Melissa Bellanta

Melissa Bellanta is a social and cultural historian of Australia with interests in the history of menswear and masculinities, histories of street and youth culture, popular entertainment and culture, and social histories of crime. In 2025, she will be the first Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Seoul National University, and will return to her permanent role at Australian Catholic University in 2026. Her first career was in law, after which she was awarded a PhD at the University of Sydney. She held postdoctoral fellowships and a position in history at the University of Queensland before moving to ACU in Sydney. She now teaches Australian social history, the history of the present, film and history and the history of human rights.

Areas of expertise: histories of masculinity; history of popular entertainment; histories of dress and fashion; Australian social history; histories of emotions