2025 student research fellowship projects
For the inaugural round of the Museums of History NSW Dr Zeny Edwards OAM Student Research Fellowship, applicants were asked to propose a project that responded to the theme of the role of women in architecture and/or applied arts/design during the 20th century in NSW.
The three successful applicants – Fatima Al Bihia, Rhys Burke and Jhidyn Rossall – were selected from a strong pool of candidates, and all three chose to focus their attention on items in the Caroline Simpson Library Collection. Collectively, the fellows represent what the program aims to promote – a diversity of backgrounds, interests and approaches applied to collection sets that have received little focused attention to generate new perspectives and knowledge.
Fatima Al Bihia
I’m an international student from Calgary, Canada. Before moving to Australia, I completed a double degree in Mathematics and Art/Architectural History at the University of Calgary. I recently completed a Bachelor of Architectural Design at Western Sydney University.
My project investigates the role of women in the development of public, social and affordable housing in NSW during the 20th century. It seeks to uncover both the visible and obscured contributions of women to socially oriented architecture and examine how gender shaped participation and recognition within the field.
Fatima’s paper
Rhys Burke
I'm a current student at the University of Newcastle, and am in my final year of studying a combined Bachelor of Arts (BA) / Laws (LLB) program; my major for my BA was History. I’m also hoping to study a Master of Information Studies with the goal of becoming an archivist.
My project explored the impact of Constructive Women, a professional association for women working in the construction and architecture industry between 1983 and 2009. I explore how the group and their newsletter, Constructive Times, provided literal and metaphorical spaces and platforms for women in the industry to share ideas, creativity, knowledge and resources, and perhaps most importantly, provide support to one another professionally, personally and socially.
Rhys’s paper
Constructive Women and the power of community
Understanding a deliberately feminine perspective in a masculinised industrial landscape
Jhidyn Rossall
I am a proud Wiradjuri / Dhungutti / Dharug / Gundungurra / Yuin man with mixed European heritage, and I am an undergraduate student studying at the University of Wollongong, NSW. I am undertaking my honours year for a Bachelor of Arts, where I will be majoring in History.
My project explores the figure of the ‘New Woman’, which emerged as a powerful symbol of femininity and modern life during the interwar period in NSW. It focuses specifically on artists Thea Proctor and Margaret Preston, who laid the aesthetic and intellectual foundations for modern domestic taste, as well as interior decorators Margaret Jaye and Molly Grey, who translated those ideals into a lived reality.
Jhidyn’s paper
Read more about the fellowship
Dr Zeny Edwards OAM Student Research Fellowship
In April 2025, Museums of History NSW launched the inaugural Dr Zeny Edwards OAM Student Research Fellowship. This program was established to support the next generation of historians, curators and heritage professionals in NSW
How to apply
Student research fellowship: information and guidelines
Museums of History NSW Dr Zeny Edwards OAM Student Research Fellowship