People

Ellen is a Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow researching who gets to be included in different spaces and networks of ‘community’.

Belinda explores intersections of social justice, bodies, places, emotions and creative practice, with a specific interest in disability.

Gemma is an interdisciplinary scholar in criminology and forensic psychology, internationally recognised for her work on family violence, sexual assault, policing, and investigative interviewing.

Melissa investigates housing and safety crises for marginalised pet owners (or companion animal guardians), and practice responses to support interspecies families.

Hariz research has focused on forced migration, diaspora studies, place-based identities and human rights (incl. right to education).

Elizabeth investigates how people relate across boundaries of difference in the global era, including theories of migration, intercultural communication, reconciliation, and social inclusion.

Juliet investigates pregnancy and homelessness, family violence and homelessness, housing support for older women, social housing, and feminist activism.

Dr Natalie Jovanovski is a Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences and Social Equity Research Centre (SERC). As a health sociologist, Natalie's work explores the sociocultural factors that shape people's relationships with food and their bodies, especially women.

Dr. Rojan Afrouz is recognised for her expertise in developing research addressing violence against women, particularly within migrant and refugee communities. With a background in social work and extensive practical experience, she has designed research initiatives focusing on areas such as family and domestic violence, technology-facilitated abuse, and online abuse. Her dedication to advancing the social work profession is evident in her efforts to integrate contemporary approaches into curriculum design and teaching modules.

Dr Alexis Bergantz is a Senior Lecturer in Global & Language Studies in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University.   Alexis is a historian of Australia’s relationships with France, the Francophone Pacific, and the broader Indo-Pacific region. His first book, French Connection: Australia’s Cosmopolitan Ambitions (NewSouth, 2021), won the 2022 NSW Premier’s Australian History Award.   His current research examines Australia’s historical relationships with France and the Pacific region, with a particular focus on New Caledonia, regional institutions, and questions of sovereignty and knowledge production. He is a Chief Investigator on the La Trobe-led Australian Research Council Discovery Project Cultivating Connections: A Transregional History of Australian Rice (2026–2028) and is currently working towards a history of Australia, France and the Pacific Community (SPC). In 2025 he held a National Library of Australia Fellowship, supported by the Stokes Family.   Alexis holds a PhD in History from the Australian National University (2016), for which he was awarded the J. G. Crawford Prize for Academic Excellence and the John Molony Prize for the best thesis in History, and was shortlisted for the Serle Award of the Australian Historical Association.   He has held leadership roles in a number of scholarly organisations. He serves as Vice-President of the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations (ISFAR), Secretary of the Australian Society for French Studies, General Editor of the French-Australian Dictionary of Biography, and is a member of the Editorial Committee of The French Australian Review. He also serves on the Standing Assessment Committee of the Australia–France Indo-Pacific Studies Program (AFIPS), administered by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and part of the France–Australia Roadmap.   Alexis regularly contributes to public debate through publications, public talks, and media commentary. His writing has appeared in The Conversation, Inside Story, Meanjin, The Canberra Times, and the Australian Policy and History Network. He has provided expert commentary on Australia–France relations, the Pacific region, and historical issues for SBS, ABC Radio National, ABC Local Radio, SBS French, and other media outlets. At RMIT, Alexis coordinates the French program, teaches across all levels of French and teaches the core subject Global History in the Bachelor of International Studies.

Judith Bessant is a Professor at RMIT University. Her fields of research include youth studies, sociology anthropology, politics, history, technology-media studies, planetary and public health and youth participation.   Distinctions and awards. In 2017 I received an Order of Australia (AM) (Dept Prime Minister and Cabinet & Governor General) In 2024 I was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Science in Australia In 2024 my colleagues and I won the Australian Political Science Association’s (APSA) 2024 ‘Mayer Journal Prize for Best Article’ in the journal Australian Journal of Political Science. It was Bessant, J., Collin, P., & Watts, R., 2023, ‘Blah, blah, blah …[not] business as usual’: politics through the lens of young female climate leaders’. 58.4 :477–493 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361146.2023.2224239   My career included a post-doctoral research fellowship and being a secondary school teacher. Since then, I’ve held various academic, research, teaching and governance positions in Australian universities. This included being appointed the founding Professor of Sociology and Youth Studies at RMIT University Melbourne Australia.   I have worked as a policy development advisor for the UN and as advisor for UNESCO. I have also worked as an advisor for various governments, NGOs and community organizations.     For a number of years I served as a commissioner for The Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing working on a report titled A Wakeup call: the second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing  (2025) https://www.thelancet.com/commissions-do/adolescent-health-wellbeing   I have authored and co-authored 15 books and edited and co-edited another 15 books, as well as many journal articles (ORCID  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7385-5358 I  have also received a number of Australian Research Council grants.   Please direct all mail to her RMIT address. Professor Bessant's CV is available from her on request.

Dr. Tamara Borovica is Vice Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow and creative artist at RMIT University’s Social Equity Research Centre. Her work focuses on the sociology of emotion and health, particularly in the context of trauma and resilience. Using participatory and arts-based methods, she explores how emotions and lived experiences, including the collective ones, shape mental health. Tamara is an emerging leader in critical mental health research, continuously pushing the boundaries of how creative practice and arts can be utilised for social change. Her work addresses the emotional dimensions of mental health and informs training strategies for health organisations, emphasising empathy, connection, and social equity. She is an incoming co-director of HealthTalk Australia, co-convenor of HASH Arts and Creative Practice for Wellbeing thematic group and member of Social Equity Research Centre and Digital Ethnography Research Centre at RMIT. Key activities Qualitative Research. Ethnographic Research Psycho-Social Research and Design Creative Practice and Research Critical Mental Health

Dr Tuba Boz is a lecturer in the Social Work and Human Services Program in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University. Dr Boz co-leads the Migration, Equity, Security and Humanitarianism (MESH) network (previously named, Migration, Mobility and Security Research Network, MMSRN) at RMIT University. She works on interdisciplinary projects with local and international academic institutions, and government and non-government organisations related to anthropological and sociological issues focusing on social cohesion, migration and intercultural communication. Dr Boz was Head of the Department of Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the International University of Sarajevo (2012-2015). She was Vice-Chair of the European Muslim Initiative of Social Cohesion (EMSICO) from 2010-2014 and adviser to the Chairperson at the Turkish Asian Centre for Strategic Studies (TASAM) from 2010-2016. She received her PhD in Communications at Monash University, where she examined the politics of independent documentary film production and distribution. Her research interests include multiculturalism, community arts and sports, documentary films, Muslim minorities, Turkish communities and diaspora.

Christine is a researcher and lecturer in the Bachelor of Social Work (Honours), Bachelor of Social Work (Honours)/Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) and the Master of Social Work. Christine's areas of expertise include domestic and family abuse, trauma and crisis work.  Christine is a specialist Family Violence Accredited Social Worker and has been a social worker for over 30 years. She has worked in roles from family violence, sexual assault and trauma debriefing. Much of her work has been working in crisis situations, including crisis and response work in hospitals and health settings, with women and children experiencing with family violence and/or sexual abuse, Christine developed and teaches the 'Working with Violence and Abuse' subject. Christine is a past National President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Christine also volunteers as a survivor/advocate for Safe Steps where she shares her lived experience to assist in policy formation etc. Christine's PhD focused on the extent, models and impacts of routine screening with women for domestic and family abuse in emergency departments of Australian public hospitals, and Christine's research focusses on family violence and sexual offences.  

Dr Elroy Dearn is an interdisciplinary researcher specialising in disability, housing, mental health, and social inclusion. Their research examines how social, physical, and policy environments impact on the lives of people with disability, with a strong focus on translating research into policy and practice. Combining experience across academia, government, statutory agencies, and the community sector, they bring an applied perspective that bridges research, policy, and implementation.   As a Research Fellow at RMIT University's Social Equity Research Centre, Dr Dearn has contributed to national research programs spanning disability, housing, and wellbeing. Their research includes institutional and congregate settings, individualised living arrangements, and the experiences of people with psychosocial disability. They have expertise in qualitative and participatory research methods, and are committed to codesigned, creative methods e.g. photovoice, picture mapping, and innovative LEGO-based approaches with children. Their work is grounded in supported decision-making, meaningful participation, and inclusive research methods.   Dr Dearn's specialist research area is housing, institutionalisation, and the right of people with disability to live independently and be included in the community, consistent with Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Their work explores housing pathways across the life course, including individualised living arrangements under the NDIS, transitions from supported residential services and residential aged care, and the impact of housing policy on choice, control, and community inclusion. Through peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, and collaborative research with governments and community organisations, they generate evidence to inform housing policy, support deinstitutionalisation, and advance more inclusive communities.

I am an English/Spanish Bilingual/Bicultural Applied Linguist. As a fluent speaker of Spanish, French and Italian, in addition to English,  I have been deeply immersed in multilingual community activities in Melbourne. My challenge is for people to enjoy learning and using an additional language.   Coordinator Spanish Studies (2017 sem 1, 2018-20 & 2024-26) in Global and Language Studies, in RMIT's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. I develop, teach and coordinate Spanish language and culture courses at all proficiency levels taught in Spanish, in addition to two sociolinguistics courses taught in English.   Director Spanish Resource Centre (2015-2017 & 2021-2023) I  have promoted Spanish language culture as the Director of The Spanish Resource Centre of Melbourneat RMIT, a collaboration between the Spanish Ministry of Education and RMIT University. I organize and present at annual Teacher Professional Development seminars and workshops in Victoria, and am on the Spanish Teacher National Conference committee- which was celebrated at RMIT in 2024. I also coordinated and examined Spanish DELE Proficiency exams. In this role I curated Spanish film nights, and continue to collaborate with the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Embassy and the Spanish Consulate General Melbourne.   Program Manager (Nov 2015-Jul 2017) for the Tertiary Diploma of Languages RMIT. Research Theme Leader: Language Culture and International Education  LCIE (2019-20)   Scholarship of Learning and Teaching As a reflective practitioner, I adapt and learn from teaching for extended periods across the education sector: in primary Italian; Spanish Yr 11 at Victorian School of Languages; Adult Education Italian  and Spanish; adult ESL/Literacy; ELICOS; IELTS exam preparation (and examination) and 25 years in Higher Education Language and Culture Education.   Since  being part of the HERDSA Vic Chapter on the organising committee for its Melbourne Conference in 2014, I have maintained  contact with a suppportive  TATAL network, from five institutions. In over a decade of group reflection and peer mentoring we have received a HERDSA grant, published papers and presented at conferences while becoming Fellows. In 2022 I was made Fellow of  the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia HERDSA  the first one awarded to a staff member while teaching at RMIT. Commencing 2002,  a HERDSA Fellowship provides recognition of teaching, based on a portfolio designed to support promotion appliactions.HERDSA site quote 'Most people completing the Fellowship agree that it is difficult and required a lot of persistence to finish it. They also express the value of the process that teaches the value of deeply reflecting on the work that they do''.    Teaching awards: Vice Chancelor's Award for teaching excellence awarded to the Spanish Program,  La Trobe University. Citation for Outstanding contribution to Student learning: for developing innovative assessment and curriculum practices, La Trobe University. Citation for Outstanding contribution to Student learning: developing effective communication skills and engage learning with content in a bilingual subject, La Trobe University.   EU Erasmus: Twice awarded European academic mobility funding  EU Erasmus +  Mobility Projects  (2017, 2024) for teaching and research at RMIT partner universities in Spain. This initiative supports the exchange of knowledge, teaching methods, and cultural experiences between institutions in different countries by funding teaching staff  to spend time teaching at higher education institutions abroad.    International Research Group Collaboration Work group (Equipo de Trabajo) University of Alcala de Henares Spain : (January 2014 -June 2018) EMO-FUNDETT - focus on persuasion, funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad . Its main area of research is the field of linguistic discourse-pragmatic studies.  University Pompeu Fabra, Spain (2021–2025) Inter‑ECODAL Assessing Plurilingual Discourse Competence- focus on feedback, funded by The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIU) and The State Research Agency (AEI – Agencia Estatal de Investigación) University Pompeu Fabra , Spain (2025 - 2029 ) RASiCORAL  : 'Situated feedback in oral discourse competence: mediating  the learning of general and specific discourses in plurilingual and intercultural contexts' funded by MCIU/AEI/UE   Key research grants: IELTS Grant awarded Round 15:  Ana Maria Ducasse & Annie Brown The role of interactive communication in IELTS Speaking and its relationship to candidates' preparedness for study or training contexts   This study compares the  Speaking sub-test of the IELTS Test with speaking required in a university setting. IELTS Speaking was found to be largely dyadic (1:1) and structurally controlled, whereas university contexts demand less predictable, multi-participant, and more complex interaction.   TOEFL Committee of Examiners Research Grant  Annie Brown & Ana Maria Ducasse Comparing TOEFL iBT Speaking Tasks with Realworld Academic Speaking Tasks: Tasks, Performance Features and Assessment  The findings reveals a partial but incomplete overlap: The real-world academic tasks demand a broader set of communication skills and contextual behaviors not captured in the test. TOEFL iBT speaking tasks do not fully represent the complexity of authentic academic speaking performance.   Editorial Board member: As an advocate for HDR and  ECR publishing I have served as Editorial Board member and reviewer since 2010 for Studies in Language Assessment (SiLA -formerly PLTA. A peer-reviewed research journal of  of the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ) it is the only "Diamond Open Access" journal (with no charges for authors or for readers) in Language Testing.   Professional memberships: - AILASA (Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia) - ALTAANZ (Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand) - ALAA (The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia) - HERDSA (Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia) - ILTA  (International Language Testing Association) - LCNAU (Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities) - SERC (Social Equity Research Centre) RMIT - SRAP (Spanish Researchers in Spanish Pacific) 

Michael Emslie is a lecturer in the Youth Work and Youth Studies degree in the Social Work and Human Services discipline in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University.   Michael's extensive education, work experience and research demonstrates a long held passion and deep commitment to explore, pursue and promote good practice in human service and in particular youth work. Michael is particularly interested in questions concerning how practice is thought about, known, done, and supported in these fields.    Michael's career in academia spans more than fifteen years during which time Michael has made a significant and positive impact that includes writing over forty peer reviewed publications, receiving four teaching awards, and demonstrating excellence in supporting students' learning particularly through facilitating theoretically grounded and practically relevant approaches to education.   Prior to taking on a permanent role in the university Michael had wide-ranging 'hands-on' experience in the youth, disability, and community work sectors for over fifteen years in a variety of roles including housing and crisis work, case work and counselling, and youth and family support, and Michael draws on this rich and diverse 'real-world' knowledge to enrich his teaching and research.   Michael thrives on engaging in adventurous and diverse intellectual pursuits and Michael's work as a researcher demonstrates a deliberate commitment to produce and share knowledge that will inspire imaginative and good practice and help to positively shape the world. This includes Michael's active involvement in the Edge/Centre Research Program that is a space of collaborative scholarly endeavours with a key focus on investigating and deploying creative research methods and innovative knowledge practices to generate and enhance the possibilities for inventive and ethical professional practice in human services, education and the arts.

Dr Jen Ervin is a quantitative social epidemiologist at the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University. She holds a PhD in Social Epidemiology and a Master’s in Public Health, specialising in quantitative research and gender and women’s health (both from The University of Melbourne). Her work focuses on the social determinants of health and health equity, with particular emphasis on gender (in)equality, unpaid caregiving, employment, gender norms, and mental health. Jen uses robust quantitative methodologies to understand and improve population health and wellbeing, with a focus on women and girls.   Much of Jen's research seeks to quantify the mental health impacts of complex drivers of gender inequality, generating evidence that informs social policy and highlights critical but under-examined issues.   Beyond individual-level analysis, Jen has contributed to the development of a composite gender equality index through the IMAGINE Gender Equality Project, applying index construction methods to measure and track gender inequality across multiple domains. She has also contributed to research and policy initiatives aimed at strengthening the integration of sex and gender considerations in health research and clinical practice guidelines. Prior to academia, Jen worked as a clinical veterinarian and later as a technical consultant in a large international corporation, bringing a combination of analytical expertise, commercial experience, and leadership to her research career.

Jess is a Lecturer in Criminology and Justice studies at RMIT University. She is a qualified social worker and criminologist, with a particular interest in the connections between theory and practice. She has ten years experience in community based organisations as a counsellor, caseworker and advocate, with a focus on victim-survivors of domestic and family violence and disability.   Jess' areas of research include family violence and trauma informed practice. She currently coordinates Case Management Practice and teaches into the Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence and the Inside Out program.      

Maho Fukuno is a lecturer in Japanese Studies in RMIT's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. Maho is an applied linguist focused on the role and impact of language for the individual and society. Her research interests lie in the interdisciplinary field of translation studies, intercultural communication and moral philosophy. Maho's academic work centres on humanising translators' ethics and practice and is extended to her research on fair, empathetic and morally sensitive language practice, education and services as critical infrastructure in a multicultural society. Maho's current project examines the alignment and divergence of opinions on translation quality between translators and readers, drawing on a large existing qualitative dataset that was collected from practicing translators and community readers of their public health translations. It applies perspectives and concepts of ethics and ideology in translation and language to this dataset to construct theoretical solutions for conflict between professional translation practice and the preferences of readers. This project seeks to enhance collaborative practice between both parties and reform multicultural service health communication as a multi-party negotiation, ultimately improving health outcomes and wellbeing for Australia’s multicultural society.

Dr Olga García-Caro Alcázar is a lecturer in the Translating and Interpreting postgraduate program and the recipient of the 2023 RMIT Award for Research Engagement and Impact (Team). In her academic role, Olga collaborates with the translating and interpreting industry and stakeholders. She has worked closely with domestic violence organisations in relation to interpreting practice in these settings and as a consultant for submissions to the Royal Commission into Family Violence from which 6 recommendations pertaining to interpreting were made. She also contributed expertise to the Australian Law Reform Commission, informing the report Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence.   Olga is an active certified Spanish interpreter and translator. She works in community settings and has extensive experience in health and mental health interpreting, as well as in social services including those responding to domestic violence and child protection. Olga is also involved in the delivery of professional development training for translators & interpreters across Australia such as: Family Violence Training, AUSIT Tasmania Branch and sponsored by Communities Tasmania. (https://office.ausit.org/event-4406716)   Olga was awarded the Carolyn Allport Scholarship (2015–2017) by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), supporting women undertaking postgraduate feminist studies. Her research was recognised for its contribution to identifying the need for specialist interpreter training to better support women, service providers, and interpreters in domestic violence settings. 

I am a social sciences and social work educator and researcher in the Social Work & Human Services cluster at the City Campus, RMIT University in Melbourne. I completed my industry-funded PhD in 2021 (Federation University), focusing on the experiences and aspirations of families with who have involvement with family services in community-based support. I bring my practice in design thinking to my research and prioritise projects that are participatory and community-driven.  My practice background includes working with children, young people and families, First Nations communities, with the LGBTIQA+ community. Other industry experience informing my work includes consulting in human-centered service design, equity and inclusion and board membership of a not-for-profit LGBTQIA+ organisation.

Dr Erika Gonzalez is an Associate Professor in Translating and Interpreting and a Senior Fellow at Advance HE (SFHEA). Erika brings over two decades of experience teaching translation and interpreting at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Europe and Australia. Before relocating to Australia, she served as Deputy Dean for National and International Work-Integrated Learning at the University of the Basque Country (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/Universidad del País Vasco, Spain). Her academic background and teaching career span institutions across the Americas, Europe, and Australasia. Her research centres on the professionalisation of community translation and interpreting, with a particular focus on the impact of language barriers on non-English-speaking populations. Erika’s work advocates for the promotion of high-quality, professional language services to ensure equitable access to public systems for individuals who cannot communicate in the dominant language(s) of their host societies. Erika´s academic expertise and knowledge gained as an active interpreter & translator have allowed her to develop strategies to professionalise translation & interpreting services in Australia. Her involvement in academia, government, the Professional Accreditation Authority (NAATI) and Professional Association (AUSIT) have been paramount in achieving this goal. Industry Experience: Erika worked as a legal interpreter in Spain with English-speaking migrants and asylum seekers (mainly with the Sub-Saharan population). Currently she is also an active senior conference interpreter who has worked at high-level diplomatic international meetings such as the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting; the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; the International Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Leaders Forum and Cochlear Australia among many others. Erika also holds Advanced Translator professional credentials. She served as the Chair of the Professional Development Committee at the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) (https://ausit.org/) from 2015-2017, was the Vice-President from 2017 to 2019 and National President from 2019 to 2022. AUSIT is the national professional association for the translating & interpreting profession in Australia. Currently the organisation has 2,000 members approximately. Erika was the recipient of the Paul Sinclair Excellence Award in 2022, in recognition of her leadership and distinguished contribution to community engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic. Erika played a leading role in the development of the AUSIT-FECCA Recommended Protocols for the Translation of Community Communications.(https://ausit.org/general-guidelines/) She has served as an advisor in industry and government  Committees, such as the Department of Health and Aged Care´s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities Health Advisory Group. (https://www.health.gov.au/committees-and-groups/culturally-and-linguistically-diverse-communities-health-advisory-group) and the Home Affairs Language Sustainability Forum. Awards: RMIT Research Award for Engagement and Impact -Team (2023) Premier´s Sustainability Award Finalist. Social and Economic Justice Category (2021) Design and Social Context College Learning and Teaching Award -Student experience that supports diversity and inclusive practices (2021) Europe Endeavour Award. Department of Education Science and Training (2006-2007)

Professor Rachael Hains-Wesson is the Associate Dean Learning and Teaching in the School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Rachael is passionate about innovative educational practices, enhancing student learning experiences, and leading transformative teaching strategies. Dedicated to fostering academic excellence, she integrates Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) into higher education to bridge the gap between academic theory and practical application.   Rachael began her career working in the not-for-profit sector for three years, focusing on social employability initiatives for disadvantaged travellers across Europe and Israel. Following this, she served in the Navy, where she developed a strong sense of discipline, leadership, and resilience. These experiences broadened her understanding of global challenges and fuelled her commitment to creating inclusive educational pathways. With a strong background in entrepreneurship, the creative industries, and international education, she has worked as an editor, publisher, and practitioner in diverse local, national, and global enterprises. She has also held visiting scholar and research expert positions at prominent institutions such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Southern California, Elon University, and the University of Waterloo (Canada), further contributing to her expertise in higher education research and practice.    Rachael holds two PhDs: one in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia and another in Higher Education Teaching and Learning from Deakin University. She also holds a Diploma in Health Sciences from Charles Sturt University and a Diploma in Theatre Studies from Swinburne University, as well as a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Arts, and a Graduate Diploma in Higher Education from Murdoch University.   Rachael is an active member of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), serving as a fellowship mentor, past branch co-secretary, and committee member. She is also part of the Academy of Reviewers for its high-impact journal, HERD. Rachael has received numerous awards, including a National Citation for Teaching and Learning, a QS Re-imagined (Gold) award, and is a Senior and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). She has published extensively in education research, contributing significantly to the field.   Connect with Rachael via LinkedIn or view her creative and academic works via the following social media sites: Google Scholar Research Gate Academia.edu Youtube.    

Georgina Heydon is a Professor in Criminology and Justice Studies, and a forensic linguist. She was the 2025 recipient of the RMIT University Award for Research Engagement and Impact (Open Category) for her work on alternative reporting mechanisms for sexaual violence offences (see www.alternativereportingproject.com) In 2005, Professor Georgina Heydon published the first monograph to analyse the language of police interviewing in Australia from a linguistic and discourse analytic perspective. Her foundational work on the linguistic structures of police interviews and moral frameworks in questioning provides new insights into investigative interviewing by revealing the language strategies used by police and suspects to construct evidentiary narratives. Over the last twenty years, her research has contributed a new level of detail to the analysis of legal-societal issues in policing by focusing on the discursive phenomena that underlie testimonial integrity, methods of detecting deception, formality and the right to silence. Georgina has applied her expertise in investigative interviewing to the context of anonymous and confidential reporting options for victim-survivors of sexual violence and she is the Lead Chief Investigator on a series of major research projects investigating the use of alternative mechanisms for reporting sexual violence, including a Criminology Research Grants project examining the use of anonymous and confidential reporting of sexual assault and the use of these reports by police in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, a Victorian Government project examining an online reporting portal proposal and a Scoping Study for the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department on alternative reporting Australia-wide. This work has resulted in recommendations to provide alternative reporting pathways from the Victorian law Reform Commission and the South Australia Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.    Throughout her career, Georgina has examined questioning procedures across a broad range of contexts, including tribunals, courtrooms and the media. She believes that there is much to be learned from the extensive research underlying modern police interviewing training, and that these insights can help to improve questioning practices in other contexts. She is particularly interested in improving practices for eliciting information from vulnerable members of the community (e.g. victim survivors of sexual assault, refugees) and in providing basic interviewing training for police in post-conflict and post-colonial regions. As a linguist, she hopes to expand best practice cognitive interviewing methods to operate effectively in multi-lingual and multi-ethnic communities. Georgina is a Past President of the International Association of Forensic Linguists (http://www.iafl.org/) , a member of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (https://www.iiirg.org/) and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and she was a co-convenor of the Gendered Violence and Abuse Research Alliance in GUSS. (https://gevara.net.au/)  Georgina is also the Lead Chief Investigator on a Legal Services Board grant with Professor Bronwyn Naylor (GSBL, RMIT University) and Stan Winford (Centre for Innovative Justice) in partnership with Woor Dungin Aboriginal organisation to investigate the impact of criminal record checking on Aboriginal employment in Victoria. This follows similar research in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. From 2009–2013, Georgina was a chief investigator with Prof Bronwyn Naylor, Prof Marilyn Pittard and Dr Moira Paterson (Law Faculty, Monash University) on an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project 'Living Down the Past' (LP0990348 2009–2012) that examines the impact of police record checking by employers on ex-offenders and their rehabilitation. Earlier work on the project received funding through the Law Services Board Small Grants Scheme. Industry Experience: Professor Heydon provides expert testimony in cases involving language analysis, including authorship of documents and trademark disputes.  She regularly provides expert forensic evidence (reports and court testimony) in court cases and police investigations in Australia. She has designed and delivered programs of investigative interviewing training for the Australian Federal Police, South Australia Police, the European Police College and police academies in Canada, Belgium, Sweden, the Philippines, Mozambique, South Africa and Indonesia, as well as interviewing and language training sessions for the National Judicial College of Australia, the Judicial College of Victoria, the Victorian Law Institute and the Refugee and Migration Tribunals (Australia). Media experience: Prof Georgina Heydon is an expert in police interviewing, language use and forensic linguistics. She has been interviewed many times for radio and print news stories and has appeared as a guest speaker on ABC and SBS TV and Channel 31's Life of Crime programme. She has been a guest panel member at the Melbourne International Writers' festival, the Sisters in Crime Law Week Conversations evening and many industry events.

Dr Jean Hopman teaches and researches in the Social Work & Human Service program at RMIT. She examines the emotional aspects of collectives and relational dynamics by exploring the underlying layers of narrative. In particular, her work considers the connection between an individual's emotion within a system of emotion and how such a relationship impacts the agency of practitioners within their collectives. Some examples of research are exploring the emotional tensions within teaching practice, the emotional implications of youth-led climate activism work, and the emotional work of practice in sites of crisis. With a background in education, she has published a book titled, 'Surviving Emotional Work for Teachers: Improving Wellbeing and Professional Learning Through Reflexive Practice'. She initially completed a Bachelor of Primary and Secondary Education and a Graduate Diploma in Child & Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. With 15 years in industry, she has taught and counselled in diverse educational settings, including government schools, private schools, international schools, and community-based education settings.   Jean is interested in continuing research that “taps into emotion”. Emotion and thought are intertwined and by using a previously established reflexive framework, she hopes to explore human service practice settings, including the experiences of students developing their professional identities.     Media   Hopman, J. (2022, 12 December). Supporting teacher emotions through rolling crises. Teacher. https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/supporting-teacher-emotions-through-rolling-crises    Garner, A. (2021, 22 October). Surviving Emotional Work for Teachers: Improving Wellbeing and Professional Learning Through Reflexive Practice In New Books Network. https://newbooksnetwork.com/surviving-emotional-work-for-teachers   Beattie, E (2016, 7 October), ‘Academic Jean Hopman explores reflective pedagogy’, EducationHQ. http://au.educationhq.com/news/36571/academic-jean-hopman-explores-reflective-pedagogy/   Hopman, J. (2015, 6 October). The emotional workload of teachers is too often ignored. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-emotional-workload-of-teachers-is-too-often-ignored-48013     

Dr Charles T. Hunt is Professor of Global Studies in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies and Director of the RMIT Pacific Initiative. He has a background in political science with specialisation in international relations, peace and conflict, and critical security studies. Based in the Social Equity Research Centre, his research focuses on global governance and collective responses to conflict and instability. Charles has specific expertise in peace operations, security and justice in conflict-affected societies, monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding programming, the protection of civilians and human rights in armed conflict, and the prevention of mass atrocity crimes.  Professor Hunt is also Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research in New York/Geneva and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (University of Queensland) where he was the leader for the protection of civilians program from 2009 to 2015. He was Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly journal, Global Responsibility to Protect (2020-2025) and a member of the editorial boards for International Peacekeeping and the Journal of International Peacekeeping. Charles bridges academic rigor and practical engagement to improve policy on peace and security issues. He has extensive knowledge and experience of the UN policy community and regularly consults to the United Nations and selected member states and has been commissioned to write numerous policy papers, practical handbooks and guidance on issues of peace and security.   Professor Hunt has almost two decades of experience working with local, national and regional partners in the Pacific, including work on access to security and justice in the Solomon Islands and hybrid political orders in Vanuatu and Bougainville. Professor Hunt has also worked with the Australian government over a number of years assessing their role in peace operations and as a Principal Advisor to DFAT’s Fragility and Conflict Panel.   He has also worked extensively in Africa - including as Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Security Studies in Addis Ababa - conducting field research in many locations (e.g. South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe). He has performed consultancy roles with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and several international NGOs.  Charles’ previous and on-going work for international organisations, government agencies, think tanks, civil society organisations, and academic institutions across the Pacific, Africa, Europe, and Asia has provided him with a global perspective on issues of peace, security and justice. Professor Hunt has won a number of prestigious awards including an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (2017-2021), Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellowship (2015-2017), the RMIT Award for Research Excellence Early Career Researcher (2017), RMIT Vice Chancellor's Award for Research Impact (2020), and was listed by The Australian Research Magazine in Australia’s top 250 researchers (as leader in the field of ‘defence studies’) three years running (2021-2023). In addition to traditional academic publications, Charles regularly writes editorials and commentaries for widely-read outlets, including the Washington Post, The Conversation, Global Observatory (International Peace Institute, New York), The DIplomat, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Canberra Times, The Interpreter (Lowy Institute, Sydney), and Australian Outlook (Australian Institute for International Affairs, Canberra). His analysis and expertise have also featured on international and national television and radio stations including appearances on flagship programs on the BBC, Al-Jazeera, ABC, and SBS.

Dean, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. Katherine Johnson has extensive academic leadership experience in Australia and the UK, including as Executive Dean, Head of Department, Research Centre Director and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation. She is motivated by a commitment to social equity and environmental justice, delivering transformative student experiences, maximising research impact, and promoting a culture where staff and students flourish. In 2024 she was awarded the RMIT Vice Chancellor Leadership Award for Inclusion. Her academic background is in interdisciplinary social sciences, particularly the intersection of community psychology, psychosocial and sexuality studies, and the use of participatory and creative methods. Prior to joining RMIT she was the Founding Director of the Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender at the University of Brighton, UK. She is a leading researcher in LGBTQ+ suicide prevention, transgender health, and early mental health interventions for LGBTQ+ youth, with international collaborations in the UK, Europe, and Mexico that focus on transforming policy, practice and lives. Her current research is funded by Horizon 2020/NHMRC, ARC and VicHealth. In 2024 she was awarded the Vice Chancellor Research Impact and Engagement Award (Open). She has held Visiting Fellowships in Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney, Australia (2007), in social psychology and psychosocial interventions at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2009-2012), in participatory action research and LGBT health inequalities at the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Brazil (2016), in social sciences at the Universidad de Colima, Mexico (2016), and at the Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender, University of Brighton, UK (2018-2022). She is a Chartered Psychologist, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Industry Experience: Extensive experience working in research, policy and governance with community-based LGBTQ+ organisations, mental health and youth organisations, including as a trustee.

Dr Natalie Jovanovski is a Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences and Social Equity Research Centre (SERC). As a health sociologist, Natalie's work explores the sociocultural factors that shape people's relationships with food and their bodies, especially women.  She has published her work in high-quality books, edited collections, and Q1 journals, such as Body Image, Health Sociology Review, Critical Public Health, and Social Movement Studies. Her first monograph, Digesting Femininities: The Feminist Politics of Contemporary Food Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), won the TASA Raewyn Connell Prize in 2018. Her second monograph, Diet Culture and Counterculture: Self and Society in the Anti-Diet Movement, was published in 2024 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).  Awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Disocovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) in 2020, Natalie explored the notion of a 'diet culture', and how everyday women, activists, and health professionals challenge the normalisation of dieting in the West. Using Bourdieu's theory of practice, she concluded that a variety of care practices are used by women across groups to challenge the diet habitus.  More recently, Natalie's Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellowship explores the meaning of 'healthy eating', speaking to various 'at-risk' groups, health professionals, and other key stakeholders with the aim of better contextualising the healthy eating guidelines. This project draws on Bourdieusian theories as well as Ulrich Beck's notion of a 'risk society'.  Natalie is also currently Chief Investigator on a $5m Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) project, seeking to improve the lives of people living with Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19, or Long-COVID. Using experience-based co-design methodologies, this project is led by Professor Catherine Itsiopoulos (Dean - School of Health and Biomedical Sciences), in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of researchers.  Natalie is currently (2024) serving as co-editor of a special edition of Health Sociology Review exploring 'Healthy' Food Practices, and well as co-editor on an upcoming edited collection entitled Social Justice in Public Health (Chenhall, Senior & Jovanovski; Routledge, forthcoming). Previously, Natalie has been section editor of the Handbook of the History of Human Sciences (D. McCallum, ed., Palgrave Macmillan), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Family Studies.  At RMIT, Natalie co-leads the Food Cultures and Practices Enabling Impact Network; an interdisciplinary nexus at RMIT, uniting food researchers and industry partners in social policy, sustainability, health, and manufacturing. Natalie is also the thematic lead of 'Consumption, Bodies and Social Practices' in the Social Practices and Sustainable Consumption (SPSC) Enabling Impact Network. 

Dr Miranda Lai is an associate professor in the Translating and Interpreting discipline and the recipient of 2018 RMIT Award for Research Impacts – Early Career Researcher (Enterprise) and 2023 RMIT Award for Research Engagement and Impact (Team). She is a practitising translator and interpreter, and is one of the rare academics in this disciplinary area who have deep knowledge and extensive experience in both vocational training and higher education. She has published widely in public service interpreting and delivered training in Australia and overseas. Her research interests include police interpreting, forensic transcription and translation, vicarious trauma, ethics for interpreters & translators, and pedagogy of translating & interpreting.  She has a long track record of engagement with the translating and interpreting industry, the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), and is the current National Secretary of the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT).

In Australia, I am at the forefront of embedding lived experience expertise into national social work curriculums and research. I  address state and national forums, and workshops, leading to significant social change and industry partnerships as noted by a mental health community leader: “I don’t have enough words to tell you how much you have inspired and challenged me to do better, while giving me the strength and backing to drive change”. I create sustainable impact though scholarly outputs such as industry reports, peer reviewed publications, media commentary, as well as invited expert panels, roundtables, and conference presentations both nationally and globally. I build connected, inclusive support and experiences for all learning pathways, both through internal engagements such as mentoring researchers and educators in lived experience ways of working, and through external engagements.   From 2018, I held an Industry Fellowship with RMIT and Forensicare, Victoria’s forensic mental health service, until 2021, during which time I aligned my mental health teaching and research portfolios, consolidating my commitment to embedding lived experience of end-user (consumer and carer) voices into a framework of critical clinical mental health social work. I lead authentic, applied learning and teaching experiences for RMIT students, providing them with a way to think critically, privilege lived experience knowledge, and operate ethically and effectively within the parameters of a biomedical mental health service. I innovate creative and highly regarded experiences for students, by ensuring that the curriculum and assessments that I develop are contemporary, authentic, centre end-user voices, challenge systemic injustices, and are always industry connected. 

Julian CH Lee is the Associate Dean, Global and Language Studies, in RMIT's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. He is also Co-Director of the European Union and Australia Trade Relations and Ambitious Negotiations (EUATRAN) Centre of Excellence, and the Interim Director of Education for RMIT's Regenerative Futures Institute.    In 2024, RMIT’s College of Design and Social Context awarded him a citation for Learning and Teaching Leadership for his contributions and achievements within and beyond RMIT. Among his achievements are that of Best Paper at the 2022 conference of the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN; now WIL Australia), and in 2019 he received a Ralph Macintosh Commendation “for outstanding commitment to delivering engaging student experiences through new ways of learning”.   Julian is a supporter and advocate for open access publishing and scholarship. In addition to serving on the editorial boards of the open access International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning (IJWIL) and the open access academic publisher Kismet Press, he has also been part of RMIT’s Open Access Working Group. In 2024, he collaborated with RMIT Library’s Open Access team to publish the co-edited volume A Skilled Hand and a Cultivated Mind, which followed his 2019 co-authored open access monograph Monsters of Modernity.   In addition to his academic work, Julian shares his insights on leadership practice with higher degree by research students through the Frontiers program of the Australian Technology Network (ATN). His module, The Future of Leadership, introduces PhD and Masters students to several of the most useful practices, paradigms and authors that have informed his approach to leadership.

Dr Iris Levin is an architect, urban planner, teacher and researcher. She has a passion for working with diverse communities and understanding the effects of migration on the built environment. She is interested in housing, social planning, migration and social diversity in cities. Iris is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Sustainability and Urban Planning. She gained her PhD from the University of Melbourne and joined RMIT University in 2021 after working at Swinburne University, in the community sector and Flinders University. Iris has a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning and a B.Arch. in Architecture, gained from the Technion, Israel. Iris’s research focuses on issues around housing, the built environment, migration, diversity, disadvantaged communities and social mix in the city. She often uses qualitative and visual methodologies and analyses and has experience in longitudinal research. Iris is the lead editor of an edited book Migration and Urban transitions in Australia (Palgrave, 2022). In 2016 she published Migration, Settlement, and the Concept of House and Home (Routledge), focusing on migrant settlement practices in their homes in Australia and Israel, and since then has worked on research projects dealing with public housing, urban renewal projects and social mix, urban belonging and public urban space, and neighbour relations in high-density housing arrangements. Iris has published extensively for academic and industry audiences and has presented her work in different forums and conferences. She has taught various undergraduate and postgraduate subjects in planning, social diversity and the built environment. Iris often contributes to community engagement panels and forums supporting local councils in engaging residents.

Robyn Martin commenced Social Work practice in 1990. Since that time, she has practised, taught and researched in trauma, violence, abuse, homelessness and critical mental health. Robyn is particularly interested in creating the conditions for the meaningful involvement of service users and their supporters in service delivery, research and teaching. She has co-led university-based projects which bring lived experience educators into the academy and shape future social work and human service graduates to privilege lived experience. Robyn is the Associate Dean for Social Work and Human Services and Professor of Social Work.

Dr Marietta Martinovic is an Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice studies in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. She started the first Australian Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program in Australia, and has established, and is leading five prison-based and one community-based Think Tank. Think Tanks are composed of people with lived experience of the Criminal Justice System (CJS), university students, researchers and CJS practitioners. We are consulted by a range of stakeholders about improving justice-related policies and practices. Marietta is internationally recognised for transformative learning in prisons and developing opportunities for the inclusion of lived criminal justice experience in policy making.

These days, Glenda lives, moves, un/learns, works, and breathes on the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation. She was born in Kuskatan, known as El Salvador, and raised between lines: Kuskatan, Jagera Country, Meajin Country, and Naarm. She uses the pronouns she/her/hers/ella. She completed her PhD at The University of Queensland, Brisbane.     Glenda is a cultural geographer, scholar and educator, and her work and un/learnings focus on feminismos descoloniales from Abya Yala, migration/displacement entangled with memory, and sensing-thinking pedagogy. As a co-member of archiving the present, Glenda collaborates in various community-based programs such as: Náhuat Saturday School and SHELF in which she collaborated with Arts Gen to develop a community curated library, with the focus on Central American texts.    Glenda is a facilitator and community engaged collaborator with over 20 years of experience working with different communities from Latin American countries in so-called Australia. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Global Language Studies program at RMIT University, and one of the few scholars in Australia to have published extensively on topics related to the Spanish-speaking community in Australia such as belonging, memory, and displacement. As a lifelong learner, educator and scholar, Glenda is committed to un/re/learning and teaching by engaging and embodying a praxis of senti-pensante pedagogies. Her ethics, teaching, and work are inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa and bell hooks.   Grants and awards 2026: KINGS Artist. Isthmic Imaginaries  2026: Multicultural Festivals and Event (MFE) Program. Memoria: Central American arts and memory festival 2024–2025: Creative Australia Grant. Salvadorian displacement: an illustrated bilingual e-publication 2024: Adobe x Creative Curriculum Grant, Diversity, and Inclusion in a digital Spanish book 2014: Award for Teaching Excellence, Higher Education (College of Design and Social Context) 2014–2015: DEEWR Study Overseas Short Term Mobility to La Salle University, Mexico 2011: DEEWR Study Overseas Short Term Mobility Program Study to Javariana University, Colombia 2009: Transition Funding, RMIT University. Aim: to develop listening material for various levels of Spanish 2007: Transition Funding, RMIT University. Aim: to develop a course for the students to prepare for the Spanish Proficiency Test (DELE) 2003: Graduate School Research Travel Award, The University of Queensland, St Lucia campus 2002: Philology Scholarship, Department of Romance Languages, The University of Queensland, St Lucia campus 2002: Nominated for Dean's List Most Effective Teacher Award, The University of Queensland, St Lucia campus

Kerry Mullan teaches French language and culture at all proficiency levels, and sociolinguistics. Her main research interests are cross-cultural communication and differing interactional styles – particularly those of French and Australian English speakers. She also researches in the areas of intercultural pragmatics, discourse analysis, language teaching and conversational humour in interaction. Awards: 2023 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Engagement (mentoring), School of GUSS 2020 Research Excellence Leadership Award, School of GUSS 2016 Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, Government of France 2012 Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the Diploma of Languages, School of GUSS, RMIT University 2011 ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning 2010 Teaching Excellence Award, Higher Education (Humanities and the Arts), RMIT University 2010 Teaching Excellence Award, School of GUSS, RMIT University 2009 Teaching Excellence Award, School of GUSS, RMIT University 2007 Outstanding PhD Thesis Award, La Trobe University Community Engagement President, ISFAR (Institute for the Study of French Australian Relations) Research committee member, ISFAR (Institute for the Study of French Australian Relations) The Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations (ISFAR) was founded in 1985. ISFAR conducts research and serves as a resource centre in all areas of French-Australian relations – historical as well as contemporary – and in the sciences and technology as well as in the humanities. Australia’s geographic situation means that ISFAR is particularly well placed to contribute to the advancement of knowledge of French-Australian relations in the Indo-Pacific region. The Institute organises a number of scholarly, educational and cultural events each year. Its meetings and colloquia cover a wide range of activities, reflecting its members' broad range of interests. Its publication, The French Australian Review, published twice yearly, records the results of research on French-Australian connections. Chair of the Board, Australasian Humour Studies Network The Australasian Humour Studies Network (AHSN) is dedicated to research into comedy and humour-related topics and to connecting humour scholars in different academic disciplines and locations across the world. The network has grown from 40 members and 10 discipline areas from its inception in 1997 to over 450 scholars and practitioners in more than 25 different disciplines and professions. The network offers a program of annual conferences, webinars and other resources, including links to the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS), other regional humour research groupings and the International Summer School in humour and laughter. AHSN conferences encourage participation from all disciplines, perspectives, practitioners, and academic specialists, since multi-disciplinary enquiry is key to achieving significant insights into the complexity of humour. Book Review Editor, The Journal of French language Studies The Journal of French Language Studies is a bilingual journal that publishes significant work on French theoretical and applied linguistics. It is published by Cambridge University Press. Convenor, The Melbourne Salon The Melbourne Salon is a joint venture between RMIT University, the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations and the Alliance Française de Melbourne. It is a place where curious and open-minded people can engage in French-Australian cross-cultural dialogues. Talks are usually in English; subsequent discussions take place in French or English. The Melbourne Salon aims to broaden understanding of French and Australian perspectives on contemporary topics through conversation, debate and discussion, drawing participants from a wide range of backgrounds: academics, journalists, writers, musicians, educationalists and others who share an interest in discussing ideas in a convivial atmosphere. Other professional memberships: - AFM (Alliance Française de Melbourne) - AHSN (Australasian Humour Studies Network) - ALAA (The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia) - AFLS (Association for French Language Studies) - AFTV (Association of French Teachers in Victoria) - ASFS (Australian Society for French Studies) - Australian Linguistic Society - Community Languages Australia Academic Forum - French Assist Melbourne, Honorary French Consulate, Melbourne - ISFAR (Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations) - ISHS (International Society for Humor Studies) - LCNAU (Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities) - MLTAV (Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Victoria) - Pacific Interest Group, University of Melbourne - RIRH (Réseau interdisciplinaire de recherches sur l'humour) - RFP (Réseau Francophone de Politesse) - Social Equity Research Centre

I am a Senior Research Fellow of the Social Equity Research Centre (SERC) and an Associate Professor at RMIT's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies (GUSS).   I am a thought-leading scholar and immersive field researcher in the emergent and increasingly significant field of Intercultural Studies fieldworker, engaged at the intersection of critical and provocative social inquiry, marginalised lifeworlds, and place-based realities within intercultural praxis, community-embedded knowledge systems, and transformative change. Building from this foundation, my work engages deeply with human ingenuity, community-embedded practices, sacred investment logics, and processes of transformative change.    I have established an internationally recognised and field-defining cross-sector portfolio grounded in long-term, relational engagement with remote, predominantly Indigenous and tribal communities. These communities, institutions and government bodies are located across Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka; and connected to networks and community groups in China (Guangzhou) , Africa (South Africa, Malawi), Greenland (Nuuk) and Norway (Svalbard).  This commitment is realised through an immersive, field-embedded methodology, with the majority of my work conducted in situ through sustained partnership and inquiry. Within this praxis, I engage complex, shifting terrains shaped by the resurgence of customary law and cultural protocol, while interrogating the intersecting forces of national policy regimes and global market economies.   My scholarship occupies a distinctively interdisciplinary space at the forefront of intercultural and decolonial studies, integrating Sociology,  Human Geography, Island and Ocean Studies, Global Ethnography, Political Geography, and Cultural Sociology. Across diverse geographical and cultural contexts, my work interrogates how social, political, and cultural formations are produced, contested, and transformed. Since 2016, I have consolidated my research around two overarching questions: the ongoing project of being and becoming an academic as a reflective, evolving practice, and how this positionality enables the centring of marginalized voices and the forging of coalitions across cultural, epistemic, and disciplinary boundaries. This dual focus situates my work at the intersection of theory and praxis, highlighting the ethical and political responsibilities of scholarship in a globalized world.   My fieldwork is committed to building enduring alliances of trust with remote and historically underrepresented communities, fostering spaces where people can come together to acknowledge difference, co-create knowledge, and form mutually enriching coalitions against interwoven systems of violence and oppression. At the heart of this work is a central question: how can we embrace deep cultural and epistemic difference, drawing creatively and joyfully from the diverse places, histories, and lifeworlds that shape our sensibilities and perspectives? Through sustained engagement, I cultivate reciprocal, collaborative relationships across communities and regions, expanding not only the scope of global and intercultural studies but also the core disciplinary frameworks of my teaching, research, and public scholarship. My work foregrounds locally grounded, ‘from-the-ground-up’ approaches to social transformation, engaging with questions of the sacred, ethics, and collective action, while demonstrating the power of co-work and intercultural solidarity in addressing structural inequities.   Since 2012, I have integrated these principles into postgraduate teaching, redesigning curricula to immerse students in the complexity and creativity of intercultural encounters. Courses such as Theories & Global Development, Fieldwork as Method, Intercultural Knowledges & Practices, and Global Health: Philosophies, Priorities & Politics engage students with field-based learning, critical reflection, and collaborative practice. I have also developed study and fieldwork programs across Europe, the Indo-Pacific, Latin America, China, Malaysia, and Australia, allowing students to confront the cultural, political, and environmental challenges of the 21st century first-hand.   My research continues to focus on how ethnography and fieldwork can create spaces for dialogue, reconciliation, and transformative understanding. Decolonial frameworks guide my work, drawing on philosophical, ancestral, and customary knowledge to generate theoretical and practical insights. Collaborations with Indigenous and tribal Elders, youth, and scholars enable research that is locally grounded, globally informed, and attentive to multiple ways of knowing, addressing challenges shaped by reclaimed customary practices, national agendas, and global pressures. I have extensive experience in social and economic development, contributing to projects at international, national, and local levels in Malaysia, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, and Papua New Guinea. My work has informed public policy and practice in areas including health, community arts, integrated community development, and post-disaster recovery, bridging scholarship, applied research, and community engagement. My publications and creative outputs focus on the sociological consequences of social change, rebuilding, and resilience, reflecting my ongoing commitment to intercultural scholarship that is ethically engaged, socially transformative, and globally impactful.Through my sustained work with the Center for Social Equity and with my research networks across especially the Indo-Pacific; , I continue to consolidate and expand both my own research and the University’s reputation as a leader in global, interdisciplinary, and decolonial scholarship.   My publications (single, co-authored or edited)  co-authored  include Family, Gender, and Religion at the Crossroads: A National Study of Polygamous Marriages in Malaysia (2024 – in press), Locating Theory in the Social Sciences - self, the Other and difference (in progress – 2024);  Rethinking Development through Study Tours: Interpreting the Field and Negotiating Different Viewpoints (2016), Montfort Media, Malawi  (with J. Makuwira et al.); Searching for Community - Melbourne to Delhi (2015) Manohar; New Delhi (with S. Singh et al.); Rebuilding Communities in the Wake of Disaster: Social Recovery in Sri Lanka and India (2012) Routledge, New Delhi (with M. Mulligan); Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Development – Other Paths for Papua New Guinea, (2012), University of Hawaii Press (2012), (with P. James et al.) and Unexpected Sources of Hope: Climate change, community and the future', (2009). I have two books under contract Rage of the Kumalu River, tears of the rainforest- across oceans to place and spirit (2025); and a third edited book Decolonising Learning – Epistemic Disobedience, Incompleteness of Being and the Sensuous (2025) (where the contributors include 12 PhD and master’s students and 8 colleagues).    My recent non-textual work (Culture Maps) includes With the Kukukuku of Papua New Guinea – A Ground-Up Response to Development in a Remote Region (documentary, 2014)); Penpipe, Voice of the Kukukuku (Visual Cultural Recovery Map, 2013), and A Memorandum of Relationship – The Tribal Community and the University (Visual Culture Map, 2012); and the Kukukuku Tribal Clans - a Contemporary History (ongoing).  The idea of “culture map’ makes clear that a decolonial concept of historical documentation is performative - embracing ancient data as new artforms to reanimate old stories and tribal life ways for the 21st century and beyond.    I am currently Co-Editor-in-Chief, of Folk, Knowledge, Place; Adjunct Professor at Centurion University (India); Affiliate Professor at Research Center for Indian Ocean Island Countries, School of Foreign Languages, South China University of Technology (China); Island Studies Foundation/Trust Board member - Fróðskaparsetur Føroya/ University of the Faroe Islands; Visiting Professor, University Malaya (Malaysia); Visiting Professor, Taylors University, Malaysia; Tribal Elder, Kukukuku Tribal Elders Council, Papua New Guinea; Committee Member, Lake Bolac Eel festival, Victoria, Australia; and a member of GUSS Responsible Practice Committee. Previously, I was an Executive Member of the Centre for Global Research (2005–2009) & Research Program Manager of the Community Sustainability Program in RMIT Global Cities Institute (2009–2017). I was Head, Intercultural Projects & Resources Unit (IPRU) 1997–2005, and an alumna of the Committee for Melbourne Future Focus Group Leadership program.    

Dr Jindan Ni is a Senior Lecturer in Global and Language Studies at RMIT University. She specialises in Japanese literature, translation studies, and comparative literature, with particular interests in race and gender representation, literary translation, and the transnational circulation of texts and ideas. Her work explores women’s writing, Asian-Australian literary cultures, and cross-cultural literary exchange, examining how literature and translation shape understandings of identity, subjectivity, and social representation. Her research demonstrates the continuing relevance of literary studies to contemporary debates on diversity, equity, and intercultural understanding.   Awards: 2025 Patji-Dawes Language Teaching Award –The Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA Inc.) and Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) Japan Foundation Fellowship   Professional Affiliations: Secretary of Australian Tertiary Chinese Teacher Association Member of Modern Language Association Member of Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities

Dr Sharlene Nipperess is an associate professor in social work at RMIT University, Melbourne. She is a qualified and experienced social worker and has worked as a social work educator and researcher for over twenty years. Her teaching and research focuses on critical approaches to practices that protect and promote human rights and work towards social and environmental justice. Sharlene has published on social work ethics, critical multicultural and human rights-based practice, environmental justice and the role and impact of technology in social work. She engages in collaborative and participatory research primarily in the areas of migration and displacement, mental distress, disability and family and carer lived experiences, and housing precarity and homelessness. Sharlene has co-edited three books Practice skills in social work and welfare (2023), Critical multicultural practice in social work (2019) and Doing critical social work (2016) and is a member of the Design and Social Context College Human Ethics Advisory Network.

Patrick is a critical, creative and innovative educator and researcher, who is focused on working towards a more equitable society. Patrick is a lecturer in the Social Work and Human Services Cluster at RMIT University. Patrick works in multidisciplinary fields including political sociology, critical human geography and political economy. Patrick is a very active researcher, as an associate member of the Social and Global Studies Centre. Patrick mentors emerging academics, provides PhD supervision and supervises undergraduate social work students completing internal placements at RMIT. In addition, Patrick has previously worked closely with key student support services at RMIT, including the Compass Drop-In Centre and RUSU. Patrick’s work also explores the potential for critical approaches to human centred design to be developed and practiced in fields such as social work and youth work. In addition to his research in this area, Patrick has worked with colleagues at RMIT to develop an innovative social work course which is focused on teaching social work students to apply human centred design in program management.

Nevelina Pachova is a Research Fellow at RMIT Europe, the Barcelona-based hub of Australian University RMIT. Her work is focused on understanding and fostering sustainability transformations through action-research and community-led change across different sectors, contexts and scales. She is interested in understanding how transformative change emerges, evolves and becomes part of mainstream practice and structures and how seeds of change are transplanted across time and space. She is currently exploring how the concepts of nature-based solutions and the just transition are mobilized and employed to foster sustainability transitions in Europe and outside and whether and if so how they can lead to transformative and inclusive action and change. Previously, Nevelina explored the role of arts and culture in sustainability transformations among communities on the margins and supported research and community-based action at transboundary hotspots of global socio-economic, political and ecological change. 

Professor Anastasia Powell is a criminologist and social worker specialising in prevention, response and recovery, addressing family and sexual violence. Anastasia has over 20 years of experience as a criminologist in the fields of prevention, response and recovery, addressing family and sexual violence. She has previously worked in policy roles for the Department of Justice and Community Safety (State Government of Victoria), and has undertaken numerous commissioned research projects for government and non-government agencies to inform policy and practice development in both responses to, and prevention of, domestic and family violence. Since 2016, Anastasia has served on the board of directors of Our Watch, Australia's national organisation for the prevention of violence against women. She is a member of the National Women's Safety Alliance, and a regular advisor to government and non-government agencies on gender-based violence. Anastasia brings together evidence-based expertise, as well as her own lived experiences of family and sexual violence, to her research, teaching and advocacy work. Anastasia is the author or co-author of over 170 scholarly articles, book chapters, industry reports, and expert commentaries, including books such as: The Palgrave Handbook on Gendered Violence and Technology (2021), Digital Criminology (2018), and Sex, Power and Consent (2010). Her refereed articles are highly cited and feature in top-ranking journals in the criminology, psychology and social work disciplines. Anastasia's recent research has examined: sexual violence prevention practice; sector responses to family and domestic violence; the intersections of gender-based violence and technology-facilitated abuse; and cyber crimes. Anastasia is a former Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) recipient for her research into community responses to crime and justice in online contexts, and has been a Chief Investigator on several research projects into technology-facilitated abuse and cyber crime funded by both the ARC and the Australian Institute of Criminology.  Anastasia was the founding program manager of the Graduate Certificate in Domestic & Family Violence at RMIT University. She convened meetings of the Industry Advisory Committee and led consultations with Victorian family violence sector representatives and Family Safety Victoria (State Government of Victoria) to inform the curriculum design and delivery of the Graduate Certificate in Domestic & Family Violence, which is a recognised qualification for family violence case workers. Anastasia is a regular media contributor and is sought out for her expert commentary on issues of gender-based violence, gender equality, technology-facilitated abuse and cyber crimes. She has published over 50 commentary pieces in sources such as The Conversation, and has appeared in television, radio and print media interviews including for BBC World News London, ABC News Breakfast and The Project (Chanel 10). Key Activities: - Criminologist researching prevention, policy and practice reform addressing family and sexual violence- Policy and program advisor in prevention and responses to family and sexual violence - Lecturer in the Graduate Certificate in Domestic & Family Violence - Media commentator on gender-based violence, gender equality, technology-facilitated abuse and cyber crimes Industry Experience: - Sexual assault counsellor-advocate - Commissioned research for government departments such as: Office for Women (Victoria), Department of Social Services (Commonwealth), Department of Justice and Community Safety (Victoria) - Commissioned research for non-government organisations such as: VicHealth, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS), and Our Watch - Former policy officer, Department of Justice & Community Safety (State Government of Victoria, 2003-2004)

My work is guided by a vision for people of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds to thrive through education, health and civic participation. My research, teaching and community work center on advancing theoretic-strategic knowledge to shape multilingual and intercultural knowledge production and community participation in education and health.    I publish extensively on Indigenous and migrant knowledge approaches to doctoral education, teacher education, digital learning, and language education. I have collaborated with government and industry partners including NSW Office of Preventive Health, NSW Connect Child and Family Services,  Microsoft, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Home Affairs,  NSW Department of Education, Victorian Department of Education, Community Languages Australia, Victorian School of Languages, Ningbo Education Bureau, Fujian Department of Education, and International Baccalaureate Organization through various projects on intercultual research and leadership capacity building, Indigenous and migrant community engagement, digital education and teacher education.   I have had the priviledge of collaborating with and learning from around 50 culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia through various research, teaching and community roles. 

Dr. Natalia Radywyl is a researcher and designer whose work has focused on the role of policy in serving the public good, particularly by redesigning social services, public spaces, and civic institutions to ensure they're more equitable, inclusive, and can adopt progressive remits.    Natalia’s 15 years of design expertise encompass service design, placemaking, systemic design, and strategic design. She has led design research practices at top design and innovation consultancies in New York City and Melbourne, with clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies and government to non-profit organisations and the community sector.   She joined RMIT in September 2024 as a Vice Chancellor's Principal Research Fellow in Regenerative Futures and Associate Professor in the School of Design, College of Design and Social Context, Melbourne. Her 4-year fellowship examines how academics, designers, and funders can best partner for regenerative impact. She is codifying best practices and developing evidence-based models and tools to support collaboration. She also serves on the leadership team of the the Centre of Digital Ecosystems at RMIT.    

Dr Charishma Ratnam’s research examines the multiple dimensions of refugee resettlement and sits across the fields of social and cultural geography and migration studies. Her conceptual contributions to scholarship centre on memory, identity, and place, drawing from experiences of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Australia. She collaborates and works predominantly with Sri Lankan refugees and asylum seekers. Charishma is particularly interested in developing novel research approaches, including digital, visual, ethnographic, and walking methods with participants to better understand their experiences in and with place(s).   Charishma’s program of research, centring migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, has been developed through a number of funded research projects:   1.      Understanding how refugees use digital technologies during resettlement (2025-2028, Australian Research Council - DE250100078). This project aims to investigate how refugees use digital technologies to navigate resettlement in Australia. Taking the case of Sri Lankan refugees, and integrating robust digital and ethnographic methods, this project will generate new knowledge on how refugees use smartphones and digital applications to address their material and social needs in order to successfully resettle.   2.      Feeling safe in public places: Co-designing community safety strategies in Local Government Areas (2021-2023, Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victorian Government). This project was developed to enhance the capability of local councils and other community organisations to engage women from diverse backgrounds to better understand why some public spaces and places are viewed as ‘unsafe’.   3.      Co-designing and scaling effective COVID-19 communication strategies for young people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Victoria (2020-2021, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Victorian Government). This project examined digital communication and engagement with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) young people and the key organisations in Victoria working with them.   Charishma graduated with a PhD from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Previously, Charishma was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre at Monash University. Before joining RMIT University, she held a highly prestigious Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Deakin University. She has also held visiting positions at the University of Lisbon (Portugal), Toronto Metropolitan University (Canada), and Stockholm University (Sweden).   Charishma is currently an Australian Research Council DECRA Senior Research Fellow at the Social Equity Research Centre in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies.

Dr Alexandra Ridgway is a Lecturer in Criminology and Justice Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia where she teaches into the Master of Public Policy. Alexandra currently teaches the following subjects: Evidence, Policy and Practice (POLI1095); Ethics, Values and Public Policy (POLI1065) and Integrated Policy and Research Project (POLI1100).      As a sociologist and criminologist, Alexandra uses her research to examine family, personal and intimate life with a particular focus on family breakdown and divorce; family and sexual violence; and grief and loss. Alexandra’s work primarily examines these issues within the context of migration. Underpinning Alexandra’s research is a deep interest in the way in which different forms of law and regulation shape these personal experiences. More recently she has turned her attention towards the increasing role of technology, including AI, in regulatory systems and services and how this too has the power to influence human practices and relationships. Her work can be found in various publications such as Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, British Journal of Criminology, New Media and Society, Gender Work and Organization, Australian Feminist Studies and Population, Space and Place.   Alexandra is currently working with Dr Joseph van Buuren on a research project titled Visualising Public Legal Information: Using Graphic Narratives to Address Community Legal Information Need. This project is in partnership with ARC Justice, a community legal centre based in regional Victoria (Bendigo and Shepparton), with the project funded by a Victorian Law Foundation (VLF) Everyday Legal Grant.    In terms of previously funded projects, in 2025, Alexandra was part of the team (with Joann Cattlin, Dist Prof Lisa M.Given and Prof Falk Scholer) who delivered the workshop, Transdiscplinarity for Socially Responsible Artifical Intelligence: Aligning Expertise in Social Sciences and Computing Research funded by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia's Workshop Grants. She was also a member of the research team behind the project Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Generated Image-Based Sexual ​​Abuse: Prevalence, Attitudes and Impacts funded by Google from 2024-5.    In 2025, Alexandra was awarded a Dean's Rising Star Award for the School of Global Urban and Social Studies (GUSS) at RMIT University. In the same year she received the 2025 Social Equity Research Centre's (SERC) Early Career Researcher's Best Paper Award for the paper, Time Will Tell: A Temporal Analysis of Victim-Survivor’s Formal Support-Seeking for Co-occurring Family Violence and Sexual Harm, which she first authored alongside Dr Gemma Hamilton, Prof Anastasia Powell and Prof Georgina Heydon. Alexandra's work has received other acknowledgments such as a commendation in 2023 by the Australian Death Studies Society (ADSS) for her paper, Love Loss and a Doctorate: An autoethnography of grieving while writing a PhD; highly commended paper presentation prize for Centering Migrant Voices: Problem Centred Interviewing as Human-Centred Interviewing at the Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre (MMIC)'s New Generation Symposium in 2021; first prize for her poster presentation Rise Like a Phoenix: Migrant Women's Habitus After Divorce at the Bourdieu Study Group's Biennial Conference in 2018 and the ANZSOC Student Paper Prize in 2013 for her Master's paper Talking Trauma.   In 2025, Alexandra was awarded a writing fellowship with Australian Policy and History and the Centre for Contemporary Histories.       Currently, Alexandra is the Chairperson of SHAPE Futures EMCR Futures (2026-) where she was Co-Deputy Chair from 2024-5. She was also the Thematic Leader of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)'s Crime and Governance Group with Dr Joseph van Buuren from 2024-2025. Alexandra is proud to be a moderator with the blog "The Power to Persuade".    At RMIT, Alexandra is a member of the Social Equity Research Centre (SERC) and Centre for Human-AI Information Environments (CHAI). Externally, she is a member of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA); Australian New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC); Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA); Australian Death Studies Society (ADSS) and Australian Women's History Network (AWHN). 

Dr Bess Schnioffsky (she/her) is a feminist researcher whose work explores the intersection of gender and race in sports in Australia and the Pacific region. With a background in international and community development, her research advocates for the transformation of sports into sites for positive social change.  

Dr Emma Seal is a Research Fellow/Project Manager in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT University. Her work sits at the intersection of sociology, medical humanities and public health, drawing on critical and interdisciplinary approaches to examine how health and social inequities are produced, experienced and responded to across health systems and everyday life. Emma’s research focuses on three interconnected areas: critical mental health studies and experiences of care systems; experiences of chronic health and complex conditions; and gender, embodiment and sport/physical wellbeing. She has secured more than AUD $2.5 million in competitive research funding as Lead Chief Investigator and Chief Investigator across over twenty multidisciplinary research projects, demonstrating leadership in the design, management and delivery of applied, impact-oriented research programs. Her methodological expertise spans qualitative, participatory and creative methods, co-design approaches, and program evaluation, with a strong emphasis on ensuring research is collaboratively produced and translated into practice and policy-relevant outputs. She has extensive experience working with marginalised communities across intersecting dimensions of gender, disability, sexuality and ethnicity, and a strong understanding of how these shape health inequalities and everyday lived experiences. Emma currently has a leadership role on a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant examining the impacts of long COVID across diverse communities in Australia, with a focus on strengthening health and social care responses and improving health equity outcomes.  

Karen Villanueva is a Research Fellow at the Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT University, and an Honorary Research Associate at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Her place-based research focuses on the influence of urban neighbourhoods on child health behaviours and outcomes, with a focus on locational and socio-environmental determinants of children’s independent mobility, activity spaces, and early development. Karen has 83 peer-reviewed articles across various disciplines (Google Scholar h-index of 36; 6, 295 citations as of June 2026).  She has a track record in mixed-methods research on child liveability, including big data, qualitative methods, and project management of philanthropic and Federal and State government-funded projects. Karen participates in the working group to create child-specific policy (and spatial) indicators for the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities 1000 challenge. She has co-supervised 3 Honours, 2 Master's, and 5 PhD candidates, 11 research assistants, 2 interns, 2 international visitors, and numerous Work-Integrated Learning students, helping to grow capacity in this field.   A sample of her recent research and project management experience includes: •    The Data to Decisions project uses big data and qualitative research methods to develop neighbourhood built environment indicators of early childhood development. Karen has experience conceptualising, facilitating the linkage of, and applying spatial measures and indices of the neighbourhood built environment to child mobility behaviours and health outcomes, including early childhood development. She helped to secure the linkage of spatial built environment measures (e.g., parks, housing, walkability, transport) to over 200,000 children’s homes in the 2015 Australian Early Development Census.    •  The Research Alliance for Youth Disability and Mental Health (or 'RAY') program aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young Australians with disability. Karen is a Research Fellow on the program and is involved in exploring supportive neighbourhood built environments for children and youth with disability. More about the program can be found here: https://www.raydisabilitymentalhealth.org/about-us •    'What works for place-based approaches in Victoria' produced a meta-synthesis review of the factors influencing Australian place-based approaches for the Victorian government, identifying several policy and practice key learnings of direct relevance to policies for children and families (Alderton and Villanueva et al. 2023). These findings have been used to develop training across the Victorian Government public sector. More about the project can be found here: https://jss.org.au/programs/centre-for-just-places/place-based-approaches-research/   •   The Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) is an Australian mixed-method investigation of how community-level factors in five areas—physical environment, social environment, socio-economic factors, access to services, and governance—influence early childhood development outcomes. Karen was the project manager for the study, which involved a collaboration of academic experts from six national and international universities, and policymakers and child development professionals from over 10 government and non-governmental partner organisations. More about the project can be found here: https://www.mcri.edu.au/kics   Before joining RMIT University, Karen was at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, the University of Melbourne, and the Centre for the Built Environment and Health, the University of Western Australia. She has also worked as a Project Coordinator for Emergency Risk Management at the City of Bayswater Local Government, Western Australia.    

Dr Aiden Warren is a Professor of International Relations at RMIT University's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. Dr Aiden Warren is a Fulbright Scholar in Australia-United States Alliance Studies, sponsored by the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT). Dr Warren’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of International Security, US national security and foreign policy, US Politics (ideas, institutions, contemporary and historical), International Relations (especially great power politics), and issues associated with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) proliferation, non-proliferation and arms control. He is the sole author of The Obama Administration’s Nuclear Weapon Strategy: The Promises of Prague and Prevention, Pre-emption and the Nuclear Option: From Bush to Obama; and co-author of Governing the Use-Of-Force in International Relations: The post 9/11 US Challenge on International Law, Presidential Doctrines, and Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Search for Global Security. Dr Warren is Editor of Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century (Edinburgh University Press), and is also the Series Editor of two books series: a) Weapons of Mass Destruction and Emerging Technologies book series with Rowman and Littlefield, New York, NY; b) The Palgrave Studies in Global Security, Palgrave-Macmillan, New York, NY. Dr Warren has also made media appearances on ABC24, ABC The World, The Project, Hinch Live: Sky News Australia, 3AW, Triple M, Fox FM, Radio Adelaide/The Wire, 6PR, CurtinFM Afternoon Show, 2CC, 2UE, 4RO, Southern Cross Austereo. Dr Warren’s publications have received the following endorsements:   "This important book forensically examines dynamics within the ‘First Cold War’ between the United States and the Soviet Union in order to provide insights into today’s ‘Second Cold War’ between the US and China. In a compelling narrative that spans several decades, the authors draw out a range of lessons for navigating this conflict from the 1945-1991 period, not least the role of ideological polarisation in sustaining geopolitical enmity, and the role of diplomacy in ending it. These are crucial insights for scholars, students and policy makers alike." George Lawson, Professor of International Relations, Australia National University (ANU)    "The deteriorating relationship between China and the United States has caused many analysts to argue we are entering a second Cold War. But how much do we really understand about the decades long U.S.-Soviet ideological and geopolitical rivalry that marked world politics in the decades after the Second World War? In this important study, Aiden Warren and Joseph Siracusa bring seasoned historical eyes to revisit a conflict that shaped the second half of the twentieth century, providing much needed insights that should inform our understanding of the complex and dangerous world we face today." Francis J. Gavin, Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies   "In elegant and engaging prose, Aiden Warren and Joseph Siracusa revisit the diplomatic dynamics in America’s Cold War. They deftly trace the interactions of major players across nine different US Presidential administrations, illuminating the historical legacies that continue to shape America’s role in a world that today has changed dramatically. This is a terrific, balanced, and grounded overview of some of the most consequential moments of the Cold War, in which they trace how participants’ beliefs and interests sometimes coincided and often collided to shape outcomes in international politics. Anyone looking to bring in IR concepts – such as threats, supremacy, containment, deterrence, isolationism, alignment, nationalism, and spheres of influence – in America’s new bipolar contest with China should first take a look at how they played out historically among allies and rivals in this concise and timely book." Saadia M. Pekkanen, Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Professor, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington   "This essential book traces the themes that have shaped American foreign policy through the lens of presidential administrations. It balances the agency of the presidents themselves with their historic contexts by clearly explaining how U.S. foreign policy is shaped and what role presidents can and cannot play in forming a coherent doctrine. An essential book for contextualizing and historicizing the presidential doctrines of Obama, Trump, and now Biden." Bronwen Everill, University of Cambridge   "This excellent overview of the development of key presidential doctrines, from Washington's time to the present, effectively demonstrates how policymakers adapted these essential doctrines to new eras and circumstances in pursuing the national interest. Warren and Siracusa have done a notable service by placing the foreign policies of both the Trump and the fledgling Biden administrations into the larger context of American foreign policy development. Their book provides insightful and instructive reading not only for those who study U.S. foreign policy but also for those who seek to shape it in the present and the future." Wilson D. Miscomber, CSC, University of Notre Dame   "Understanding Presidential Doctrines presents a comprehensive, insightful, and balanced review of how each of the presidents of the United States approached foreign policy. It is essential reading for anyone wishing to make sense of the evolution of U.S. international power and understand that presidents do not enter office working from a clean slate. Past commitments and approaches bind presidents to past policies as they attempt to forge new directions in a changing and dangerous world. I learned a great deal from this book." Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount University   "Warren and Siracusa--two highly established experts in the field of U.S. foreign policy--have written a critical, fascinating, and necessary study on the issue of doctrine. Bringing together a comprehensive historical analysis, their study makes a major contribution to the debate and gives a much-needed overview of what U.S. foreign policy doctrine is and has meant since Washington. The analysis not only considers the key concepts underpinning doctrine in valuable depth but also explores how these have been applied and developed over time. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone working on U.S. foreign policy and doctrine--academics, students, and practitioners alike." Michelle Bentley, Royal Holloway, University of London   "In US Presidents and Cold War Nuclear Diplomacy, Warren and Siracusa have effectively synthesized and analyzed the contours of presidential leadership on nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Their account highlights both the significance of the issue for that conflict, and seeks applicable lessons for today’s international environment, and the return of “Great Power competition” and the possibility of a new nuclear arms race. This is an important book that should be read by both policymakers and students of international relations." Thomas Schwartz, Professor of History and Political Science, Vanderbilt University, USA   "This is an important and timely book. At a time when tensions between the United States and China and Iran (not to mention Russia and North Korea) are perilously escalating, this analysis of United States Cold War nuclear diplomacy through nine presidents powerfully demonstrates the dangers, and more importantly the futility, of portrayals and overblown rhetorical exaggerations by US leaders and their allies when describing the ambitions, intentions, and capabilities, of their adversaries. Warren and Siracusa persuasively argue that in this post-Cold War age of nuclear proliferation what is needed to enhance national security is quiet cooperative nuclear control diplomacy, not alarmist public rhetoric. It is a cautionary tale that should be read by everyone―especially by policymakers and politicians." Ian J. Bickerton, Professor of History, University of New South Wales, Australia   "This important volume underscores the mind-blowing impacts and often unseen and unanticipated ramifications of our digitally entangled and technologically infused lives. Contributions from leading global studies scholars traverse a wide range of digitized spheres, exploring the emergence of new subjects, processes, threats, and opportunities that are transforming how we relate to each other and the wider world. Timely, significant, and immensely relevant to all of us." Eve Darian-Smith, Professor of Global & International Studies, University of California Irvine, USA   "The Digital Global Condition critically explores the ‘defining global impact’ of technologies that are at once ubiquitous and highly differentially distributed among people, corporations, and states. Whether discussing the insecurity produced by digital security technologies, the growing reach and radicalization of the misogynist ‘manosphere,’ the peril and possibility in new modalities of information and interaction, or the ambiguous promise of digital communications for decolonial organizing and solidarity, the chapters consistently reveal the Janus-faced nature of digitalization. This volume is a crucial resource for anyone struggling to comprehend the new human condition in a digital age." Michael Goodhart, Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, USA   "If you want to understand the contemporary age of new and emerging technologies, how we got here, and where we are headed, look no further than this tour-de-force collection edited by Elizabeth Kath, Julian Lee, and Aiden Warren. Unlike previous treatments which tend to focus overwhelmingly on the obvious and siloed issues pertaining to aberrant technologies and the digitization revolution, this remarkable edited collection has assembled a diverse range of rising stars and big hitters in their captivating assessments. Here, they deftly contextualize the new digital age by giving equal treatment to the connections relating to indigeneity, gender, culture, and human identity while also providing compelling assessments on great power politics, global security and where we as human beings fit into these transitional and volatile spaces. The Digital Global Condition provides insightful and enlightening reading not only for those who study, research and work in the global studies and international relations domains, but also for those who seek to shape it in the present and future. Kath, Lee and Warren need to be congratulated on their fine efforts." Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, Professor of International Relations, Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Sciences Po, France   "This is a cutting-edge collection of essays on what is shaping up to be one of the major challenges facing humanity in the 21st century: the collision of globalization and digitization. The editors and contributors masterfully dissect the impact of digital technology on global affairs without losing sight of important connections to related global issues such as climate change, great powers competitions, legal frameworks, higher education, and postcolonialism. This timely volume contains the most comprehensive and sophisticated treatments of the global digital condition up to now – highly recommended!" Manfred B. Steger, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawai'i-Manoa, USA   "This collection offers a fresh and inclusive look at global security challenges, featuring insightful analytical and empirical investigations written from diverse critical and traditional vantage points. The contributions are essential reading for those trying to track and understand the trajectories of diverse global security issues." Ingvild Bode, Centre for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark   "This impressive collection is a timely re-examination of key global security challenges. It is a thoughtful, clear, comprehensive and highly engaging analysis of contemporary trends, issues and approaches to everyday and international security. With its accomplished and exciting list of contributors and topics, this volume is essential reading for every student and practitioner working in the fields of peace, conflict and security, and for anyone seeking to better understand today's complex security environment." Devon E. A. Curtis, University of Cambridge   "For those seeking a comprehensive and erudite examination of the expanding range of global security approaches, issues and challenges confronting societies in the 2020s, look no further than this volume. Combining both traditional and critical approaches and a diverse range of voices, this volume shows that the global coronavirus pandemic is not only a significant new challenge in an already crowded security agenda. The weak collective response to the pandemic has also exposed the structural injustices and frailties of the contemporary global order." Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne   "Global Security lives up to its title. It is a remarkably wide-ranging collection that comprehensively surveys theories of security, from the classical canon to the latest approaches. It explores both the traditional issues of great power and nuclear security and the most pressing challenges to the planet revealed by virulent pandemics, stressed environments and disruptive technologies. This a most welcome introduction to dangers of our times." Michael Doyle, Columbia University   "In 2020, relations between the United States and China entered a new stage of heightened competition and confrontation.  With an emphasis on security issues, this comprehensive study expertly demonstrates how successive U.S. presidential administrations wrestled with the challenges posed by China’s rise. Anyone interested in the past, present and future of U.S.-China relations should read this book." M. Taylor Fravel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Massachusetts   "Professors Aiden Warren and Adam Bartley have done an important service to readers endeavoring to understand the remarkable turn in U.S. policy toward China from engagement to acute rivalry in the 21st century. This well organized and clearly written volume plumbs available information to explain persuasively the evolution of the national security approaches to China of the Bush and Obama administrations, and thereby, highlight the important changes carried out by the Trump government." Robert Sutter, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA.   "This book is for any analyst trying to make sense of contemporary U.S. China policy and strategy. It provides a timely, clear-eyed, thorough, and insightful analysis of U.S.-China foreign policy spanning two decades by detailing the evolution of U.S. China policy and emerging Great Power competition across three presidential administrations." Kathleen Walsh, U.S. Naval War College, Rhode Island, USA.   "For too long, academia, as well as international policy communities, have spoken in vague terms regarding nuclear modernization. This book provides a much needed, and long overdue, conceptual and comparative study of nuclear modernization in the United States, Russia and China. At a time when so many nuclear weapons states are modernizing their arsenals, and arms control seems to be in decline, this is a must-read for nuclear scholars and practitioners." Nicola Leveringhaus, King’s College London, UK.   "Warren and Baxter’s new collection of essays is good news for scholars, students, and the policy community. The clear-eyed and concisely written chapters provide a rock-solid survey of nuclear modernization underway in the US, Russia, and China. The diverse, mostly younger group of scholars and practitioners also examines the implications nuclear modernization may have for nonproliferation, for international security more generally, and perhaps even for international relations. The ladder may seem unlikely, but in a world where efforts to limit and manage nuclear arsenals are being tossed aside, and where the three largest nuclear powers eye the actions of others with suspicion, today’s nuclear modernizations may yet prove to be a pathway to a very different future. Some analysts would welcome that outcome, even as others offer warnings, but all of them will find Nuclear Modernization in the 21st Century a useful guide to an uncertain future." James J. Walsh, MIT, Massachusetts, USA.   "As a new nuclear arms race looms, this important and timely volume assembles leading experts to provide cutting-edge analyses of the plans and programs of the United States, Russia and China to spend billions of dollars on the modernization of their nuclear arsenals. This will be the go-to volume for understanding the new weapons technologies of the major nuclear-weapons states, as well as the likely impact of these ever more sophisticated and dangerous arsenals on global security, stability, and the prospects for proliferation. It will be essential reading for policymakers and academics alike." Nina Tannenwald, Brown University, USA.   "Warren and Baxter have collected the contributions of standout global experts who examine and analyze the nuclear modernization programs underway and on the drawing board in the U.S., Russia and China. Nuclear Modernization in the 21st Century explores the motivations for these programs, their consequences for nuclear deterrence, for future arms control initiatives, for the health of the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, and for pursuit of the elusive goal of strategic stability. Whether one believes nuclear weapons are essential to prevent another Great Power War and must be part of the security equation indefinitely, or that their use under any circumstances is illegal and immoral, those of us who have worked on these issues understand that it is far from a black and white issue. This excellent contribution to the literature and discourse may not change your views, but it will most certainly better inform them." Ambassador Susan F. Burk, Former Special Representative to the President of the United States for Nuclear Nonproliferation.   “Comprehensive and timely, Weapons of Mass Destruction is focused firmly upon the security challenges that WMD, nuclear and non-nuclear, pose to the 21st century. It presents a finely-judged account of the successive phases of nuclear history, blending well-grounded historical summaries with acute policy commentary. Writing with admirable clarity, Warren documents how the road from 1945 led us to where we are today, with nuclear terror compounded by the insidious threats of chemical and biological attack. They show how the knife-edge stability of the Cold War was seceded by the emergence of new players and new threats which together transform the global security threat.” Professor Ken Young, King's College London “If you want to understand the contemporary nuclear age, how we got here, and where we are headed, look no further than this tour de force, Weapons of Mass Destruction, by Joseph Siracusa and Aiden Warren. Unlike previous treatments of the nuclear age which tended to focus overwhelmingly on the superpower experience, Siracusa and Warren deftly contextualize the entire nuclear age by giving equal treatment to the proliferation histories and challenges presented by regional nuclear powers—precisely those powers that pose the greatest challenge to nuclear security and nonproliferation today. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone who cares literally about the future of the world.” Professor Vipin Narang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “Joseph Siracusa and Aiden Warren are internationally-recognized security studies scholars based in Australia and their new book, Weapons of Mass Destruction, provides an excellent overview of the past, present, and future of WMD challenges. The book is highly recommend to students who will gain from a comprehensive examination of the major issues and to more seasoned experts who will benefit from the authors’ original insights and analysis.” Professor Matthew Kroenig, Georgetown University “Continuity or change? This accessible, salutary, timely and engaging account, Governing the Use-of-Force in International Relations, of American engagement with the rules on the use of force, under Bush and Obama, offers vital insights at a time of obvious and increasing challenge.” Professor Philippe Sands, University College London “In Governing the Use-of-Force in International Relations Warren and Bode have produced a timely, well-written book that documents the continuity that defined the United States’ approach to international law and the use-of-force over the last decade. It should be required reading for anyone interested in foreign policy and international relations but more generally for anyone with an interest in how the world has operated since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.” Associate Professor Sarah Kreps, Cornell University “This well-written volume, Governing the Use-of-Force in International Relations, is a timely reminder that the attitude of the greatest military power on earth towards the legal regime on the use of force remains as relevant today as it has ever been. Highly recommended for all those seeking to understand how hegemonic powers conduct their foreign relations as well as for those wanting to keep abreast of ongoing contestation surrounding the interpretation of the Charter provisions on use-of-force.” Professor Shirley Scott, University of New South Wales (UNSW) “This excellent overview of the development of key presidential doctrines from Washington to Obama effectively demonstrates how policy makers adapted these essential doctrines to new eras and circumstances in pursuing the national interest. It provides insightful and instructive reading not only for those who study U.S. foreign policy, but also for those who seek to shape it in the present and future.” Professor Wilson D. Miscamble C.S.C., professor of History, University of Notre Dame “In this refreshingly well-written and original book, Presidential Doctrines, Siracusa and Warren survey the history of American foreign policy using presidential “doctrines,” and show an underlying degree of coherence in their advancement of America’s national interests. It is an impressive achievement and a significant and creative contribution to the field.” Professor Thomas Schwartz, professor of History and Political Science, Vanderbilt University “An important examination of presidential doctrines in the creation of American foreign policy that takes seriously the wider international and domestic historical contexts in which presidents were operating. Warren presents a refreshing focus on the continuing realist and practical strain of American foreign engagement.” Dr Bronwen Everill, college lecturer director of Studies in History, University of Cambridge “This thought-provoking volume, Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century, makes a significant contribution to debates about intervention. Eschewing conventional approaches to the subject, the book tackles some key issues, from the evolution of humanitarian interventions, the limitations of sovereignty, through to the politics of post-intervention (re)-building and humanitarianism. Important case studies from Timor-Leste to Syria and Libya are also included. This timely book will be of interest to both scholarly and policy audiences.” Associate Professor George Lawson, International Relations, London School of Economics “This rigorous multi-disciplinary volume, Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century, redefines interventions as attempts at social transformation related to different domains (economic, social, military, humanitarian) and actors (local, national, regional, international), resulting in a much appreciated call to scholars, students and practitioners to study and think of interventions as complex, inter-related, multi-faceted, multi-level political and social processes. The emphasis on local contexts, actors, institutions and power relations as defining factors for understanding the dynamics and outcomes of interventions makes this book a valuable contribution to the literature.” Associate Professor Liesbet Heyse, University of Groningen “Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century is an invaluable series of studies, rich in theory and varied in substance, that admirably depict the multiple complexities of interventionary diplomacy as it has unfolded in recent decades. Indispensable reading for all those concerned with the shifting parameters of world politics.” Professor Emeritus Richard Falk, Princeton University “Warren has achieved an exceptional feat by packing several decades worth of WMD history into a neat read. They take us on a journey starting in the Cold War and guide us to today, telling the story of how most destructive weapons remained a steady and dangerous fixture of the international security landscape. The authors provided true service to the field by writing a foundational text that serves as a perfect introduction to the field of WMD non-proliferation.” Dr Togzhan Kassenova, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Dr Senuri Wijenayake is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow. Her research sits at the intersection of human-computer interaction and social computing, exploring how platform design shapes user behaviour online — for better and for worse. Her doctoral work examined online social conformity, investigating how socio-psychological influences drive the way people behave in digital spaces. This work has since expanded into investigating the socio-technical, personal, contextual, and cultural drivers behind technology-facilitated abuse and online harm — and how design can be used to prevent or minimise these. More recently, she has focused on co-developing design strategies and policy guidelines to better protect women and gender-diverse users from online abuse. She brings extensive experience in user-led, participatory research methods, including trauma-informed co-design practices that centre the lived experiences of those most affected by online harm. She is a member of RMIT's Centre for Human-AI Information Environments (CHAI), the Social Equity Research Centre (Gender and Social Change) and the Digital Ethnography Research Centre.    

As an interdisciplinary Pracademic focused on Culturally Responsive Practice (CRP), Dr. Williams ensures that ‘praxis’ (theory-action-reflection feedback loop) is at the forefront of what she does. This is exemplified through her ability to be a youth worker and intercultural community development practitioner for almost two decades, as well as use her research and advocacy skills to articulate better practices and document initiatives through public evaluations, policy submissions, publications and research reports. Dr. Sarah Williams' journey is a reflection of the collective narratives that shape our world. Her work, grounded in empathy, understanding, and a relentless pursuit of justice, serves as an inspiration for all who dare to dream of a better, more inclusive future. Sarah’s PhD (2023) research methodology involved Action Research investigating creative sites for social change regarding racial social justice issues. Her interest in arts-based development projects is driven by the question of how “being born to stand out” manifests.

Margareta is a lecturer at RMIT and coordinates the Bachelor of Social Work Field Education program. She is responsible for the educational aspects of the field education experiences and teaches Integrated Learning practice seminars. She is a qualified social worker and brings her extensive experience in sexual assault counselling and feminist reproductive rights advocacy to her academic position. Margareta's current work is underpinned by community development and social activism paradigms, with a particularly focus on climate justice and women’s rights. Margareta's field education research has focused on how RMIT social work managed the COVID19 crises in relation to field education. Her passion for eco-social work is evident in her PhD research which explores the nexus between gender and climate change, specifically looking at older women's experience of heatwaves.

Dr Maki Yoshida is a Lecturer in Global and Language Studies in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. Maki Yoshida’s research interests lie in the fields of language, gender and sexuality studies, and foreign/second/additional language education. Her research explores the relationship between social structure, language, and gender ideologies, focusing on how individual speakers negotiate language and identities within discursive power relations. Her recent research addresses issues related to the gendered Japanese language and cis-heteronormative pedagogical practices in Japanese language education. Currently, she is working on a project entitled “Towards Gender-Just & LGBTIQA+ Inclusive Language in Japanese Studies and Japanese Language Education”. As the team coordinator of this project, alongside the co-coordinators of the International Network for Gender and Sexuality in Japanese Language Education, she aims to develop resources for students of diverse genders and sexualities. She is committed to creating gender-just and LGBTIQA+ affirmative and inclusive spaces within the pedagogical field. Professional Affiliations: Association for Language and Cultural Education (ALCE) Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA) International Gender and Language Association (IGALA) Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU)

Nicola Henry is Professor of Global and Language Studies at RMIT University. She is a socio-legal scholar with nearly 30 years research experience in the gender-based violence field. Her research, focusing on the prevalence, nature and impacts of online and offline sexual abuse, has had a significant impact on law, policy and educational reform in Australia and internationally. Nicola is a member of the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group. She regularly provides advice to technology companies to help shape their policies and practices around sexual violence and harmful online content. She was Expert Advisor on the development of the eSafety Office’s image-based abuse portal as well as the award-winning eSafety Women: Online Training for Frontline Workers.   Nicola's ARC Future Fellowship project (2021-25) examined the role of digital tools, services and platforms for detecting, preventing and responding to image-based sexual abuse. She is leading two Google-funded projects, including one involving a survey on image-based sexual abuse in ten different countries, and the other investigating the prevalence, nature and harms of AI-generated image-based sexual abuse (also known as “deepfake pornography”). She was also a Chief Investigator on several projects on alternative reporting options for sexual assault survivors (led by Prof. Georgina Heydon, RMIT), and is working in collaboration with La Trobe University on a sexual violence prevention project (led by Prof. Leesa Hooker, LTU).   Nicola's books include: War and Rape: Law, Memory and Justice (2011: Routledge); Preventing Sexual Violence: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Overcoming a Rape Culture (2014: Palgrave Macmillan; co-edited with A. Powell); Rape Justice: Beyond the Criminal Law (2015: Palgrave Macmillan; co-edited with A. Powell & A. Flynn); Sexual Violence in a Digital Age (2017: Palgrave Macmillan; co-authored with A. Powell); Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Study of the Causes and Consequences of Non-Consensual Nude or Sexual Imagery (2021: Routledge; co-authored with C. McGlynn, A. Flynn, K. Johnson, A. Powell & A. Scott); and The Emerald Handbook on Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse (2021: Emerald; co-edited with J. Bailey & A. Flynn). She has published peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, Violence Against Women, Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, Gender & Society, and The Journal of Interpersonal Violence.   Nicola completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne in Criminology in 2005; a Masters of Arts in Political Science in 2000; and a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Hons) in 1997.

Dr. Abdul Rohman is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication and Design at RMIT University Vietnam. His research and teaching explore the dynamic intersections of communication, technology, and social change, with a strong regional focus on Southeast Asia. Drawing on academic and professional experience across Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam, Dr. Rohman brings a nuanced understanding of the region’s socio-cultural and technological landscapes.   His interdisciplinary research spans topics such as information behaviour, digital inclusion, and the socio-technical impact of digital and social media platforms. He is particularly interested in how communication technologies shape civic engagement, public discourse, and everyday life in rapidly evolving digital environments.   Dr. Rohman is the author of Conflict, Continuity, and Change in Social Movements in Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2023), which critically examines the role of digital media in mediating activism and social transformation. His current research focuses on advancing digital inclusion for persons with disabilities in Vietnam, with emphasis on personal data governance, privacy awareness, and the adoption of AI-powered technologies.   In the classroom, Dr. Rohman is committed to fostering critical thinking, interdisciplinary inquiry, and socially engaged learning. He teaches across areas such as Asian media and communications and digital cultures, encouraging students to explore how communication technologies influence society and shape ethical futures. His teaching is informed by real-world case studies, regional insights, and a strong emphasis on inclusive and participatory learning.   Dr. Rohman welcomes PhD candidates interested in digital rights, inclusive design, platform governance, and the role of communication technologies in shaping equitable futures. He also collaborates with stakeholders across academia, civil society, and industry to ensure his research delivers meaningful social impact.

Joe's research interests are in the potential role of graphics/visuals as a mechanism for information sharing.

As a researcher and educator, Nerkez adopts a multidisciplinary approach, specialising in nature-based solutions for social prescribing, peacebuilding education, and the critical analysis of intervention programs to foster community engagement and support at-risk populations.

Sarah Polkinghorne is an information science researcher focusing on how people become and stay informed, and on practices and systems that support access to information.

Clare excels in delivering quality change and project management, building effective networks, understanding people and processes, and achieving stakeholder satisfaction. 

Bruce Wilson is Director of the European Union Centre of Excellence at RMIT, providing insights to and leading research and debate on EU-Australian relations, encouraging mobility for staff and students, and for building partnerships between Australian universities and organisations and their European counterparts.

Kathryn's work has examined issues of poverty, child abuse, homelessness, self-injury and mental health.

Joanna is a public health and social policy specialist with over a decade of experience across local government and peak bodies. Her research focuses on women, children and young people's experiences of family violence and homelessness.

Gemma Beard's research investigates image-based sexual abuse, including legal and regulatory responses, with a particular focus on victim-survivors' interpersonal experiences seeking justice in the Australian context.

Joann Cattlin's doctoral research investigates the role of the university in enabling societal impact of research and her broader research interests include information behaviour, research culture and knowledge production.

Elina's research examines how Chinese international students' information behaviours influence their financial expectations and experiences when studying in Australia.

Somaieh's PhD research focused on Iranian migrants' experiences of neighbourhood connections and perceptions of the suburban built environment in Melbourne.

Desmond's research focuses on enhancing urban liveability by integrating indigenous wisdom with modern urban planning and design principles to create inclusive, sustainable, and equitable cities.

Michelle Gissara's current work explores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and gender-diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander's lived experiences of image-based sexual abuse across Australia

Abraham Zarate's research examines the role of digital technologies in reshaping the migration experiences of Latin American migrant communities in Australia.

Natasha Karner's research examines the impact of emerging technologies, like Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Weapons Systems, on global security, governance and norms.

Ruby Manson is a feminist researcher interested in investigating gender and patriarchy within disaster governance in Australia and the Pacific.

Sinead McKinlay's research investigates Victorians' relationship with nature through their own words and within local and state government biodiversity policies.

Dan Pitman's research focuses on the intersection of politics, social change, and governance in international gender equality and gender-based violence policy.

Muhammad Omer Shabbir is a PhD candidate at GUSS, focusing his research on the evolving US-China arms race in space and its broader implications for global security.

Tom Short's research explores the lived experience of young people who have received a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

Emily Spiller's research examines transitions in American nuclear weapons policy, from 1939 to 1974, with an exclusive focus on the President as the critical decision maker on all matters concerning the bomb.

Tarun's research aims to understand how extreme environmental events like flooding produce mobility and immobility in the state of Bihar, India.

Hwee Ping Teo's research explores the use of war memory by the state and how it has shaped the nation of Singapore.

Sylvia's research analyses the interdisciplinary impact of the war, displacement, and resilience of Romani refugees in the aftermath of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Rebecca's research focuses on understanding how the built and travel environments relate to child development, mental health and wellbeing, and social connection.

Zichen's research focuses on Chinese literature in English translation, interdisciplinary translation studies and women in translation.

I have worked in research for over 2 decades and in the human services sector for almost 4 decades. I have a strong research track record including publications, successful grant applications and leading research projects.

David Paull's research focuses on Latin American and Latin European international students in Australia, exploring why students from these regions demonstrate prima facie similarities in various aspects of their student mobility.

Nazanin Masoudi is a PhD candidate focusing on identifying neighbourhood features that promote participation, inclusion, and well-being for children with disabilities.

My research explores the dynamics of interpreter-mediated health consultations with CALD immigrants with dementia. It aims to address language-related barriers during these interactions and within broader language and health service provision contexts.

María Quezada is a doctoral researcher investigating the role of the arts in transitional justice and their impact on victims of disappearance in post-conflict Latin America.

Johanna's research examines how belonging in educational contexts can be understood in the age of digital communication technologies, considering how these technologies shape opportunities, motivations, perceptions, and capabilities for belonging.

Roman's research focuses on the domiciliary experience, land ontologies, and the role tenure type plays in supporting non-housing outcomes for Indigenous households.

Miriam is a designer, educator and writer. Creative production and narrative have always been central to her work and interests.

Scarlet's research explores the experiences of trans people who have been incarcerated in Australia, examining systemic challenges and identity constructions through a queer theoretical lens.

Ada's multi-cultural, mixed-methods research explores how Drug Checking (a.k.a pill testing) services operate in different cultural, legal, social, financial and political contexts.

Mary’s doctoral research examines the lived experiences and information practices of women who work in the gendered sector of future-focused technology.

Pouya examines and tests urban variables for ageing in place, transport behaviour and promotion of physical health among older adults

Natalia's research explores the social role of foreign language teachers as critical educators through participation in collaborative, creative spaces.

Researching twentieth to twenty-first century art and aims to produce knowledge on lesser-known art cultures, and correct the historical record where it has been found to be lacking.

Eni is an experienced legal interpreter researching the status-quo of legal interpreting in Indonesia to advance fair access for non‑Indonesian speakers.

Guy Johnson’s research is focused on theoretical and applied questions relating to the dynamics of homelessness and housing – why some people become homeless, why some people remain homeless, and why some people exit homelessness.

Dr Carolyn Wallace is a senior health and social impact leader with 25+ years’ experience across government, community and health sectors.

Dr Soumya Mazumdar is a population health researcher whose work examines how built environments, social processes, and health systems shape health outcomes and behaviours at the population level.