Simon Sleight

Dr. Simon Sleight is an Associate Professor in Urban History, Historical Youth Cultures, and Australian History at King’s College London. He serves as Deputy Director of the Menzies Australia Institute and Co-founding Director of the Children’s History Society. His research focuses on urban place-making, youth cultures, and Australian history, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between historical memory and public life. Sleight holds degrees from the University of Warwick, UCL, and Monash University, where his doctoral thesis won the Serle Award for best PhD in Australian History.

His teaching includes modules on Australian history, urban history, crime history, and the history of youth. He has authored/co-authored books such as History, Memory and Public Life (2018) and Young People and the Shaping of Public Space in Melbourne, 1870–1914 (2013). Sleight’s current projects explore living history museums and transnational youth cultural histories. He also administers the MCAS Australian Studies Network and participates in media engagements, including ABC Radio National.

Key awards include the Serle Award (2010). His research integrates urban morphology, cultural geography, and interdisciplinary approaches, addressing topics like youth gang cultures, colonial childhoods, and historical cartography.