Getting to know...Carolyn Holbrook
Dr Carolyn Holbrook
Name: Carolyn Holbrook
Title: Doctor
Faculty: Arts
Campus: Clayton
How long have you worked at Monash? Since January 2014.
Where did you work prior to starting at the University? The University of Melbourne; as a food and wine writer, and before that as a policy adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
What do you like best about your role? Learning new things that help me to understand the bigger picture of Australian history – it’s like putting together the pieces of a massive jigsaw puzzle.
Why did you choose your current career path?A love of learning, research and writing. I also enjoy the independence of the academic life.
First job? Coles delicatessen in Subiaco, though I was moved to the front-end after a few months for subversion. Once we put a raw chicken in a bag and told the manager that someone brought it back because it was under-cooked. We thought we were so funny; he didn’t.
Worst job? Cleaning toilets at the Subiaco Markets.
What project are you currently working on and what does it involve? I am working with Professor James Walter on a history of how policy is made in Australia. We hope to produce some constructive suggestions about how good public policy is made.
What is your favourite place in the world and why? Cottesloe Beach in Perth on a still evening, with the fading sun glowing on the pine trees.
What is your favourite place to eat and why? Hard choice, but my favourite place would be an outdoor hawker market in Singapore, with its huge choice of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian-inspired dishes.
What is the best piece of advice you have received? "A submitted thesis is better than a perfect, unsubmitted thesis," Professor Joy Damousi.
Tell us something about yourself that your colleagues wouldn’t know. I was in the WA school girls’ cricket team and I have Armenian heritage on my mother’s side.