Dr Alexis Bergantz

Dr Bergantz is a historian of Australia’s involvement with France and the French Pacific, with a particular focus on New Caledonia. His first book, French Connection: Australia’s Cosmopolitan Ambitions was published by NewSouth (2021). Dr Bergantz's current project investigates aspects of Australia’s historical relationship with New Caledonia, including the migration of French convicts to Australia. It has received support from the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in partnership with the French Embassy in Canberra. 

Dr Bergantz holds a PhD in History from the Australian National University (2016) for which he was awarded the ANU J. G. Crawford Prize for Academic Excellence, the John Molony Prize for best thesis in History, and was shortlisted for the Serle Award for best PhD thesis in Australian history by the Australian Historical Association.

Since 2020 Dr Bergantz has been leading the research efforts of the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations (ISFAR) as co-chair of its Research Committee (with Elizabeth Rechniewski). He also acts as General Editor of the French-Australian Dictionary of Biography and serves on the Editorial Committees of the academic journals PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies and The French Australian Review. Dr Bergantz has written for Inside Story, Meanjin Blog, the Canberra Times, the Australian Policy and History Network and has provided expert commentary on historical and contemporary French-Australian relations for national and local radio programs such as ABC RN’s Late Night Live, Nightlife, Focus, ABC Weekend, 3RRR’s Uncommon Sense and SBS French.

At RMIT Dr Bergantz coordinates the French program, teaches across all levels of French and teaches the core subject Global History and Security in the Bachelor of International Studies.

Twitter: @alexisbergantz and @theISFAR

• French program coordinator
• Lecturer and coordinator (Global History and Security)
• Co-chair of the Research Committee of the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations
• General Editor, French-Australian Dictionary of Biography

• PhD (History), The Australian National University
• MA (History), The University of Sydney
• MA (International Studies), The University of Sydney
• BA (English and French studies), Université Marc Bloch (Strasbourg II)
• Diplôme d'Aptitude à l'Enseignement du Français Langue Etrangère

Member of Editorial Committee:

• PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies
• The French Australian Review

Professional affiliations:

• The Australian Historical Association (AHA)
• The Institute for the Study of French Australian Relations (ISFAR)
• The Australian Society for French Studies (ASFS)
• Pacific Interest Group, Melbourne (PIG)
• European Asia-Pacific Network (Eurasiane)