HDR interest areas - School of Humanities and Social Science

With expert supervision and broad interest areas, you can pursue your passion and expand your knowledge base.

Our HDR interest areas

Find a supervisor and discover what projects current research students are undertaking.

PhD, Masters by Research and Professional Doctorate candidates in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences can choose from the following interest areas.

Anthropology

Our anthropology team is passionate about working with HDR students to further knowledge and understanding in a diverse range of subject areas. They're experts in their chosen fields and are prolific contributors to publications and conferences. Many have received international recognition for their work.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Civil war and the Sri Lankan social formation Secularism and religious fanaticism in India Egalitarian forms and social transformation in Australia	P, M
Dr David Giles	Global cities, urban globalisation, urban ethnography (North America, Australasia) Political economy, value theory, economic anthropology Waste, dumpster-diving, squatting, scavenging Foodways, urban food systems, permaculture Hunger, homelessness (especially the criminalisation thereof), urban environments, biopolitics Transnational social movements, decentralised networks, anarchist and punk counterpublics	P, M
Dr Roland Kapferer	Social media Corporate culture, consumption/marketing and emergent state formations Modernism/postmodernism Technology, robotics, cybernetics and simulation Anthropology of cinema Animal anthropology	P, M
Dr Tanya King	Natural resource management in Australia – commercial fisheries, water Procedural justice, consultation and 'NIMBY' in rural and regional Australia Environmental anthropology	P, M
Dr Gillian Tan	Relational and multiple ontologies Human/non-human relationships and critiques of the nature/culture binary Issues in contemporary Tibetan society and culture Ecology and religiosity in the Third Pole Environment (Himalayas) Nomadic pastoralism and interactions with the state Ethnography as writing and method	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Martin Hardie	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Cycling, drugs, governance and law in the state of exception
Sonja Boehm	Dr Gillian Tan	Violence, policy and people
Anne Faithfull	Professor Andrea Witcomb	On the fringe: hair from Indigenous Australians in museum collections
Krishnaraj Kathirgamathamby	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Religious innovation and social reform in Sri Lanka
Samson Keam	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Where there is water: exploring water management, Sinhalese Buddhism and the social formation in Polonnaruwa district, Sri Lanka
Tisara Munasinghe Arachchi Lekamlage	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	The sonic characteristics of Sri Lankan low country drum
Jenny Norris-Green	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	South Australian Quakers and Unitarians: a comparative study
Matthew Phillips	Dr Roland Kapferer	Utopia now: experiments of the social in a Copenhagen Free Town
Mudiyansele Gedara Lalantha Mahesh Premarathna	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	New forms of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
Tatiana Romanovsky	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Evaluating Native Title: A case study of Native Title practice in Victoria
Bronwyn Shepherd	Professor Emma Kowal	Milingimbi Mission and early 20th century constructions of difference
Christopher Speldewinde	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	The new regionalism: a comparative study of two regional centres
Ben Vecchiet	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Religious innovation and social reform in Sri Lanka
Catherine West	Associate Professor Rohan Bastin	Urban religion in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Learn more about our anthropology discipline

Australian studies

Our Australian Studies Department is home to some of the country's most recognised authorities on Indigenous issues, and Australian history, culture and society. The discipline's reputation for excellence is reflected in the choice of one of its professors as the inaugural BHP Billiton Chair of Australian Studies at Peking University.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Louise Johnson	Urban and regional planning, including post-colonial planning Global suburbs and building better Australian suburbs Australian social, urban and regional geographies	P, M
Dr Sarah Pinto	Australian history Public and popular history-making History and politics of emotions Gender and sexuality in Australia	P, M
Dr Benjamin Wilkie	Australian social and cultural history History of the Scottish diaspora Australian environmental history, and histories of space and place Imperial and colonial history

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Caroline Denigan	Professor Louise Johnson	Owner builders, housewives and homemakers: self-build housing and gender in Australia

Criminology

Deakin's criminology team has expertise in a wide range of areas. It's engaged in research projects covering virtually every aspect of the field including cybercrime, surveillance, policing, terrorism, organised crime, criminal justice, sexual offences and urban conflict.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Associate Professor Darren Palmer	Surveillance Policing Social order	P, M
Associate Professor Chad Whelan	Serious and organised crime Terrorism and counter-terrorism Security and crime prevention Security and major events Criminal and security intelligence	P, M
Dr Richard Evans	Crime, justice and power Policing History, politics and social change Crime and the environment Surveillance Disasters	P, M
Dr Clare Farmer	Alcohol related anti-social behaviour Crime, young people and the role of the media Exclusion, banning and behaviour based orders Sentencing principles and reform (including mandatory and minimum sentences) Criminal justice processes, human rights and procedural protections Failures of justice	M
Dr Diarmaid Harkin	Police legitimacy Community policing Plural policing Cyber policing Private security Punitiveness	P, M
Dr Adam Molnar	Surveillance Technology, security and policing Privacy and data protection Security, policing and major events National security Militarisation	P, M
Dr Wendy O’Brien	Human rights and access to justice International norms and standards on criminal justice and crime prevention Children in conflict with the law and alternatives to detention Child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation Sexualised and sexually harmful behaviours among children Sentencing and criminal justice law reform	P, M
Dr Emma Ryan	Police use of force Police accountability Policy development in criminal justice Efficacy of criminal justice oversight agencies Media representations of crime History of criminal justice practices
Dr Danielle Tyson	Intimate partner homicide Violence against women Filicide in the context of separation Gender, sentencing and punishment Media representations of crime Qualitative research methods
Dr Ian Warren	Privacy and criminal justice/law Technology and crime prevention Vigilantism Violence International and comparative criminology Public order and disorder Law, crime and space Cybercrime and transnational regulation	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Morgan Burcher	Associate Professor Chad Whelan	Social network analysis as an investigative tool for crime intelligence
Kate Rebecca Hudson	Dr Wendy O'Brien	Rape shield laws in Australia: a comparative analysis of jurisdictional application and interpretation
Sally Kennedy	Dr Ian Warren	Extradition and the impact of territorial sovereignty on human rights
Christopher Linke	Associate Professor Darren Palmer	Australian police memorialisation, commemoration and remembrance
Jessica Alyce Saligari	Associate Professor Darren Palmer	Police response to mental health crises: examining a new partnership
Matthew Thurgood	Dr Ian Warren	Securitisation of the 'migrating dead': examining immigration policy through necropolitics

Learn more about our criminology discipline

Cultural heritage

Our supervisors are known for their subject matter expertise. Kristal Buckley was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to conservation and the environment, particularly in the area of cultural heritage, and to education.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Andrea Witcomb	Museums: histories, theories and practices The history of the representation of cultural diversity in the Australian collecting sector Thinking about the role of affect in audience engagement in museums and heritage sites Heritage as a basis for cross‐cultural understanding and dialogue	P, M
Dr Steven Cooke	Museums and identity Landscapes of war and genocide Holocaust pedagogy, visual research methods and sense of place	P, M
Dr Jonathan Sweet	Heritage and development in the Asia–Pacific region Museums: histories, theories and practices Cross‐cultural pedagogy	P, M
Dr Linda Young	History of historic houses as a species of museum Victorian gold diggers and transition to civilian life in the 1850s–60s, especially via consumption of goods History of Canberra	P, M
Kristal Buckley	Cultural landscapes, the associative values of land and seascapes, integration of natural and cultural perspectives Intangible cultural heritage, community engagement and involvement in cultural heritage Evolving cultural heritage practice in the Asia–Pacific region World heritage	M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Hendrik Berrevoets	Professor Andrea Witcomb	The myth of Chinese market gardening
Beatrice Harris	Professor Andrea Witcomb	How should museums ethically navigate emotion?
Katrina Lolicato	Professor Andrea Witcomb	Representing Australia's cultural diversity for social benefit and contemporary relevance
Tanya Robinson	Dr Linda Young	Material identities: mediating fashion knowledges in Australasian museums
Corioli Souter	Professor Andrea Witcomb	Collecting the sea: the making of maritime collections from Western Australia and their exhibition
Michelle Stevenson	Dr Linda Young	Snowflakes in a sunburnt country: the development, culture and significance of skiing in Australia
Junjie Su	Professor Andrea Witcomb	Intangible cultural heritage safeguarding in the context of tourism: a case study of Lijiang, China

Learn more about our cultural heritage discipline

History

Stimulating and challenging HDR students to interpret and analyse past human behaviour, Deakin's History Department focuses on themes such as war and peace, modernisation and social change. It also covers colonialism, nationalism, internationalism, gender and the Holocaust in American, African-American, Asian, Australian and European histories.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor David Lowe	The Cold War and decolonisation Australia in world affairs Political biography Conflict and memory in Asia	P, M
Professor Klaus Neumann	History and memory Historical justice Refugees, borders, migration The politics of emotion – emotion in politics Contemporary Germany	P, M
Associate Professor Keith Beattie	US history Film and history Documentary studies	P, M
Associate Professor Helen Gardner	19th and 20th century history of anthropology in Oceania 20th century history of decolonisation of the Pacific 19th and 20th century history of Christianity and mission in Oceania	P, M
Associate Professor Christopher Waters	Australian foreign policy in the age of appeasement Australia and the decolonisation of the South Pacific Diplomats and the art of biography	P, M
Dr Greg Burgess	History of France Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries Citizenship, migration and refugee studies Human rights in history	P, M
Dr Joanna Cruickshank	History of religion in Britain and Australia History of Aboriginal Missions Australian Colonial History Women's history	P, M
Dr Tony Joel	The politics of war memory and commemoration Remembering the Cold War Remembering sporting triumphs, tragedies and rivalries	P, M
Dr Jonathan Ritchie	Papua New Guinea Colonial history Independence movements Pacific history	P, M
Dr Tiffany Shellam	Cross-cultural encounters between Aboriginal Australians and others in the era of exploration The history of Australian colonisation, 19th century Exploring Aboriginal experiences of colonisation through the history of emotions	P, M
Dr Bart Ziino	Private life and sentiment in Australia during the First World War 1914–1919 War heritage and commemoration Early 20th century popular culture	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Jennifer Caligari	Dr Joanna Cruickshank	Bessie Harrison Lee: temperance and social reform
Nathan Coffey	Associate Professor Helen Gardner	External pressure and the rapid decolonisation of Papua New Guinea
Lisa Couacaud	Professor David Lowe	The ideal America(n): constructing and deconstructing Dwight Eisenhower's rhetorical presidency
Ruth Crocombe	Associate Professor Helen Gardner	Seventh-day Adventists, Indigenous Australian and Pacific Islander missionaries in PNG
Rebecca Filling	Dr Bart Ziino	Remembering Australia's Vietnam War
Anna Kent	Professor David Lowe	Australian scholarships for Indonesia – 1980 to 2015: critical mass, policy and expectations associated with scholarships and alumni
Amanda Lourie	Associate Professor Helen Gardner	From paddock to page: ethnological encounters in 1850s–1860s colonial Victoria
William Peart	Professor David Lowe	The ideological basis of Egalitarianism in Australia
Lauren Robinson	Dr Joanna Cruickshank	Sense of place and connection to the land: Victorian women, 1850–1901
Walter Struve	Professor David Lowe	A Biography of Kurt Offenburg (1898–1946)
Celeste Thorn	Dr Tony Joel	Painful pasts: contemporary histories at sites of genocide
Digby Wren	Professor David Lowe	Contested horizons: competition and cooperation in China-Australia public diplomacy

Learn more about our history discipline

Humanitarian assistance

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Associate Professor Phil Connors	Sustainable development: concepts and understandings Community economic development Critical community engagement in climate change amelioration/adaptation	P, M
Emma Roberts	Using simulation-based training to improve humanitarian leadership skills Humanitarian ethics and principles The relevance and effectiveness of international law in today's humanitarian situations	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Alice Banfield	Professor Matthew Clarke	When 'Acts of God' strike: faith responses and leadership in Vanuatu natural disasters
Joanna Larvin	Associate Professor Phil Connors	Surviving the aftermath: consideration of violence against women in disaster responses

International and community development

Our academic staff and researchers set the benchmark for active participation in the field of international and community development. They have extensive experience with international government organisations, government agencies, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Matthew Clarke	Religion and development Aid effectiveness Pacific development	P, M
Professor Damien Kingsbury	Causes of separatism in sovereign states Intra-state conflict resolution, post-conflict stability and state-building Politics, economic development and policies, and Australia's bilateral relations with Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Burma and Cambodia Timor-Leste foreign policy, anthropology and history Regional security issues and terrorism Political development/processes of democratisation Human rights/civil and political rights	P, M
Dr Max Kelly	Agriculture, food security, food systems and food sovereignty Rural development Sustainable development in Timor-Leste, the Pacific, Africa and South-East Asia Impact assessment of foreign aid Farmer extension, agricultural knowledge and information systems Animals, livestock welfare, ethics and international development Civil society and NGOs in international development Maternal health, Africa	P, M
Dr Maree Pardy	Gender and development Community development Gender, culture, rights Feminism, feminist theory, feminist anthropology Cultural diversity and urban change	P, M
Dr Anthony Ware	Development in conflict-affected situations Myanmar’s Rakhine (‘Rohingya’) conflict and Kachin conflict Myanmar (Burma): development, political economy, democratic transition Participatory, strength-based and asset-based approaches to development Religion in development, inter-religious partnerships, faith-based organisations (FBOs) Inter-religious partnerships in development by FBOs	P, M
Dr Vicki Ware	Arts-based and sports-based approaches to community development Conflict transformation in developing countries Schools as sites for community development in disadvantaged communities Religion and development	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Louise Acheson	Dr Anthony Ware	Digital technology supporting gender empowerment in fragile state contexts
Way Alege	N/A	Reconciling development interventions and communities' vital concerns in Ituri district
Murray Boardman	Dr Anthony Ware	The intersection between monitoring and program quality in development NGOs
Tim Budge	Dr Max Kelly	Mobilising for change in informal settlements in Southern Africa
Maya Cordeiro	Dr Max Kelly	Performance measurement and decision-making in international non-governmental organisations
Julia Greenwood	Dr Vicki Ware	Community meaning in cyberspace: an ethnographic examination
Primas Kapi	Dr Anthony Ware	Sustainability of community-based development programs in Papua New Guinea
Leanne Kelly	Dr Anthony Ware	What's the point? Program evaluation in small, community development NGOs
Ronan Lee	Dr Anthony Ware	Who are Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, what is it they want that is rejected by Myanmar's authorities and why?
Andrew Marriott	Professor Damien Kingsbury	Lawyers, guns and money: advocacy and politics in post-conflict development
Praveena Rajkobal	Professor Matthew Clarke	Religions, risk and sustainability: reflexive religious ecology movements and environmental crisis management
Dr Michelle Sanders	Dr Vicki-Ann Ware	Engaging 'flow' through art to assist people process trauma
Kirsten Taylor	Professor Damien Kingsbury	Ethnic conflict as a barrier to democratisation in Burma/Myanmar
Sarah Williams	Dr Vicki-Ann Ware	An investigation of the effectiveness of arts-based approaches to building social inclusion in Australian and international contexts

Learn more about our international and community development discipline

International relations

The international relations program produces researchers who demonstrate the highest level of analytical and interpretative skills in global issues. They tackle the complexities of contemporary international relations and contribute to topic world knowledge. For example, Professor Baogang He has an international reputation as an authority on Chinese democratisation, NGOs and local governance. Dr Samantha Balaton-Chrimes is a specialist in citizenship, democracy and diversity in Africa, India and Indonesia.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Baogang He	Chinese politics Deliberative democracy Comparative politics and political theory The politics of international relations in East Asia	P, M
Associate Professor Sally Totman Marshall	Middle East politics, international relations and history Collaborative online learning through role play Popular culture (in particular Hollywood film)	P, M
Associate Professor Chengxin Pan	Chinese politics and international relations US foreign policy International relations in Northeast Asia Australia and Asia (particularly in the context of US–China relations) Discourse analysis in international relations Alternative theoretical perspectives on China’s rise	P, M
Associate Professor Steven Slaughter	International relations theory and international political theory Democratic theory and globalisation Transnational civil society and activism Global governance – especially the G20 Global political economy	P, M
Dr Ken Boutin	International security (including the political economy of security), with a particular focus on East Asia and the United States The foreign policy of the United States	P, M
Dr Scott Burchill	The business class and the GFC Political change in North Africa International relations theory	P, M
Dr Danielle Chubb	North-east Asian security (particularly North Korea and regional politics) Inter-Korean relations Transnational civil society Australian foreign policy	P, M
Dr David Hundt	Korean studies Immigration in Australia and Asia Capitalism in Asia American foreign policy	P, M
Dr Costas Laoutides	National self-determination movements Peace-building and transitional justice Diaspora and civil wars	P, M
Dr Cai Wilkinson	Critical security studies, especially securitisation studies and societal security Genders and sexualities in international relations LGBT human rights The politics of security and identity in the post-Soviet space Interpretive methods and fieldwork in international relations	P, M
Dean Coldicott	Global governance International political economy International regime interplay	M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Marial Aduot	Dr Costas Laoutides	Politics of post-war: assessing process of disarmament demobilisation and reintegration in South Sudan
Manushree Bahukhandi	Dr Costas Laoutides	Comparative analysis of gender and role of gender in conflict regions in India during the conflicts in Kashmir & Assam and applicability of the UNSCR 1325 in these regions
Ravi Dutt Bajpai	Associate Professor Chengxin Pan	Civilisational perspectives in international relations and contemporary China-India relations
John Bourdouvalis	Dr Steven Slaughter	Grounding social democracy: European democratic responses to the Global Financial Crisis
William Briggs	Dr David Hundt	Making Marxism relevant in the age of capitalist crisis
Lance Collins	Dr Scott Burchill	Convincing Canberra: how other countries achieve their foreign policy goals with Canberra
Ben Debney	Dr Scott Burchill	The oldest trick in the book; crisis, moral panics and the political economy of scapegoating
Hamish Drummond	Dr Costas Laoutides	Post-conflict redevelopment including demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration in an African context: Burundi and Rwanda
Tezcan Gumus	Dr David Tittensor	Nation, identity and the role of elites: shedding light on Turkey's troubled democratisation
Seema Khan	Professor Damien Kingsbury	Balochistan insurgency: external factors and regional context
Hamish Kingsley-Smith	Associate Professor Chengxin Pan	Assessing the transitioning security order in Asia and the limitations of China's strategic ambition
Sean Mackin	Dr Craig Snyder	The essence of trident
Julie Richardson	Dr Cai Wilkinson	Gender and security: international policy in Turkey

Learn more about our international relations discipline

International studies

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Dr Samantha Balaton-Chrimes	Citizenship (especially in Africa) Ethnicity and ethnic politics in Africa Politics of land rights (global perspective) Democracy in practice (especially in Africa and South Asia)	P, M
Dr Cai Wilkinson	Critical security studies, especially securitisation studies and societal security Genders and sexualities in international relations LGBT human rights The politics of security and identity in the post-Soviet space Interpretive methods and fieldwork in international relations	P, M

Language and cultural studies

As a language and cultural studies research student at Deakin, you have access to superior linguists. You also get to utilise the capabilities of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, providing support and project collaboration opportunities.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Ismet Fanany	Indonesian language, literature and linguistics Indonesian culture and society Islam in Indonesia Metaphors and proverbs, especially Indonesian/Malay	P, M
Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	Language, culture and health Cultural consonance Conceptualisations of health Language and culture as social determinants	P, M
Associate Professor Hakeem Kasem	Developing a tool to facilitate teaching and learning of Arabic handwriting Evaluation of the effectiveness of online blended learning as a teaching model in language education Assessing the role of community language programs in preserving cultural heritage	P, M
Associate Professor Guo-Qiang Liu	Re-constructing national identity: China's policy on Chinese as a foreign language Social identity and sound change Continuity and change in China's ideological transformation	P, M
Dr Eugenia Demuro	Post colonialism/decoloniality in Latin America Critical theory in Latin America Studies of race/gender/class in Latin America Contemporary social, political and cultural movements in Latin America 20th century modernist and experimental fiction in Latin America Comparative fiction/literature in Latin America	P, M
Dr Xiangshu Fang	Developing a pedagogical innovation to embrace students of diverse abilities/backgrounds in Chinese language learning The revival of Confucianism and the Chinese Government's response Historiography and China: the issue of approach	P, M
Dr Zouhir Gabsi	Language teaching Minority languages Islamophobia Arab Spring Youth Identity Islamic Discourse	P, M
Dr Israel Holas	Latin American literature: poetry, narrative and Vanguardist fiction Comparative literature: especially tracing the influences of avant garde movements in Latin American literature (and vice-versa) Roberto Bolaño and infrarrealismo Latin American social movements Modernity/coloniality The intersections of the political and the cultural history of 'modern' Latin America (from conquest to the present day)	P, M
Dr Fengqi Qian	Conserving the historic environment Heritage not elsewhere classified Understanding Asia's past	P, M
Dr Alistair Welsh	Indonesian/Malay language and culture Discourse analysis, such as political discourse (Third Space) intercultural engagement Intercultural language teaching Study abroad language programs	P, M
Dr Lin Zheng	Women, words and woes: a structural analysis on Chinese characters Chinese families in the Chinese magazine on 'Families' Anglo-Chinese business communication and miscommunication	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Yufi Adriani	Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	Religiosity and happiness in Indonesia : a phenomenological study of young Muslims
Wen Chen	Associate Professor Guo-Qiang Liu	Correlation between foreign language anxiety and the effectiveness of different types of corrective feedback on Chinese linguistic structures
Salai Biak Lian Ching	Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	Language maintenance amongst diasporic Chin communities around the world: in search of the contemporary state of the Chin language
Vidyarini Dwita	Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	Language, Culture and Advertising in Indonesia: A Study of Middle Class Attitudes and Behavior
Yenny Narny	Professor Ismet Fanany	Resilience among survivors of political violence in West Sumatra, Indonesia
Nofel Nofiadri	Professor Ismet Fanany	Metaphor in Rundiang: A study of a genre of traditional literature in West Sumatera
Indah Sari	Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	Error analysis in the work of novice Indonesian translators
Erlinda Syam	Professor Ismet Fanany	Contemporary Minangkabau usage in West Sumatra, Indonesia
Zulprianto Zulprianto	Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	An analysis of thematic structures and metaphors of the English novel Animal Farm and two Indonesian translations

Middle East studies

Our staff are renowned for their specialised Middle Eastern knowledge. Associate Professor Sally Totman Marshall is an author and international expert on Middle East policy and politics. A frequent commentator on Middle Eastern issues, she contributes to various national and international radio, television and print media groups and speaks at public forums and lectures.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Associate Professor Sally Totman Marshall	Middle East politics, international relations and history Collaborative online learning through role play Popular culture (in particular Hollywood film)	P, M
Dr Mat Hardy	Middle East politics Military intervention in the Middle East Online role-play/e-learning State failure in Libya and representations of the Middle East in fantasy literature	M

Learn more about our Middle East studies discipline

Philosophy

Deakin is home to a vibrant and pluralistic philosophy research department. It offers a wide range of teaching and research interests spanning and interconnecting the continental, analytic and eastern traditions. Deakin philosophers also form the nucleus of the European Philosophy and the History of Ideas research group (part of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation).

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Jack Reynolds	Contemporary European philosophy Phenomenology and existentialism Analytic and continental philosophy Intersubjectivity and social cognition Metaphilosophy and methodology	P, M
Associate Professor Russell Grigg	Lacanian psychoanalysis Freud	P, M
Associate Professor Matthew Sharpe	Cultural relativism vs realism The scientific revolution The work of French classicist Pierre Hadot	P, M
Dr Sean Bowden	The work of Gilles Deleuze Contemporary French and European philosophy American pragmatism Philosophy of action and agency (individual and collective)	P, M
Dr Leesa Davis	Buddhist philosophy (especially Zen and Mahayana) Hindu philosophy (especially Advaita Vedanta) Contemporary Buddhist practice in the west Cross-cultural philosophy Non-duality in Eastern and Western thought	P, M
Dr George Duke	Political authority and legitimacy Constitutional law and public law theory Legal theory and general jurisprudence Political and legal thought of Plato and Aristotle	P, M
Dr Cathy Legg	American pragmatism (especially Charles Peirce) Wittgenstein Philosophy of language Philosophical logic Metaphysics (including formal ontology) Artificial intelligence History of analytic philosophy Early modern philosophy	P, M
Dr Patrick Stokes	19th and 20th century European thought, especially Kierkegaard and Løgstrup Personal identity Moral psychology Philosophy of death and dying	P, M
Dr David Tittensor	Turkish politics and society Transnational Muslim movements Islamic studies Gender in Islam Religion and development	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Joshua Badge	Dr George Duke	Gadamer's rehabilitation of authority and tradition
Dale Clisby	Dr Sean Bowden	Deleuze's secret dualism: defining the actual/virtual relationship
Andrew Kirkpatrick	Professor Jack Reynolds	The metaphysical structures of experience: towards a process phenomenology
Michael Mitchell	Associate Professor Russell Grigg	Towards a comprehensive theory of self-knowledge
Toni Morton	Dr Patrick Stokes	Disenchantment, selfhood and contemporary being
Kevin Murphy	Associate Professor Russell Grigg	Asexuality: towards a Freudian-Lacanian understanding
David-Lee Nielson	Dr Patrick Stokes	'What am I?' People as subjects and objects
Kane Pierce Simpson	Professor Jack Reynolds	Person-hood, animality, and phenomenological being
Kirk Turner	Associate Professor Matthew Sharpe	Development of the Lacanian concept of fantasy: trajectories and significations
James Watt	Professor Jack Reynolds	Rethinking authenticity

Learn more about our philosophy discipline

Politics and policy

Learn from highly qualified, experienced academic staff who have made significant contributions to research in the field both nationally and internationally. Our academics and supervisors have contributed to an extensive range of publications and consulted to various national and international agencies.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Andrew Scott	Comparing social democracy in Australia with nations in northern Europe Policies to reduce inequalities among children through public investment in the early years The relationship between environmentalism and other political philosophies	P, M
Associate Professor Benjamin Isakhan	Middle East history and politics The history of democracy and democratic theory Orientalism and cultural studies Cultural heritage and heritage destruction	P, M
Dr Samantha Balaton-Chrimes	Citizenship and democratic theory Politics of recognition and distribution	P, M
Dr Peter Ferguson	Environmental politics and policy Environmental political economy Green political theory Environmental and human security The international climate negotiations	P, M
Dr Amy Nethery	Asylum and migration policies in Australia and the Asia–Pacific region Histories and theories of incarceration Australian policy and public opinion	P, M
Dr Zim Nwokora	Political parties, party systems and political competition Constitutional design and constitutional politics The quality of democracy and good governance	P, M
Dr Maria Rae	Media and politics, political communication The politics of human rights and the media Transitional justice and the media Discourse analysis	P, M
Dr Geoffrey Robinson	Explaining NSW Labor's 2011 electoral defeat The public career of Richard Crouch Party politics and taxation and public expenditure in the Australian states 1911–40	P, M
Dr Andrew Vandenberg	Trade unionism Social democracy Neoliberalism social movements	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Peter Alsen	Professor Andrew Scott	Concepts of early childhood education and care in Australia and Germany
Sylvia Daravong	Professor Andrew Scott	Progressive or left? Does Australia have a viable political alternative to neoliberalism?
Sayed Fadel	Associate Professor Benjamin Isakhan	The rise and downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (2011–2013)
Daniel Timothy Gerrard	Professor Andrew Scott	Aspirations and practice in Australian social media campaigning
Amita Vengacherry Joseph	Professor Linda Hancock	Effectiveness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines in India
Peter Mulherin	Associate Professor Benjamin Isakhan	Back in Iraq: Australia's foreign policy engaging the Islamic State
Diane Siebrandt	Associate Professor Benjamin Isakhan	Military occupation of heritage sites: orientalism, archaeology and the Iraq War

Learn more about our politics and policy discipline

Sociology

Deakin's sociology staff have many years of combined industry experience and are leaders in their research fields. These fields include sociology of media and popular culture, sexuality, crime and justice, youth, consumer society and sustainability, culture and migration, religion and health.

Supervisors and their areas

Key/Note: Supervision level: PhD (P); Masters (M)

Researcher	Research interests	Supervision level
Professor Liz Eckermann	Health, gender and development Maternal health Quality of life and social indicators	P, M
Associate Professor Andrew Singleton	Sociology of religion: spirituality, youth religion, new religious movements, global Christianity, secularisation, non-religion, religious change, religious movements in the global south Gender: men, masculinity, gender and the media Research methods: quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods	P, M
Associate Professor Grazyna Zajdow	Alcohol and illicit drugs policy Narrative experience of alcohol and drugs Narratives of women, work and ageing	P, M
Dr Bernie East	Why does Generation Y have a sense of entitlement? Using Bourdieu's Habitus and Field to understand contemporary art The role of architects in fostering consumption	P, M
Dr Anna Halafoff	Sociology of religion Interreligious relations Educations about religions and beliefs Buddhism in Australia	P, M
Dr Karen Lane	Health Theory Media Maternalist theory; Mothering and migration	P, M
Dr Vince Marotta	Social theory Urban sociology Immigration Multiculturalism and cultural identity Cosmopolitanism Theories of the stranger	P, M
Dr Kim Toffoletti	Gender: sport and fitness, media, technology, consumer and popular culture Post-feminism Sport fandom Social media and digital networked technologies	P, M

Current students and doctoral projects

Student	Supervisor	Project title
Alison Asquith	Associate Professor Andrew Singleton	Anglican encounters with orthodox icons
James Baker	Associate Professor Grazyna Zajdow	Constructing asylum seekers: representations of asylum seekers in Australia
Katherine Calvert	Vince Marotta	Conceptualisations of resistance, agency and power in human/horse relations
Hannah Garden	Dr Kim Toffoletti	Mainstream feminist digital news sites and the discourse of popular feminism under neoliberalism
Jayne Garrod	Dr Karen Lane	Negotiating competing childbirth discourses through social media
Laura Gobey	Associate Professor Grazyna Zajdow and Dr Kim Toffoletti	The lives and aspirations of young South African migrant women
Samuel Hogan	Associate Professor Andrew Singleton	Religious change and its management
James Holmes	Dr Vince Marotta	Fantasy in an increasingly rationalised world
Catherine Kowalski	Associate Professor Rebecca Fanany	Impact of media on attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine
Denise Ann Mcnulty Norton	Dr Kim Toffoletti	Redeeming the father: constructions of fatherhood in recent children's films
Sharni Spencer	Dr Vince Marotta	The impact of feminist Facebook groups on feminist discourses
Lorayma Taula	Dr Vince Marotta	The transnationalism of young Polynesian women
Trisha Villagonzalo	Dr Vince Marotta	#OnePulse: performative community and the politics of bereavement on social media
Xinyu Zhao	Dr Vince Marotta	Negotiating exclusion and inclusion in a digital age: everyday social media practices among Chinese student-migrants in Australia

Learn more about our sociology discipline

I have enjoyed my PhD experience more than I can say. My supervision has been of the highest standard, the facilities have been excellent and I have always had help when I've asked for it.

Kirstie Barry

SHSS HDR student

Contact us

For more information about the HDR program within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, please contact the HDR Coordinator.

SHSS HDR Coordinator
A/Prof George Duke
+61 3 9251 7848
Email A/Prof George Duke

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