Arts Graduate Research in 2022

A year of achievement in graduate research

January 2022 was an uncertain time for graduate researchers.  We had only recently emerged from our 2021 lockdown, and in Sydney we were facing our first major omicron wave.  International travel was starting to re-open, but was subject to numerous testing requirements and restrictions.  Planning ahead was both exciting and fraught with risk.

Once again, however, graduate researchers in the Faculty of Arts demonstrated their resilience, and their capacity to generate new and meaningful insights into the world we all share. In 2022, we saw 99 MRes and 50 PhD completions, each of which represents a unique and original contribution to knowledge in humanities and social sciences disciplines.

PhD, MPhil, and MRes candidates made important contributions to Faculty of Arts research culture and renown in 2022. The Faculty hosted a number of a number of graduate research conferences: The Queer Theory Reading Group (QTRG) Conference in August, the New Directions in Legal Research Symposium in September, and the MCCALL HDR/ECR Conference in December.  Additionally, we saw 93 MRes Year 2 candidates from all disciplines present their research at the Research Frontiers 2 conferences held in June and November.  Further, as travel become possible again, Arts graduate researchers shared their research with the world.  Ten PhD candidates received PGRF grants for Session 2 2022, to support attendance at international conferences, symposia, and exclusive summer schools.

Making an Impact - inside and outside the academy

2022 also saw both current and former Faculty of Arts graduate researchers distinguish themselves through academic publications, media contributions, and community activism. Below, you will find a sample of 2022 achievements from Faculty of Arts graduate research alumni and current candidates.  Please celebrate these achievements with us, and also remember that these are only a tiny part of a much larger picture.  Underneath these visible achievements, we find a strong and dedicated cohort of Arts graduate researchers and alumni who support each other, who continue their research in the face of both personal and political struggles, who face disruptions to research with courage, whose contributions to knowledge ripple out into the world, in ways both large and small.
An image of the world, showing north and south American, and part of africa. Blue lines connect different parts of the world, representing multiple, complex networks. Image credit: Thinkstock Photos

Ascendant Alumni*

Their PhDs complete, these researchers continue their work in the academic world and in their communities:

Dr Sophie Chao, PhD Graduate (Anthropology) 2019, DECRA Fellow at USYD

2022 saw the publication of Dr Chao’s monograph based upon her PhD research: In the Shadow of the Palms: More-than-Human Becomings, Duke University Press, June 2022.  This ground-breaking work explores the impact of the palm-oil industry on the Indigenous Marind communities of West Paupa, and re-shapes understandings of how we understand relationships between humans and the environment.

Dr Jodi Edwards, PhD Graduate (Indigenous Studies) 2021, Research Fellow at RMIT

Dr Edwards, a Dharawal woman, has contributed to the ongoing life of the Dharawal language, through her 2022 publication of an important teaching resource, Dharawal: Words, Phrases, and Activities with Dharawal Publishing.  Dr Edwards was also named 2022 Shellharbour Local Woman of the Year for her “unwavering passion towards revitalising the Dharawal language in the Illawarra”.

Dr Amy Thunig, PhD Graduate (Macquarie School of Education) 2022, Associate Lecturer, Macquarie School of Education

In November 2022, Gomeroi woman Dr Amy Thunig launched her personal memoir, Tell Me Again, with University of Queensland Press. This work has been met with international critical acclaim, and an extract, Not for Me, has been published in The Conversation (4 Nov 2022).  Further, the journal Gender and Education has recently published Dr Thunig’s academic work on the necessity of “centring Indigenous Storying and sovereignty through research and writing practices”:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2022.2141695

Dr Saba Vasefi, PhD Graduate (Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Literature, and Languages) 2022, Journalist and Poet

After her PhD was conferred in February 2022, Dr Vasefi has continued her advocacy for refugees in Australia, contributing opinion pieces to both The Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald:

Impactful and Engaging Graduate Researchers*

Of course, Arts grad researchers don't wait until they graduate to make an impact with their research, and to engage with their communicities.

Rachel Baldacchino, MRes Candidate, Dept of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Literature, and Languages (MCCALL) was featured with Dr Kirstin Mills on From the Lighthouse, to share her insights into what why Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre still resonates today, 175 years after its first publication.

Milena Bojovic, PhD candidate, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, has been featured in The Conversation, ABC News, The Guardian, and 2SER radio for her work on the future of the dairy industry and the prospect of synthetic milk.  Milena also won the Faculty of Arts 3MT competition, and contributed to academic literature, with her article (co-authored with A/Prof Andrew McGregor), “A review of megatrends in the global dairy sector: what are the socioecological implications?”, published in Agriculture and Human Values.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10338-x

Jessica Collins, PhD candidate, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, received a Commendation from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) for the excellence of her PGRF application, which she used to attend the Critical Border Studies Research School in Stockholm, Sweden, and to conduct further research in Bologna, Italy. Jessica’s research efforts have been recognised in her article (co-authored with Claudio Minca and Richard-Carter While), The Camp as a Custodian Institution: the case of Krnjača Asylum Centre, Belgrade, Serbia, published in Geografsika Annaler: Series B, Human Geography:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2022.2154241

Madi Day, PhD Candidate and Lecturer, Dept of Indigenous Studies, received the 2022 Executive Dean’s Research Engagement Award, alongside Prof Bronwyn Carlson, for their work on two significant research projects with external partners:

Abbie Hartman, PhD Candidate, Dept of History and Archaeology, received a Commendation from the Faculty of Arts Executive Dean for her work with the Macquarie University History Museum and her mentorship of other graduate researchers, even as she pursues her own PhD research into how video games influence historical knowledge.

Paddy Manning, PhD Candidate and Journalist, MCCALL, continued his illustrious career in journalism and his PhD research into the history of NewsCorp in Australia, with the publication of The Successor (Black Inc Press, Nov 2022), a biography of Lachlan Murdoch which shares insights into the future of the Murdoch media empire.

Zac Roberts, PhD candidate and Indigenous Early Career Research Fellow, Dept of Indigenous Studies is a Yuin scholar who received the 2022 Executive Dean’s Award for Graduate Research Excellence, in recognition of his mentorship of graduate researchers and his astounding contributions to Faculty of Arts research renown:  this year alone, Zac has been awarded the John Mulvaney Fellowship from the Australian Academy of the Humanities, for his research exploring the history of relations between Aboriginal and Jewish communities in Australia since 1788, and has drawn on his MRes in, “Archaeology and Indigenous Sovereignty: An Experiential Perspective on Producing Indigenous Archaeological Research” published in the Journal of Global Indigeneity.

Tamika Worrell, PhD candidate, Macquarie School of Education, coordinates the Coordinator Yalbalinga Indigenous Higher Education Unit at the ACU, following almost five years as the Aboriginal Academic Engagement coordinator at Macquarie University’s Walanga Muru.  Tamika previously completed her MRes with the School of Education, and in December 2022 her MRes research was published in English in Australia: “Profiles of Practice: Influences When Selecting Texts to Include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in English”.

*Listed in alphabetical order, by family name

Engage with Us

Now that you’ve seen what we can do, how about reaching out to see how your organisation can benefit from engaging with graduate researchers in the Faculty of Arts: Unlock the Power of Graduate Research in the Faculty of Arts

Interested in doing an MRes or PhD with us? Check out PhDs and Research Degrees with the Faculty of Arts