DSC HDR Milestone Conference

24th - 27th February 2025

The College of Design and Social Context HDR Milestone Conference is an opportunity for candidates from across the college to progress through their research training career and meet milestone deadlines that fall outside the scheduled DSC Symposia events throughout the year.

Over the next decade, tackling the urgent and complex challenges of climate, security and inequality will require new knowledge, skills and collaboration in order to empower people and communities to adapt and thrive in life and work. Across the College of Design and Social Context, staff, supervisors and candidates span a unique range of disciplines engaged in research and research training. Together, we are distinctive in deploying applied and practice-based approaches that are future-oriented and regenerative. Across our three symposia, Practice Research Symposium, Urban Futures Symposium, and Social Change Symposium, we engage in co-creating knowledge that contributes to an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for people and the planet.

Conference workshop

Using AI for Thesis Research

12pm - 1pm, Tues 25 February

RMIT University Melbourne Campus,
Storey Hall, Building 16 Level 7, Seminar Room 1
View map

Join us for a fun and informal workshop exploring how AI can support thesis research! A panel of four graduate students from Computer Science, Education, and Media & Communication will share their experiences experimenting with AI tools in their PhD and MA research. From literature reviews to data analysis, they'll discuss successes, challenges, and unexpected insights. The session includes plenty of time for audience discussion, Q&A, and sharing your own AI experiences. Whether you're an AI sceptic or enthusiast, come along, learn, and connect—with lunch provided!

Facilitators

Professor Tania Lewis, Social Change Symposia Chair, School of Media and Communication
Jebunesa Jeba, PhD Candidate, School of Education
Yufan (Tina) Kang, PhD Candidate, School of Computing Technologies
Sara Al Lawati, PhD Candidate, School of Computing Technologies
Shahriar Rahman, PhD Candidate, School of Media and Communication

Presentation schedule

Monday 24 February

Time	Candidate	Presentation Title	Milestone	School	Location
9:00 – 10:30	Maximillian Kenyon	How Australian Netflix and Stan 'Original' films relate to, reconfigure, and/or recontextualise the industrial, cultural, and aesthetic paradigms of Australian national cinema	2MR	Media and Communication	16.07.03
10:30 – 12:00	Angus McLaurin	Towards a Genealogy of Post-Rave	CoC	Media and Communication	16.07.04
10:30 – 12:00	Ruby Manson	Gendering disaster beyond gendered bodies: An intersectional feminist analysis of 'natural' disaster response and governance in Australia and Vanuatu	CoC	Global, Urban and Social Studies	Online
13:00 – 14:30	Himani Joshi	Grief and social media: Understanding Migrant Womens Grieving Practices on Facebook and Instagram	2MR	Media and Communication	16.07.03
13:00 – 14:30	Miriam Reynoldson	Narratives of value in online learning through contexts of life (as part of Interdisciplinary PhD Scholarship in Human Experiences of Technology)	CoC	Global, Urban and Social Studies	16.07.02
14:30 – 16:00	Nicholas MacFarlane	Suburban employment in the sprawling city: A comparative analysis of planning interventions into office development in established suburbs	CoC	Global, Urban and Social Studies	16.07.03

For information on the Practice Research presentation schedule please visit the Practice Research Milestone Conference website.

Tuesday 25 February

Time	Candidate	Presentation Title	Milestone	School	Location
9:00 – 10:30	Sara Pishgahi	Circular Economy volume home building; prospects for transition	2MR	Global, Urban and Social Studies	16.07.02
9:00 – 10:30	Jeri Karmelic	Gendered implications and expectations for women and gender-diverse rock instrumentalists in the Australian music industry	2MR	Media and Communication	16.07.04
9:00 – 10:30	Siyun Dong	Behind the Scenes: The Labour of Intermediaries in Rural Livestreaming Commerce in China	CoC	Media and Communication	16.07.03
10:30 – 12:00	Nadia Egalita	Household and Food Consumption: Cross-cultural Analysis of Online Food Delivery Service in Surabaya and Melbourne	3MR	Media and Communication	16.07.02
11:00 – 12:30	Luis Felipe Ferra	Mexican jazz and the Internet: an ecological and comparative approach to a niche in the digital era	2MR	Media and Communication	16.07.03
11:00 – 12:30	Rebecca Weiner	Exploring associations between housing stress, transport stress and early childhood development in diverse Australian urban contexts	CoC	Global, Urban and Social Studies	16.07.04
14:00 – 15:30	Van Bao Pham	Application of Augmented Reality tools in the inspection of safe activities on construction sites	2MR	Property, Construction and Project Management	16.07.01
14:00 – 15:30	Katie Sproule	Screening Single-Sex Education: Representing the Formation of Girls Gender and Sexual Identities in Cinema	2MR	Education	16.07.03
15:30 – 17:00	Aria Zhao	An Inquiry into the Play-based STEM Teaching Strategies in early childhood in Australia	CoC	Education	16.07.01
15:30 – 17:00	Ethan Bryant	The self-referential popstar; authenticity, irony and stardom	CoC	Media and Communication	16.07.03

For information on the Practice Research presentation schedule please visit the Practice Research Milestone Conference website.

Wednesday 26 February

Time	Candidate	Presentation Title	Milestone	School	Location
9:00 – 10:30	Jingjing Qiang	Studying Son Preference in China's Rural Areas: A Feminist Perspective	2MR	Education	Online
10:30 – 12:00	Freda Zapsalis	The Role of Multi-disciplinary team experiences in the enablement of Career Identity & Career Adaptability for Humanities students	3MR	Education	Online
10:30 – 12:00	Yeshi Nidup	Instructional leadership and its influence on Higher Secondary School Teachers in Thimphu, Bhutan	2MR	Education	Online
11:00 – 12:30	Khilda Nur	Securitizing Public Space and Socio-spatial Disorders, Case study: Makassar, Indonesia	2MR	Global, Urban and Social Studies	08.11.03
14:00 – 15:30	Megan Rogerson-Berry	"For Freaks and Others": Examining Queerness and its Significance in Popular Music of the 21st Century	3MR	Media and Communication	Online
15:30 – 17:00	Osman Hulusi Turkyilmaz	A framework for improving safety performance of construction project performance based on the interaction of lean construction and BIM	CoC	Property, Construction and Project Management	08.08.13

For information on the Practice Research presentation schedule please visit the Practice Research Milestone Conference website.

Thursday 27 February

Time	Candidate	Presentation Title	Milestone	School	Location
9:00 – 10:30	Max Melit	Platformisation, Mediatization and the Infrastructure of Cultural Spaces: The practices of artists on digital platforms in Melbournes alternative music scene	CoC	Media and Communication	Online
9:00 – 10:30	Ellie McFarlane	Child performance and child audiences in the 20th century American Family Sitcom	CoC	Media and Communication	009.04.03
11:00 – 12:30	Jiani YU	Understanding Female Chinese international students' negotiation of gender and cultural norms	2MR	Global, Urban and Social Studies	08.09.06
11:30-13:00	Abraham Zarate Heras	Latin American Mobile Subjects in Australia: Sense of Place and Critical Intercultural Digital Literacies	2MR	Global, Urban and Social Studies	Online
12:00-1.30	Abdullah Mohammed Alzahrani	Integration of Circular Economy Principles in Design Phase of Housing Projects in Saudi Arabia	CoC	Property, Construction and Project Management	Online
13:30 – 15:00	Rowan Nas	Improving learning outcomes of secondary STEM students through lended learning	3MR	Education	Online
14:00 – 15:30	Shubha Kayastha	Perception and understanding of privacy among queer people in Nepal: How do they see and express themselves in digital spaces?	CoC	Media and Communication	09.02.015
16:00 – 16:50	Tong Liu	Virtual Consumption in Luxury Fashion Brands: Consumer’s Purchase Intention of Virtual Fashion in the Virtual World	3MR	Fashion and Textiles	514.01.006

For information on the Practice Research presentation schedule please visit the Practice Research Milestone Conference website.

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Indigenous cultures

DSC HDR Milestone Conference