Associate Professor Amanda Laugesen

She is also an editor of the Australian Oxford range of dictionaries. Amanda is a historian and lexicographer who has written extensively on the social and cultural history of war, book and publishing history, and the history of Australian English.

Her research has focused on topics as diverse as the kinds of books soldiers read during war, the language of the convict era, the history of swearing in Australia, and war veterans’ magazines. Amanda is also an adviser to the Commonwealth Style Manual.

Amanda’s particular areas of interest and expertise include:
– Australian social and cultural history of war, especially soldiers’ memoirs, soldier and veteran-authored magazines, and the experience of reading and entertainment during war;
– the history of Australian English, especially the lexicon;
– new words/language/issues to do with language usage.