal material culture, with a specific focus on the artisanal processes involved in the production of metal items from the dawn of metallurgy to the early twentieth century. Her research has covered such diverse topics as the production of metal vessels in Bronze Age Greece, metalworking in the Greco-Roman world and Pre-Columbian Peru, the production of medals and silver furniture for Louis XIV, metal industries in Enlightenment France, nineteenth-century Australian silverware, and Arts and Crafts jewellery and metalwork in Britain and Australia. Her research is methodologically interdisciplinary, incorporating artisanal practice, archaeological and archival materials, material culture approaches and digital humanities.
Education
Christina completed undergraduate degrees in Classical Studies (Latin, Greek and Ancient History) and in Visual Arts (gold-and silversmithing) at the Australian National University, where she also completed a Masters in Art History and Curatorial Studies (Advanced) and a PhD. Her doctorate research was a practice-led archaeological study into the fabrication of metal vessels in Minoan Bronze Age Crete, which later became her first book, The Manufacture of Minoan Metal Vessels: Theory and Practice (Astrom Editions, 2013). Her Masters research into the chaîne opératoire of the production of silver furniture produced for Louis XIV between 1666 and 1689 is currently in press.
Career
Christina has worked across higher education and the GLAM sector (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums). Over several years at the National Gallery of Australia, she held roles as an Assistant Archivist working on the preservation and description of Australian artists’ archives and documentation, as a volunteer Curatorial Assistant in Australian and International Decorative Arts and Design, and as a volunteer Assistant Conservator of objects. She has also worked as a Metal Fabricator for Thylacine Exhibition Preparation and has taught community education courses in making silver jewellery. She is the Project Administrator for the Australian Research Council Discovery Project Performing Transdisciplinarity and co-editor of the digital critical edition of Jean-Benjamin de Laborde’s eighteenth-century illustrated songbook Choix de chansons, which resulted from this project. She has been awarded with a number of research fellowships, most recently as Endeavour Research Fellow at the Voltaire Foundation, University of Oxford, in 2018.
Teaching
Christina is a recipient of the 2021 ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the 2020 ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences Dean’s Commendation for Excellence in Teaching. She primarily teaches art history and curatorship, specifically Early Modern visual culture, twentieth-century design, contemporary craft, and the materials and display of art. Christina is a passionate educator whose practice can be characterised as a testing ground for research-led innovations in teaching and learning. With a primary focus on student engagement and interactive learning experiences, she applies both object-based and technology-enhanced learning strategies to inspire and motivate students. Her current pedagogical focus is on improving teaching and learning approaches for neurodiverse students in higher education.