Research

The School of English, Communication and Theatre comprises three distinctive but related discipline areas, and 2005 was a year marked by active research and publication in all three areas.  Several books were published, together with continued growth in the number of book chapters and refereed articles in national and international journals.  Several ongoing individual and collaborative research projects were pursued through the year, which will achieve future research outcomes. Members of the School secured a number of research and travel grants during the year, and papers were presented by many staff at national and international conferences, including conferences in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Bermuda, and New Mexico.  Staff have also contributed actively to the dissemination of research through editorship of journals, service on editorial advisory boards, or on the executives of professional associations.  A regular feature of the School’s research activity is the Research and Postgraduate Seminar Series, at which School members, including postgraduate students, presented papers throughout the year, along with a number of distinguished visitors to the School.  Further progress was made in enhancing research training, support and facilities for research higher degree students.  In 2005 six new PhD students were enrolled, joining an enrolment of some 22 research higher degree candidates.

In 2005 Dr Heather Attrill, Dr Jeremy Gadd, Dr Janeen Kirkham and Dr Martin Mantle successfully completed the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Dr Jennifer McDonell, Dr Catherine Waters, Dr Robert Dingley and Dr Elizabeth Hale continued their joint editorship of the major refereed Australian Victorian Studies Journal.

Associate Professor Russell McDougall, with Professor Iain Davidson of the School of Human and Environmental Studies, won an ARC Linkage Grant for the project “The role of Queensland Museum collections in producing knowledge of Aboriginal people from Federation to the present day”.

To see a list of the publications that staff from the School of English, Communication and Theatre have published Click Here.

The School publishes also publishes a journal called the Australian Folklore Journal. Australian Folklore It is issued annually and prepared for the Australian Folklore Association Inc., being edited and published at the University of New England. It welcomes for consideration both theoretical and field studies by scholars from around the world.
Associate Professor John Ryan continued editorship of Australian Folklore: A Yearly Volume of Folklore Essays, the refereed journal of the Australian Folklore Association.