Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Staff
A/Professor Allison Craven
Lecturer, English
Allison teaches Gothic fiction, and children’s literature. Author of two monographs from her research on fairy tale, gothic narrative, and Australian Cinema, she is co-editor of (forthcoming): Monstrous Beings and Media Cultures (Amsterdam UP); and Gothic in the Oceanic South (Routledge); and an editor of Anthem’s Film and Culture series.
A/Professor Amy Forbes
Associate Professor
Amy is an Associate Professor of Communication (Humanities). An experienced journalist, she has produced television news documentaries and public affairs programs. Amy’s research interests are varied and include media history and censorship, curriculum and pedagogy, mental health, juvenile justice, and gaming and social capital formation.
A/Professor Robyn Glade-Wright
Lecturer, Creative Arts
Robyn is a practicing contemporary artist and arts educator. She is passionate about climate change mitigation and the effects of micro-plastic pollution in the environment and uses her art to raise awareness about these key topics. Robyn has presented over 40 solo exhibitions in public and private art galleries.
A/Professor Victoria Kuttainen
Lecturer, English and Writing
Victoria is an Associate Professor who holds a PhD in Postcolonial Literature, a Master of Arts and BA Honours in English, and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching. She has published over 40 journal articles, two monographs, and is an emerging creative writer. Her interests include colonialism, geography, and Australian literature.
Associate Professor Simon Foale
Lecturer, Anthropology
Simon teaches anthropology, including political ecology and the anthropology of development. Simon’s research interests include sustainable and equitable coastal fishery management; countering neo-colonial environmental conservation policies and practices; the drivers of global economic inequality (contemporary and historical); and the role of local environmental knowledge in sustainable resource management.
Associate Professor Theresa Petray
Head, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Theresa is a sociologist with expertise in social movements, social change, and the ways people who are seemingly marginalised exercise power. Her current research focuses primarily on First Nations self-determination through Indigenous nation-building and economic development.
Dr Anna Hayes
Senior Lecturer, Politics and International Relations
Anna is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science and a Senior Research Fellow at the East Asia Security Centre. Anna specialises in traditional and non-traditional threats to security, with research interests including the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi Jinping’s China Dream, the Uyghur crisis, Australia-China relations, AUKUS and the Quad.
Dr Anna Willis
Senior Lecturer, Archaeology
Anna is a bioarchaeologist who specialises in the analysis of ancient human skeletal remains from archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. Her teaching and research emphasise the importance of humanising skeletal remains to understand the lived experience of people, whether they are from the present or the past.
Dr Claire Brennan
Senior Lecturer, History
Claire is a Senior Lecturer in History and an active researcher in environmental history. Claire is currently working on the Coral Discovery Project and is engaged in digitally mapping all the European scientific voyages that entered the Pacific between 1768 and 1834.
Dr Emma Maguire
Lecturer, English/Writing
Emma’s research and teaching explores life writing, gender and digital media. She also teaches creative writing, and is passionate about how the stories we tell shape our lives and identities. She is currently researching women's narratives of youth sexual trauma after #MeToo.
Dr Florence Boulard
Senior Lecturer, Humanities and Education
Florence is passionate about languages, cultures and teaching. She lectures in Humanities and Education. She is the Director of the Academy of Modern Languages program. Florence’s research interests are focused on an aspiration to develop a Pacific literate nation and build stronger internationally minded communities.
Dr Madeline McAllister
Senior Curator, Maritime Archaeology
Maddy is a Maritime Archaeologist, a commercial diver, curator, and a coxswain with a passion for wooden ship construction and site formation processes, specifically in reef environments. Maddy’s research interests include shipwrecks, underwater archaeology, the Great Barrier Reef, science communication, underwater visualisation, and maritime heritage.
Dr Mark David Chong
Associate Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies
Dr Mark has published on criminal justice social work, crime and mental health, prisons, youth justice, crime prevention, maritime piracy, and policing, in high-quality journals and edited books. These include Crime and Delinquency; Criminal Justice and Behavior; Criminal Justice Review, Criminology and Criminal Justice; Cambridge University Press, SAGE Publications, and Springer.
Dr Nick Osbaldiston
Associate Professor, Sociology
Nick is a sociologist with interests in internal migration, lifestyle migration, social theory and the sociology of place. He has published widely in these areas and recently collaborated with colleagues across Australia to understand counter-urban trends. Nick teaches qualitative and quantitative methods, sociological theory, digital sociology and migration studies.
Dr Roger Osborne
Lecturer, English and Writing
Roger is an award-winning textual scholar and scholarly editor in the field of literary studies. His research is published widely, and he is a contributing editor for the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Joseph Conrad. Roger’s research interests include Australian literature, print culture, digital humanities, and print technologies.
Professor Hallam Stevens
Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Hallam’s teaching and research are focused on the global histories of science, technology, and medicine and on the relationships between science, technology and society. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Hallam has extensive experience in building collaborations and projects that encompass humanities, social science, engineering, and natural science disciplines.
Professor Koen Stapelbroek
Professor of Humanities and Dean, College of Arts, Society and Education
Koen's teaching and research focus is on the history of politics and global aspects of political economy and trade. He is passionate about developing research (as well as teaching) that places social, cultural, economic and political change in North Queensland from the 18th century onwards in wider perspectives on regional (Indo-Pacific), tropical and global development.
Professor Rosita Henry
Promotional Chair, Anthropology Lecturer
Rosita is an anthropologist and an active member of multiple research groups. Her research is focused on the political economy of public performances, cultural festivals, gender in development, coloniality and decoloniality, and museums, heritage and land tenure conflict in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the wider Pacific region.
Professor Ryan Daniel
Professor of Creative Arts
Ryan’s teaching and research focusses on creativity, the creative industries, and the ways in which the arts are taught at all levels. His goal is to educate people about the critical importance of creativity for resolving some of the world’s greatest challenges.
Professor Sean UIm
Distinguished Professor, Archaeology
Sean is a professional Anthropological Archaeologist, who is an expert in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coastal and island archaeology. He is highly regarded for his coordination of large-scale, multidisciplinary projects, and research approach. Sean has been extensively published including over 150 articles on Australian archaeology and 5 books.
Dr Jacqueline Lau
Lecturer
Jacqui’s research investigates connections between morality, justice and environmental change in coastal and fishing communities. Her work is interdisciplinary, and has involved small-scale fishing communities in Papua New Guinea and The Gambia. Her current work seeks to understand the changes and challenges facing people along the Great Barrier Reef.
Dr Brock Bergseth
ARC DECRA Research Fellow
Brock's work seeks to understand and influence human behaviour (especially poaching) to bolster conservation outcomes. As a multidisciplinary conservation scientist, he blends psychological, ecological, economic, and cognitive science approaches to understand the nature and implications of human interactions with marine ecosystems.
Distinguished Professor Josh Cinner
Josh's research explores how social, economic, and cultural factors influence the ways in which people use, perceive, and govern natural resources, with a particular emphasis on using applied social science to inform coral reef management. His background is in human geography and he often works closely with ecologists to uncover complex linkages between social and ecological systems.
Associate Professor Michele Barnes
Michele’s research draws on theories and methods from sociology and systems science to develop a better understanding of complex environmental problems, with a focus on climate change adaptation. She has specialised expertise in social network science, which she applies to study resilience to climate change and other societal shocks.