Katharine Gelber (Australia)

Katharine Gelber obtained her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2000. She has lectured at the University of Sydney and at the University of New South Wales and is now a Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Queensland where she has been since 2011. Her expertise is in human rights with a particular focus on freedom of speech and the regulation of hate speech. Her recent publications include Free Speech After 9/11 (Oxford, 2016). She has received various awards and research grants during her career, including a Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (2012–2015). In 2014 she was jointly awarded the Mayer Journal Article Prize by the Australian Political Studies Association for best article published in the Australian Journal of Political Science. In November 2011 she was awarded the PEN Keneally award for community leadership in the promotion of freedom of expression and in the same year she was the Australian Expert Witness at an Asia Pacific regional meeting of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Professor Gelber has contributed actively to the discipline at the professional level. She served as President of the Australian Political Studies Association in 2011 and has been continuously on its Executive Committee since then. During her time on the Executive, she improved the representation of international relations scholars within the Association, established Research Committees, coordinated consultations over the ranking of journals, and enhanced the Association’s interaction with the Australian Research Council. Within IPSA she has been an Executive Member of RC26 (Human Rights) since 2012. In the same year she led the successful Australian bid to host the 2018 IPSA World Congress in Brisbane. She is the Chair of the Local Organising Committee for WC2018 and has been responsible for many of it distinguishing features, including the integration of the regional International Studies conference into the IPSA Congress.