Postgraduate Research Training

Postgraduate Study at CCR

CCR is a stimulating and effective intellectual environment for research higher degree students 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 students has created a vibrant postgraduate intellectual community.

Prospective Students
Prospective higher degree by research (HDR) students are invited to attend the 2008 UWS Postgraduate Information Evening, details TBA. For more information on post graduate study at CCR please contact Dr Brett Neilson.

Prospective students can enrol in a Master of Arts (Honours), PhD, a Doctor of Creative Arts (DCA) or the Doctor of Cultural Research (DCR) - 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 students 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 students to attend masterclasses throughout their candidature.

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Current Students and Dissertation Topics

Ian Archer-Wright - Austalian Buddhisms:Convergence and Divergence - Supervisor: Judith Snodgrass - PhD

Alison Allcock - Tourism Planning for Economic and Social Equity in Lao, PDR - Supervisor: Robyn Bushell; Co-Supervisor: Russell Staiff - PhD

Nathaniel Bavinton - The Production and Use of Space in the Night-time Economy - Supervisor: David Rowe

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

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

Beatriz Cardona - Globalisation and the biopolitics of aging -Supervisor: Brett Neilson - PhD

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

Daniel Davenport - A Geometry of the Khmer Sacred Landscape - Supervisor: Adrian Snodgrass - PhD

Brenda Dobia - Shakti Yatra: women on pilgrimage to meet the Hindu Goddess of Desire - Supervisor: Bob Hodge - PhD

Reena Dobson - A Sociological Analysis of Inter-ethnic Relationships in Mauritius, a Multicultural Island - Supervisor: Greg Noble; Co Supervisors: Ien Ang and Brett Neilson - 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 - PhD

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

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: Brett Neilson; Co-Supervisors: Judith Snodgrass, Fiona Allon - 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

Justine Humphry - I, Office: Configuring person and place in everyday office computing - Supervisor: Elaine Lally; Co Supervisors: Zoe Sofoulis, Greg Noble - PhD. For more information, please see Justine's Research Project (PDF, 21Kb), Participant Information Sheet (PDF, 145Kb) and Participant Consent Form (PDF, 124Kb).

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 - PhD

Sarah James - Sharing Sydney Space: Settler, indigenous and migrant heritage on the urban fringe- Supervisor: Ien Ang-PhD

Jane Kent - Re-inventing the Goddess: Emanations of the Feminine Archetype in the Contemporary World - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co Supervisor: Brenda Dobia - 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.

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 - 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 - 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: Sharon Chalmers - Co Supervisor: Brett Neilson- PhD

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

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

Gopal Nair - Globalisation and the New World Order - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co Supervisors: Brett Neilson and Greg Gow - PhD

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

Josna Pankhania - Personal and inter-cultural processes associated with yoga practice in Australia and in India - Supervisor: Brenda Dobia; Co-Supervisor: Bob Hodge

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

Jioji Ravulo - The Development of Anti Social Behaviour in Pacific Youth - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co-Supervisor: George Morgan - DCR

Colin Sheringham - The Relationship of Leisure Time to Food Habits - Supervisor: Bob Hodge - PhD

Lynne Spender - The Digital generation and Cultural change - Supervisor: Bob Hodge - Co Supervisor: Brett Neilson- 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

Joanna Winchester - Trends in arts-community engagement - Supervisor: Elaine Lally - PhD

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

Cristina Wulfhorst - The Brazilian Diaspora in Sydney: identities reconfiguration and hybridisation processes through mediated and interpersonal communication. Supervisor: Cristina Rocha - PhD

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Recent Completions

Laura Calderon de la Barca - Bridges of Love: A Healing Journey for Mexican Identities - Supervisor: Bob Hodge; Co Supervisors: Judith Snodgrass and Bob Hodge - PhD (submitted)

Selda Dagistanli - The role of the courts in moral panics surrounding 'Middle-Eastern' gang rape - Co-Supervisors: Greg Noble and Scott Poynting (School of Humanities and Languages) - PhD (submitted)

Glen Fuller - Modified-Car Culture of Western Sydney - Supervisor: Zoe Sofoulis; Co Supervisors: Greg Noble and Sarah Redshaw - PhD (submitted)

Ngaire McCubben - Living Cultural Diversity in Regional Australia: An Account of the Town of Griffith - Supervisor: Russell Staiff; Co Supervisors: Kay Anderson and Bob Hodge - PhD (submitted)

Jane Mills - Re-imagining Hollywood: global, national and local cinemas and the circulation of ideas - Supervisor: Brett Neilson; Co Supervisors: Ien Ang and Zoe Sofoulis - PhD (submitted)

Shane Smithers - The Evolution of Ideas and their Function: a general theory of ideology - Co Supervisor: Bob Hodge (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 Daniel Cunningham - The ‘Film’ on Whiteness: depicting white trash in U.S. film, 1973-2003

Dr Tanja Dreher - From indifference to working in indifference: News and cultural diversity in 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 W R Langenbach - Performance Indicators: Performing the Singapore State 1988-1994

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 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.

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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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