Postgraduate Research Training

Postgraduate Study at CCR

CCR is a stimulating and effective intellectual environment for research higher degree candidates and postdoctoral research fellows, running a program relevant to industry, government and community futures. This program has resulted in CCR's strong reputation as a successful environment for the development of professional researchers, through its practice-based intellectual culture, which fosters and encourages engagement with industry partners, external organisations and the broader community. CCR's large number of PhD candidates has created a vibrant postgraduate intellectual community.

Prospective Students
Prospective higher degree by research (HDR) candidates are invited to contact CCR HDR Coordinator Dr Megan Watkins.

Prospective candidates can enrol in a Master of Arts (Honours), a PhD, a Doctor of Creative Arts (DCA) or a Doctor of Cultural Research (DCR). The latter is a doctoral research degree for professionals engaged with understanding culture in their workplace or career. This fee-based degree will suit people and employers who value rigorous academic research skills applied to current workplace needs. For further information on the DCR please contact Professor Bob Hodge.

For more information about admission to the University of Western Sydney's research student program and scholarships, please see Research Degrees and Scholarships.

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Masterclasses and Seminars

The CCR holds seminars, masterclasses and other postgraduate events regularly. Many of these are organised by HDR candidates and most are open to people from other universities. 

Masterclasses are intensive study groups that usually run for 2-3 days and involve instruction from leading researchers in the field, often visitors from overseas. The CCR strongly advises postgraduate candidates to attend masterclasses throughout their candidature.

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Current Students and Dissertation Topics

Paulo Alberton - African Brazilians and African Refugees - Closing the Circle of Capoeira Angola in Australia - Supervisor: Cristina Rocha; Co-Supervisor: Hart Cohen - DCA 

Iqbal Barkat - Gaps in recognition: Media, madness, migration and terrorism - Supervisor: Hart Cohen - PhD

Nathaniel Bavinton - The Production and Use of Space in the Night-time Economy - Supervisor: David Rowe; Co-Supervisor: Deborah Stevenson - PhD

Rosemary Bishop - Eudemonism, boundaryless careers and sustainable communities - Supervisor: Bob Hodge - DCR

Emily Burns - New Religious Movements and Birthing Practices in Australia - Supervisor: Cristina Rocha - PhD

Sebastian Byrne - Lessons with Jelena: The Rise of the Female Athlete in the Male Dominated Sporting Environment - Supervisor: David Rowe - DCA

Jayde Cahir - Txting Subjectivity: An analysis of the users and meanings of txting message for young people - Supervisor: Greg Noble; Co-Supervisor: Elaine Lally - PhD

Liliana Correa - The Politics of Cultural Visibility - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co-Supervisor: Juan Salazar - DCR

Alejandra Canales-Maldonaldo - Rendering Water: A Documentary Fiction on the Cultural Futures of Water - Supervisor: Zoe Sofoulis; Co-Supervisor: Hart Cohen - DCA

Diana Collett - Power, rank and intercultural communication. Supervisor: Ien Ang - DCR

Daniel Davenport - A Geometry of the Khmer Sacred Landscape - Supervisor: Judith Snodgrass; Co-Supervisor: Bob Hodge - PhD

Scott East - Global Citizenship: The Agency of the Museum Sector in Climate Change Interventions - Supervisor: Fiona Cameron; Co-Supervisor: Bob Hodge - PhD

Benjamin Eltham - Scale and Creative Output in Australian Arts Organisations - Supervisor: Elaine Lally; Co-Supervisors: Bob Hodge and James Arvanitakis - PhD

Bryn Evans - Commercialising National Identity: A critical examination of New Zealand's America's Cup Campaigns of 1987, 1992 and 1995 - Supervisor: David Rowe, Co-Supervisors: Virginia Nightingale and Juan Salazar - PhD

Farid Farid - Self-orientalising communities in the west: A case study of arabic immigrants - Supervisor: Greg Noble; Co-Supervisor: Cristina Rocha - PhD

Jack (Raymond) Gibson - A grounded theory Analysis: Espoused Vs Enacted culture in indigenous organizations in Western Sydney - Supervisor: Bob Hodge - Co Supervisor: Gabriella Coronado - MA (Honours)

Maria Glaros - A Cultural, Social and Historical Analysis of German, Italian and Japanese Women Living in Australia During WWII - Supervisor: Judith Snodgrass - PhD

Takeshi Hamano - Japanese Migrants in Western Sydney: Moulding Ethnic Identity and Fostering Inter-Cultural Community. Supervisor: Ien Ang; Co-Supervisor: Judith Snodgrass - PhD

Ashley Harris - Remember the time when.......: Investigating the associations and connections made by visitors at interpretation sites. Supervisor: Russell Staiff; Co-Supervisor: Robyn Bushell - PhD

Hilary (Hongjin) He - One Country Many Systems: A Transnational Study of Post Handover Hong Kong Cinema and Pan-Chinese Culture - Supervisor: Hart Cohen; Co-Supervisor: Virginia Nightingale - PhD

Jennifer Horne - The Effect of Teacher Feedback on Students' Attitude to, and Production of, Writing - Supervisor: Megan Watkins - PhD

Anne Hurni - A good place to bring up the kids? Urbanism, transport and healthy child development in Blacktown (Sydney) - Supervisor: Kay Anderson - PhD

Christopher Illert - Retrieval of South East Australian Aboriginal folk stories/art/songs and language - Supervisor: Bob Hodge - PhD

Valerie Ingham - The Art of Decision Making - Co Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co-Supervisor: Russell Staiff - PhD

Min-Jung Kim - Museum Behaviour and Other Cultures: A Case Study of the Korean Community in Sydney - Supervisor: Kay Anderson; Co Supervisors: Ien Ang and Judith Snodgrass - PhD

Garth Lean - Transformative Travel - Supervisor: Russell Staiff; Co-Supervisor: Robyn Bushell - PhD.

Shan Shan Li - Australian Soap Opera and Chinese Audiences - Supervisor: Virginia Nightingale - PhD

Georgina McClean - '...And in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society': The Contemporary Role of SBS - Supervisor: Ien Ang; Co-Supervisor: David Rowe - DCR

Jock McQueenie - Conv3Cs -- Community, Culture, Commerce -- capitalising on complexity. Supervisor: Elaine Lally; Co-Supervisors: Elaine Lally and Bob Hodge - DCR

Karin MacKay - Ancient women didn't go to art school: Restoring our relationship to land and community through cultural arts practice - Supervisor: Elaine Lally; Co-Supervisor: Bob Hodge - DCR

Andrew MacKenzie - Conversations with the suburban landscape, an inquiry into methods of seeing the suburb - Supervisor: Fiona Allon; Co-supervsiors: Kay Anderson, Helen Armstrong - PhD

Shelley Maher - Working Well with Clients with Borderline Personality Disorder: Experiences of Nurses and Clients - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co-Supervisor: Zoe Sofoulis - PhD

Philippa Mansor - The Cultural Practice of Astrology: A Case Study of Contemporary Traditional Practice - Supervisor: Brett Neilson; Co Supervisors: Elaine Lally, Kay Anderson and Zoe Sofoulis - PhD

Claudine Mansour - Cross culture and intergenrational understanding of abortion in the Lebanesese Australian society and Anglo Australian society - Supervisor: Greg Noble - PhD

Bette Mifsud - Imagined Future Landscapes of Western Sydney in the Era of Global Warming - Supervisor: Juan Salazar; Co-Supervisor: Bob Hodge - DCA

Granaz Moussavi - The Aesthetics of Poetry in Iranian Cinema - Supervisor: Juan Salazar; Co-Supervisor: Hart Cohen - DCA

Enda Murray - An Intercommunal Study of CCD Work Carried out in Western Sydney and East London - Supervisor: Juan Salazar; Co-Supervisor: Hart Cohen - DCA

Gopal Nair - Globalisation and the New World Order - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co Supervisor: Brett Neilson - MA (Honours)

Ryan Natour - Policy and Moral Panic in Australia - Supervisor: George Morgan; Co-Supervisor: Greg Noble - PhD

Pariece Nelligen - Walking the Vocational Tightrope: Worker Artistry and Flexible Knowledge: Supervisor: George Morgan; Co-Supervisor: Deborah Stevenson - PhD

Cathy O'Callaghan - Negotiating the challenge of cultural diversity in children's health care - Supervisor: Ien Ang; Co Supervisor: Robyn Bushell - PhD

Marion Pastor-Roces - Multiple Mappings and the Urbanisation of Perth, Western Australia - Supervisor: Kay Anderson; Co-Supervisor: Brett Neilson - PhD

Shanna Lee Robinson - Experimental Travel and Anti-Touristic Encounters - Supervisor: Robyn Bushell; Co-Supervisor: Russell Staiff - PhD

Erika Smith - Creating National Identity: A Comparative Analysis of Australian Pilgrimages to Gallipoli, Bali and Kokoda - Supervisor: Russell Staiff; Co-Supervisor: Robyn Bushell - PhD

Lynne Spender - The Digital generation and Cultural change - Supervisor: Elaine Lally - PhD

Adam Stapleton - Affect & Transgression: Performing the Virtual Abject - Supervisor: Virginia Nightingale - PhD

Adam Trau - Tourism for Poverty Alleviation: A Participatory Appraisal in the Asia/Pacific - Supervisor: Robyn Bushell; Co-Supervisor: Russell Staiff - PhD

Phillip Wadds - Taking Control: Regulating Venues in Sydney's Urban Night-time Economy - an empirical study of doorwork and venue control - Supervisor: Stephen Tomsen; Co-Supervisor: David Rowe - PhD

Deborah Wall - Social Construction of a Mixed Race Identity: Filipinos and Aboriginal Australians in Broome - Supervisors: George Morgan; Co-Supervisor: Ien Ang - PhD 

Jacqueline Willis - Korea in Conflict: Globalisation, a stifler of inter-Korean relations - Supervisor: James Arvanitakis; Co-Supervisor: Brett Neilson - PhD

Michael Wilson - Adversity and Resilience: An investigation into the migration and resettlement experiences of Sudanese refugee young people in the Western Sydney area - Supervisor: Greg Noble; Co-Supervisors: Cameron McCauliffe and Megan Watkins - PhD 

Joanna Winchester - Trends in arts-community engagement - Supervisor: Elaine Lally; Co-Supervisors: Ien Ang and Kay Anderson - PhD

Mathew Wolnicki - The Contribution of Protected Areas to Quality of Life in Rural and Regional Communities - Supervisor: Robyn Bushell; Co-Supervisor: Russell Staiff - PhD

Cristina Wulfhorst - The Brazilian Diaspora in Sydney: identities reconfiguration and hybridisation processes through mediated and interpersonal communication. Supervisor: George Morgan; Co-Supervisor: Juan Salazar - PhD

Su Anne Yap - What is status anxiety and how is it defined culturally - Supervisor: James Arvanitakis; Co-Supervisor: Brett Neilson - MA (Honours)

Cheryle Yin Lo - How can we broker and involve communities in research and decision making in natural resource management - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co-Supervisor: Robyn Bushell - DCR

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Recent Completions

Reena Dobson - 'The Most Cosmopolitan Island under the Sun'? Negotiating Ethnicity and Nationhood in Everyday Mauritius - Supervisor: Greg Noble; Co-Supervisors: Zoe Sofoulis and Brett Neilson - PhD (submitted)

Justine Humphry - I, Office: Configuring person and place in everyday office computing - Supervisor: Elaine Lally; Co Supervisors: Zoe Sofoulis, Greg Noble - PhD (submitted)

Sarah James - Sharing Sydney Space: Settler, indigenous and migrant heritage on the urban fringe- Supervisor: Kay Anderson; Co-Supervisor: Ien Ang - PhD (submitted)

Jioji Ravulo - The Development of Anti Social Behaviour in Pacific Youth - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co-Supervisor: Greg Noble - DCR (submitted)

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CCR Alumni

Dr Aneela Babar - Living Room Seminaries: Negotiating religious networks, gendered selves and intercommunal relationships within the Pakistani diaspora

Dr Claudia Magallanes Blanco - A dialogic approach to video activism as a conscious raising agent. Mexico and independent videos on the Zapatista rebellion

Dr Barbara Bloch - "Unsettling Zionism"- Diasporic Consciousness and Australian Jewish Community Identities

Dr Kaaren Blom - Rhetorics of risk: negotiating meaning in the public domain

Dr Laura Calderon de la Barca - Bridges of Love: A Healing Journey for Mexican Identities

Dr Beatriz Cardona - Globalisation and the Biopolitics of Ageing

Dr Daniel Cunningham - The ‘Film’ on Whiteness: depicting white trash in U.S. film, 1973-2003

Dr Brenda Dobia - Shakti Yatra: Women on Pilgrimage to meet the Hindu Goddess of Desire

Dr Tanja Dreher - From indifference to working in indifference: News and cultural diversity in Western Sydney

Dr Selda Dagistanli - Boys like them: The role of the courts in moral panics surrounding 'Muslim' gang rape

Dr Glen Fuller - Modified-Car Culture of Western Sydney

Dr Susie Goff - The value of participatory practice to sustainability: a constructivist inquiry into participatory knowledge generating practices

Dr Mitzi Goldman - Hatred - The Psycho-Political Perspective 

Dr Wendy Holland - Performing Multiple Identities: The Complexities of an Aboriginal Family History

Dr Meredith Jones - Makeover Culture: Landscapes of Cosmetic Surgery

Dr Jane Kent - Re-inventing the Goddess: Emanations of the Feminine Archetype in the Contemporary World

Dr W R Langenbach - Performance Indicators: Performing the Singapore State 1988-1994

Dr Ngaire McCubben - Living Cultural Diversity in Regional Australia: An Account of the Town of Griffith

Dr Jane Mills - Re-imagining Hollywood: global, national and local cinemas and the circulation of ideas

Dr Josna Pankhania - Personal and inter-cultural processes associated with yoga practice in Australia and in India

Dr Ingrid Richardson - Telebodies/Televisions: Corporeality and Agency in Technoculture - a critical analysis of televisual and new media technologies

Dr Cristina Rocha - Zen in Brazil: The Quest for Cosmopolitan Modernity

Ryan Sengara - Redfern Kids Connect - Technology and Empowerment

Dr Colin Sheringham - The Relationship of Leisure Time to Food Habits

Dr Shane Smithers - The Evolution of Ideas and their Function: a general theory of ideology

Dr Selvaraj Velayutham - Responding to Globalisation: Nation, Culture and Identity in Singapore

Dr Dinesh Wadiwel - Lubricity: Power, Sovereign Violence and Erotic Hope

Dr Tony Webb - Towards a Mature Shame Culture

Dr Amanda Wise - No Longer in Exile: Shifting experiences of home, homeland and identity for East Timorese in Australia.

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Prizes and Awards

Meredith Jones won the Best Paper Presented by a Postgraduate for her paper 'Mutton Cut Up as Lamb: Mothers, Daughters, and Cosmetic Surgery,' presented at the Annual Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Conference, 'Culture Incorporated: Bodies, Technologies, Habitats,' Christchurch Arts Centre, New Zealand, December 6-8 2003.

Publications and Conference Presentations

CCR students have a strong record of publication in peer-reviewed journals, edited collections, and conference proceedings. They are also encouraged to make presentations at national and international conferences.

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