Advancing Rural, Regional Culture and Society
Amplifying regional voices, issues, stories and connections
How our research improves regional sustainability
The Advancing Rural, Regional Culture and Society (ARRCS) group investigates opportunities, resilience and future sustainability of rural and regional environments and communities. We analyse the capacity of local communities to flourish – or not – through socio-cultural, environmental, educational, economic and political lenses.
Our research areas
Our research is informed by regional voices and experiences and is sensitive to the specific geographies and contexts that shape life in diverse local places.
Place making
This research looks at media and information networks in understanding place-based knowledge and narratives.
Environmental challenges
We investigate the challenges of communicating climate and environmental issues in contested regional environments.
Secure and safe regions
We critically analyse issues and perceptions concerning the culture and society in our regions and notions of rurality.
Build a better understanding of regional and rural culture
When you study a PhD in Deakin’s Faculty of Arts and Education, you'll be supported by renowned researchers.
Our researchers
Our research group brings a range of disciplinary expertise to deliver projects that have a real impact on regional sustainability. Our group is led by co-convenors:
Professor Kristy Hess is a professor in the School of Communication and Creative Arts. Her research focuses on the relationship between journalism, place-making and social order, especially in local and digital settings.
Dr Rachel Fetherston is a lecturer in literary studies in the School of Communication and Creative Arts. As a researcher and educator, she is interested in popular genre (particularly crime fiction, science fiction and fantasy), Australian literature, climate fiction and ecofiction, postcolonial cultures and ecologies, reader response, posthumanism and the more-than-human.
Dr Richie Barker, Senior Lecturer, Communication
Dr Adam Cardilini, Senior Lecturer
Professor Rea Dennis, Professor, Art and Performance
Dr Rachel Fetherston, Lecturer
Dr Julie Freeman, Senior Lecturer, Communication
Professor Gabrielle Fletcher, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous Development
Professor Kristy Hess, Professor of Communication
Dr Erin Hawley, Senior Lecturer, Communication
Professor Linda Hobbs, Associate Head of School, Research
Associate Professor Max Kelly, Associate Professor, International and Community Development
Professor Julieanne Lynch, Professor
Alison McAdam, Lecturer in Professional Practice (Communication)
Dr Tebeje Molla Mekonnen, ARC Future Fellow
Associate Professor Trace Ollis, Associate Professor in Education (Applied Learning)
Professor Emily Potter, Professor, Writing and Literature
Professor Matthew Ricketson, Professor of Communication
Dr Maria Rae, Senior Lecturer
Associate Professor Ian Warren, Associate Professor
Featured projects
Our partnerships with government, community and industry allow us to deliver research with impact. We lead bold initiatives that seek solutions beyond traditional research and organisational boundaries.
The literary past and future of an Australian region
Reading in the Mallee, an Australian Research Council-funded project, explores the literary history of the Mallee region in collaboration with Mallee readers. The project investigates how reading in place generates understanding of the region, its environment, community, history and future, and creates connection through shared reading practices.
Media innovation and the civic future of Australia’s country press
At a time when the news and public interest journalism are facing unprecedented challenges, this research project provides a comprehensive assessment of the civic value of small independent newspapers in rural, regional and suburban Australia. The project offers evidence and strategies to rethink media innovation, inform industry practice and federal communication policy.
Our partners
Our strong and active ties to external partners ensure our research has a real-world impact. Our partners include:
- Public Libraries Victoria
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Country Press Australia
- Natural Hazards Research Australia
- Mildura Rural City Council Libraries
- Gunnawarra Shire Libraries
- Elliot News Group
- Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation
- Victorian Drought and Innovation Hub (with Deakin’s Centre for Rural and Regional Futures)
- Brophy Youth and Family Services (with Deakin’s Centre for Rural Health)
- Barwon Community Legal Centre
- Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
- Geelong and Warrnambool Magistrate’s Courts
- Victorian Department of Education
- The Invergowrie Foundation.
Our publications
Take an in-depth look at our latest research. For a full list of publications visit the profile pages of our researchers.
Latest publications:
- Imagining Mallee readers: literary infrastructures of a regional community, Emily Potter
- Real life research in partnership: understanding civil law needs of older people and building research capacity in community legal centres, A Jones and I Warren
- The trouble with ‘quiet advocacy’: local journalism and reporting climate change in rural and regional Australia, G Mocatta, E Mayes, K Hess, and ME Hartup
Contact us
Stay in touch with us to hear about partnership opportunities, working with us, research news, and more about the Advancing Rural, Regional Culture and Society group.
