Current research students

The experiences of Australian First in Family university students and graduates: an intergenerational and intersectional exploration

My research topic is one of great significance to me personally.

The “First in Family” identifier encompasses a diverse range of students from a wide variety of backgrounds and personal circumstances, yet what unites them are the hurdles they face in thriving at university.

I am exploring the experiences of First in Family students from all walks of life in the hopes of making recommendations for university policy and practice.

Transcript

this is a university

and it can be an overwhelming place for

students who are the first in their

families to attend

these students tend to struggle more

than others and as this group is

incredibly diverse their experiences and

challenges vary

whether it's moving a long distance away

from their family and support

needing to work sometimes multiple jobs

to support themselves

financial hardship mature age status or

juggling studying with parenting and

caring responsibilities

these challenges leave first and family

students struggling to succeed and

thrive

so how do we support a group with needs

this diverse

by interviewing first and family

students from all backgrounds my

research aims to both explore these

unique challenges and offer

recommendations for university teaching

and support units

which would benefit not only the first

and family students but the entire

higher educational sector

you

The Second-Wave Impact in Australia of the Great Irish Famine

Blending archival research and reclaiming undocumented oral history,  Anne’s thesis explores the history of Australia’s first refugees - families who fled the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849).

Revealing new discoveries from research into the intergenerational impacts in Australia of the Irish Famine, this thesis utilises poetry and creative non-fiction to tell the human story behind the history.

Transcript

Although you may not understand  the words on my slide,  

in three minutes, I hope they  will mean something to you…

Through my research, I’ve discovered  a hidden cluster of refugee children  

who were abused and discriminated  against because of their ethnic origins.  

My research seeks to restore voice  to those who have been silenced.

Let me tell you a story… Everything I am going to  tell you is true. It’s about a girl named Eliza.

Before she was born, a neighbouring nation  invaded her country, killing almost half  

of Eliza’s people, the indigenous population  who had lived there since prehistoric times.  

Their lands, language and culture were stolen.

Eliza’s people lived on the  verge of starvation until  

their country was overwhelmed by a devastating  famine. For five years, her people starved  

while their foreign rulers shipped vital  food supplies out of Eliza’s homeland.

Over a million people died of hunger and  disease. More than a million more fled  

the country as refugees. Eliza’s mother was  one of more than 100,000 who died at sea.

Struggling against discrimination and  destitution in her country of refuge,  

Eliza was arrested in a brothel at age 15.  

I’ve discovered that more than half the children  in juvenile detention with her were from Eliza’s  

home country. They were sexually assaulted,  humiliated and beaten. For attempting to escape,  

they were bound in straightjackets and locked  in solitary confinement on starvation rations.

Eliza died aged 24, far from her native Ireland –  my country, my people too. The events that led to  

her untimely death in Sydney were triggered by  three factors: climate, politics and economics,  

together with a perhaps-mistaken belief  that good people won’t fail to do something.

Blending in-depth archival research with my own  family history, I am writing creative non-fiction  

and poetry to uncover new connections and  reveal the human story behind the history.

Although Eliza died 145 years ago, there are one  million ‘Elizas’ living in the shadow of her story  

in Australia today, 356 million  children starving in our world  

due to the same three factors  that sealed Eliza’s tragic fate.

My mission in telling you this story is to  open one mind, one heart – yours. By raising  

our voices for the silenced, let us make sure  that good people won’t fail to do something.

Those words on my slide are in Eliza’s and my  native tongue, a language that was forbidden  

to our people. They translate as: “People live in each other’s shadows”

In my culture that means we  all depend on each other.

English

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Relational Growing: The Art and Cultural Continuum of Urban Aboriginal Agriculture 

This research looks to bring Aboriginal approaches and perspectives to the under-researched, and 'mainstreamed’ area of urban Aboriginal food growing.

Using a relational, creative, and culturally-centred methodology, it seeks to generate awareness, understanding, activation and capacity with regards to Aboriginal food knowledges, systems and practices applied within the urban context, by and for Aboriginal people and communities.

The Weather Diaries: A Documentary

Doctor of Creative Arts candidate Kathy Drayton's film The Weather Diaries was screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival in 2020. In the film, made as part of her doctoral research project, Kathy muses on what the future holds for her musician daughter amidst the threats of climate change and mass extinction. Watch the trailer now, then read what The Guardian has to say.

Transcript

[Music]

i think that feeling of warm-up like

nothing matters because the world's

going anyway it's really common

with people my age

imogen began wearing this princess

mononoke costume when she was eight

she wore it every day for the next four

years

the whole energy of the wolf girl

wanting to protect these amazing animals

that really resonated with me even

though i was really young it's a huge

thing that you and all your generation

are growing up with

[Music]

a lot of us will be effective it's sort

of harder to be hopeful

it's not like we can stop climate change

sometime this century

these animals

will go functionally extinct we live

every day as if nothing's changed do it

just one more time as if the lives of

our children will be unharmed

and similar to our own it's just really

overwhelming how out of control things

are

liking bats in a warmer world they will

also die faster that one's dead right

you can't treat nature like that

school has been hard for her why should

i even try to have a future changes

aren't going to happen until people

really start to hurt i can't imagine

being an adult in this world that's

deteriorating

getting imogen through this last year of

school is not going to be easy

i sort of just

just shut down that point

one high school student's life is

probably about to change

if this species can acclimate and change

its physiology to cope with that warming

perhaps it will

survive

[Music]

i think if you give up on everything

those feelings will get worse

as a parent i just can't let it go

[Music]

one bet at a time

i feel like if i can do anything

to change anything it's probably going

to be through music

[Music]

we're gonna build a better town now

you

English (auto-generated)

 

Brown Lake: Weaving the eco-feminine into the Anthroposcreen

Transcript

my name's samantha lang and i'm a

writer director

i'm also president of the australian

director's guild and i'm an educator too

i think the reason i did the higher

research degree i

wanted to engage in practices that were

outside what i would call the

conventional kind of film industry

and

i thought that it would give me the

opportunity to really experiment and go

deeper into a different type of practice

that existed outside of that industrial

landscape in the creative practice

component of my doctorate is a vr proof

of concept it's really about

de-centering the human as protagonist in

a film narrative to show the point of

view in a very literal way of a lake we

did was we built the lake in miniature

and all of the elements in miniature

with recycled materials and we found the

smallest vr camera possible

you have to decide what character is the

camera and so i decided that the

character was water and we

basically traveled the water cycle

through brown lake

it was really beautiful kind of project

to try and pull together and to get a

different way of looking at a lake

i chose uts because it has always struck

me as a place that

is full of innovation it has a history

that is

a history of activism history of

thinking it's one that

produces a very distinctive but eclectic

group of students doing

work across different platforms and

different mediums but always

thinking slightly outside of the box and

that is very impressive to me and i

wanted to be part of that culture the

reason you research is to transform

transform something

whether it's your ideas or your practice

or the way you are in the world i mean

that is the reason to do it you don't do

something to stay the same you do it

because you want to be transformed

[Music]

English (auto-generated)

 

Voicebots in everyday life: An exploration of perception and use

Indra is a 3rd year PhD in Communications student at UTS.

Indra has enjoyed being part of the UTS community by working at the university's Library, Information Technology Division, Learning Experience Lab, Casual Tutor, Student Representative on the Academic and Research School Boards.

Her PhD has already secured her a professional position related to her PhD expertise, bridging the gap between user research and technology for conversational AI experiences. 

Transcript

let me tell you a story

about a little girl named tara from

california and her two aunties

one of the aunties lives with tara she

loves to play music

tell jokes and teach nursery rhymes the

other auntie

auntie bua lives a thousand miles away

here in australia

she can spend hours talking to tara's

mom and always manages to make the

little girl laugh

both aunties use the internet to speak

to the little girl

their voices are amplified through small

black devices

auntie bua uses a phone to call and

speak to the little girl

the other auntie chimes in from the

corner of the living room

auntie alexa says tara play the baby

shark song

if you haven't caught on one of the

aunties is actually a coded algorithm

an artificial intelligence that listens

and responds to the little girl through

a conversational interface

tara's dad is always talking to uncle

google in the kitchen while he's trying

to cook dinner

and tara's mum is always asking auntie

siri for directions when she's in the

car

you've probably talked to them too all

of these are examples

of iai enabled voice assistance

but to tara alexa is not an assistant

she's her auntie so when prompted by the

device

what kind of information do you think

tara would share with her

auntie when really she's sharing it with

a giant corporation

called amazon way we perceive

and start to give human identities to

these devices

is when the lines between human and

artificial intelligence

starts to blur my phd

takes a social science perspective to

study these ai

devices i'll be introducing alexa to

different age demographics

to observe how they socially construct

identities

as a group for the ai

as part of my field work i'll be

introducing seniors

to alexa through educational tea parties

will they think alexa is just as smart

as their grandchildren who teach

them about computers i'll then

be interviewing people in their homes to

find out how alexa operates in their

family dynamic

and lastly i'll be holding story time

events at public libraries

inviting children to interact with alexa

i'll then be asking them to paint a

picture

of who they think they were interacting

with

my results can help find new ways that

this form of artificial intelligence can

be

more than just an assistant

being mindful of the ethics and concerns

of human-like artificial intelligence

by harnessing the human of these devices

we can better understand the technology

from there we can create

and design better tools to help enrich

all of human life

English (auto-generated)

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Understanding the Intercultural: A Study on How Secondary School Language Teachers Interpret, Teach, and Assess Intercultural Competence

I come to the research as a high school language teacher. What brought me to this research is my professional and personal interest in the intercultural field. In a more and more globalised world where we are finally recognising the richness of our multicultural societies Intercultural Competence (IC) is an essential ability. Within this broad intercultural landscape I focus on this ability in the pedagogical context.

What emerges from the literature on IC and correlated terms, is that this concept is increasingly present in the educational sector, particularly in the learning objectives of the foreign language classroom. Since language learning is almost by definition, intercultural, language educators are expected to take advantage of the potential of their classroom to develop this competency in their learners.

In this context, the aim of this research is to understand how secondary language teachers in Australia and in Italy interpret, teach, and assess IC in their classrooms. To do this, secondary school teachers in NSW and Italy were surveyed and interviewed, and a focus group with five participants was held. Analysis of some of their teaching materials was also conducted. The main findings suggest that teachers have a varied understanding of what both culture and IC mean, and that these teachers are often uncertain of how to deal with these concepts in their classroom practices. The diverse interpretations of these concepts coupled with the requirements of education syllabi or guidelines dictate the choices that are made in teaching practices and how IC is assessed. 

Teacher Adaptation in English-Medium Instruction: A Multiple Case Study in Vietnamese Higher Education

This study explores the teaching practices of Vietnamese lecturers who teach their undergraduate courses in English (i.e., English-medium instruction or EMI).

Via the use of the multiple case study approach and positioning theory, this research aims to discover how and why the lecturers in question adapt their teaching practices in EMI, and whether academic disciplines affect their adaptation.

Languages and Technology: the relationship between conceptualisation, motivation, and value proposition in selecting secondary school learning pathways.

This research addresses the dilemma faced by schools and students when selecting apparently disparate subjects which have low cohort numbers and high resourcing costs.

Using the frame of disruption, value propositions held by students are investigated to uncover possible solutions to creating successful learning pathways.

Learning to teach Chinese language and culture in the Australian pre-service teacher education context: Constructing and negotiating a professional identity

My main research focus has been on teacher identity and teacher education, particularly in the language other than English context.

My current research project is about Chinese language teachers' identity construction in pre-service teacher education programs in Australian universities.

Early career language teachers use of professional standards: A case study of developing professionalism.

The focus of Sherryl’s research is on early career language teachers’ understanding and use of teacher professional standards as they grow into the language teaching profession.

Using a descriptive case study, the study investigates understandings of language teaching incorporated into professional standards and understandings of how professional standards support professional growth.

Further, the study investigates the influence of these understandings on interactions between an early career language teacher and the school leader who has some responsibility for supporting their professional growth.

A critical discourse analysis of the under-representation of people with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) in Australian post-secondary education contexts

Inclusive post-secondary education for people with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) in Australia is a relatively new area of development.

Many people with Down syndrome express interest in, and potential for, further education. This research foregrounds the voices and lived experiences of people with trisomy 21 in the area of post-secondary education, with the hope of contributing towards the growth of such learning opportunities for this significant population.

An ethnographic investigation of communicative practices in a secondary bimodal bilingual school in Hong Kong

From the perspective that sees deafness as a source of linguistic diversity, I aim to examine how deaf and hearing people work with differences in communication.

Through an ethnographic investigation of the sign bilingual co-enrolment program in Hong Kong, my study will address questions such as “How does the communication among and within deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing people utilise diverse multimodal resources?” and “How do ideologies regarding language and deafness interact with their communication?”

"The Floor" in Tasmanian Child and Family Centres: Joint Emerging Practice

My research is about integrated service delivery in Tasmanian CFLCs.

Initially, I was daunted. There seemed to be so much to learn. I became flustered and panicky because of my low techno skills. Fast forward three years, and I am in my final year and will submit my thesis in the next few months.

Field work was a highlight, because the Tasmanian CFLC communities were so welcoming and supportive.

Transcript

i'm yvonne young and i'm a phd candidate

at uts i'm nick hopwood i work here at

uts and i'm yvonne's supervisor my phd

researchers in education

and it's about integrated service

delivery with a focus on spatial

practices

i was really keen to supervise yvonne's

research because we have a shared

interest in

things that

make things easier for families who are

having it tough in life

we met through a center in tasmania that

supports families who have challenging

conditions so we share that common

interest

but also yvonne herself she comes with a

huge curiosity

and an open mind and that's what makes

phd special to us as academics and so

supervising a project like that is a

real privilege the first five years of a

child's life is when it really happens

and it actually affects them for the

rest of their lives

children are in families so we need to

support the families to support the

children when i was working i used to be

frustrated by the system i was in i used

to work so hard to support families and

then realize that

actually the system was failing me and

them

and so what i love about research is i

can try to work out better ways of

understanding things that we can do

things better what i'm looking at is

informal space

it just matters so much

i like my research because it is

grounded and practical

yvonne spent a lot of time hanging out

in these informal spaces across tasmania

and the point of doing that is so we can

really listen to the world and respond

to it and not come to the conclusions

that we thought were going to be true

but the ones that actually are

and that kind of starting point was just

so fascinating nobody thought of looking

there before to find the answers to how

we can best really support families so

everyone saw that as like the potential

and as a researcher when you find those

little kind of nuggets where you're like

oh

that's cool something is going on there

but nobody knows yet nobody's even

bothered to look

that's amazing because from that a whole

load of things can unravel a phd it's a

chance you get you know when you're

working you're under rules and

conditions and you have to do things

certain ways doing a phd you actually

can do something that really excites you

and interests you it's doing something

that i really care about

[Music]

English (auto-generated)

 

Holding the Fort  – The regeneration of urban spaces from below: the case study of Forte Prenestino in Rome

Worldwide, groups of activists are experimenting with grassroots initiatives to create alternative public spaces that challenge the conventional use of urban areas.

In my research I discuss one of these initiatives taking place in Rome, Italy. Specifically, I focus on the social centre Forte Prenestino, which is the biggest self-managed occupied space in Europe and among the oldest in Italy (its occupation dates back to the 1st of May 1986).

Social Centres are venues for social aggregation, ‘countercultural’ and political activities. They stand out for their valuable conversion of abandoned buildings into self-managed spaces of social and cultural experimentations.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, I apply historical and ethnographic methods to explore the grassroots and participative practices that led to the transformation of an abandoned military fort, built in the XIX century, into the social centre Forte Prenestino. Ultimately, I explore how these practices work for the benefit of the community.

Aboriginal Archives in Italy. A space for reciprocal collaboration

In 2020, I was awarded a UTS Research Excellence Scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in the field of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archives which have been displaced in Italy and in the Vatican.

My research project is called Aboriginal Archives in Italy. A space for reciprocal collaboration and has been developed in FAAS and in collaboration with the Jumbunna Institute and other partners in Australia and Italy.

This research is situated within the very broad international debate on rights over access, management and repatriation of displaced cultural material. In fact, as the appropriation and collecting of Aboriginal Ancestral Remains, cultural heritage and documentation were part of the Australian settler legacy, debates and disputes among communities, cultural organisations and governments have been a popular topic in Australia and overseas. Hence, what is acknowledged, is that archival records related to Australian colonial histories are disseminated across a range of European institutions and are often unknow to communities.

Within this larger context, my research focuses on archival records which were produced about Aboriginal Peoples, and that were displaced to Italy and to the Vatican. Those accounts are little known in Australia and difficult to access because of the barriers of language, the record keeping practices of Italian institutions and because they are entangled in multiple layers of power and interests. Therefore, there is no agreed framework to manage its access and/or return to their communities of origin.

In this context, this research project wants to open up a transnational space of dialogue on these records where Aboriginal voices and aspirations are centred, moving from the transactional “physical and nation states-based thinking” often applied to archival records, to focus on “plural contingent co-created objects, while providing pluralised access to them regardless of where they are located” (Gilliland, 2017). It is dedicated to facilitating digital access to these records, promote reciprocal and collaborative research, whilst starting conversations on what a future space of exchange between Italy and Australia could look like over the future. 

More information is available at https://aboriginalprojectitaly.com/en_au/

Family Language Practice: A Translingual Perspective on Linguistically Diverse Family Interactions 

My study is an ethnographic research of family interactions. It explores how meaning-making is practiced in a trilingual family with children.

By providing insights on family language practices from a translingual perspective, the main aims of the research are to suggest a way to examine family interactions beyond multilingual analysis and expand the scope of linguistic diversity in family to a broader range of semiotic resources and dynamic processes of emergent repertoires.

US-televisual shows and the stories of US Latinos in the construction of their narratives

The research project investigates the relationship between current historical, political and social contexts and the development of Latino storylines on TV.