Prize-winning article on women bushwalking, and visiting OCHSMT as a PhD student

Ruby Ekkel, a visiting PhD student, explains the context of her recently-published and prize-winning article ‘The meaning of a bushwalk with the Melbourne Women’s Walking Club, 1922-45’, as well as her activities as a doctoral student at the University of Oxford.  All doctoral students are welcome to join the HSMET workshop, which meets Thursdays of even weeks at 10:00.  You can also view some of Ruby’s research material in a related Conversation article.

I am a visiting PhD student from the Australian National University, in Canberra. My research examines changing interactions with native animals between 1880 and 1950, spanning the fields of science, pet-keeping, fashion, transnational trade, art and hunting, with a focus on settler women’s contributions to changing attitudes and behaviours. In this journal article I investigate what participation in the male-dominated pastime of organised bushwalking (an Australianism for hiking) meant to women, both as a physical encounter with nature and as a form of community. The members of the Melbourne Women’s Walking Club, the first of its kind in Australia, drew solace and excitement from spending time in natural spaces and held genuine affection for the places and wildlife they often fought to protect from development or destruction. For women in particular, bushwalking could also represent a temporary and thrilling escape from domestic spaces and responsibilities, an avenue for close relationships with like-minded women, and an opportunity to experiment with new and feminist modes of dressing and behaving.

The delights have never ceased during my year as a visiting student at Oxford.  Arriving during a cold snap in January 2024 made me wish I’d packed a beanie, but even that regret paled as I drank in the sights of meadows and spires, and attended a bevy of interesting seminars, lectures and reading groups. At Christ Church I’ve loved singing with the College Choir, and I'm still pursuing my goal of going to every available evensong service in Oxford. I’ve also been a keen member of the History of Science, Medicine, Technology and Environment workshop, which I am co-convening this term with Madeline White and Jagyoseni Mandal. It’s an excellent way to meet people who are interested in similar fields and to get useful and supportive feedback on works-in-progress, and I’d take this chance to encourage interested DPhils and ECRs to join us every second Thursday at 10:00 at 47 Banbury Road! Other academic highlights have included presenting at the Oxford Transnational and Global History Seminar’s annual conference, meeting reindeer at the World Congress of Environmental History, and working with Erica Charters as my interim supervisor. I am very grateful to Erica, the Faculty of History, and Christ Church for hosting me during this unforgettable part of my PhD (and life!).