Elizabeth Kath

Elizabeth Kath is an Associate Professor in Global Studies at RMIT's School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies and the Local-Global Theme Lead at the Social Equity Research Centre (SERC). Her research explores social dynamics across boundaries in the global era, focusing on migration, intercultural communication, reconciliation, and social inclusion/exclusion. As a social and cultural theorist, she also investigates the impact of emerging communication technologies on social and cultural relations, a topic she addresses in her co-edited book, The Digital Global Condition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).

Dr Kath's regional expertise lies in Latin American and Caribbean studies, with a focus on Latin American migrant communities in Australia and Australian-Latin American relations. Some of her notable scholarly contributions include a guest-edited issue of the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies (2022), which features the first systematic review of Latin American migrants in Australia, and the edited volume Australian-Latin American Relations: New Links in a Changing Global Landscape (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Over 17 years at RMIT, Dr. Kath has developed and taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses, using innovative, theory-driven approaches to engage students and enhance academic outcomes. Her teaching has included Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), Work Integrated Learning (WIL), and Industry Partnered Learning (IPL), which have directly contributed to graduate employment outcomes. In addition, she has regularly incorporated reconciliation and responsible practice into the curriculum, developed experiential learning initiatives, and regularly incorporates activities that develop soft skills to support wellbeing and belonging. She currently coordinates capstone and elective courses in International Studies, including ‘Digital Disruption: Meeting the Challenges of the Digital Age’, ‘Global Research Project’, and ‘Culture & Politics in Latin America’.

Dr Kath is multilingual (native English, fluent Spanish, conversational Portuguese) and has built enduring relationships with local and international partners, strengthened by extensive speaking engagements in national and global forums. She has spent over two decades researching Latin America including regular periods spent in the region. Her work has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals and books. She has presented at international conferences across Australia, New Zealand, the US, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France and Spain. She maintains strong research collaborations both in Australia and internationally, including as an Invited Visiting Researcher at the State University of Campinas/Unicamp (Brazil), and teaching collaborator with the National Autonomous University of Mexico/UNAM (Mexico), and Universitat Rovira I Virgili (URV) in Tarragona, Spain. She is Series Editor of Routledge’s Digital Diaspora Series, has guest edited a special edition for the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies (JILAR), and regularly serves as an academic journal referee, and superviser and examiner to PhD and Masters by Research theses. She also supervises industry-partnered PhD projects with external organisations. 

In addition to her teaching, research and executive role in SERC, Dr Kath is active in RMIT’s academic community. She has held leadership roles, including Program Manager of the Bachelor of International Studies, and currently leads the Belonging initiative for the School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies, where she has implemented activities to strengthen staff and student belonging. She also contributes to workload design and responsible engagement with Indigenous knowledge through her roles in the GUSS Responsible Practice Group and has served on the GUSS AWAM (Workload Allocation) Committee.