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 Chris Haynes
Thesis title: Kakadu National Park: joint management or compromise?
Supervisor: Assoc Prof Tess Lea and Prof David Bowman
Project précis: In this project I look at the ways in which joint management (the sharing management between the traditional Aboriginal Owners and the state) of Kakadu has evolved since its declaration as a national park in 1979. I use the tools of history and anthropology to examine the ways in which participants worked together for more than a quarter of a century to produce a national park that is unique not only physically but also culturally. I also look at the production and reproduction of the park’s workplace culture and analyse its reflexive effect on the participants, chiefly the white rangers and managers and the Aboriginal staff and residents.
Contact: cdhaynes@bigpond.net.au |
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 Jamie Seaton
Thesis Title: The influence of population mobility on knowledge dynamics
Supervisor: Dr Martin Young
Project précis: This PhD focuses on the impact of non-Indigenous population movement on place production in The Northern Territory (NT). Non-Indigenous population movement in the NT is relatively high. Between 1986 and 1991 the NT had a higher proportion of in-movers and out-movers than any other Australian state or territory. Of the many social impacts possibly associated with these migration patterns, this research restricts itself to investigate the following question: How does population turnover impact upon the production of place?
Specifically, this study will analyse the impact of population turnover on the production of Mindil Beach in Darwin. Population data and historical narratives written about the site will be analysed in for these purposes. As a result of these analyses, this research will identify any relationship between the movement of people in the NT, and the popular discourses written about Mindil Beach. Contact: jamie.seaton@students.cdu.edu.au |
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 Carmen Cubillo
Thesis topic: Evaluation of let's start exploring together
Funding: ARC Linkage Grant
Supervisor: Assoc Prof Gary Robinson
Project précis: The PhD project is focused on evaluating a number of general hypotheses outlined in the evaluation strategy. In particular, the evaluation of the improvement of cognitive, social and emotional competencies in referred children at follow-up and; improved negotiation and transition from preschool to school shown in school attendance and social competency. There is scope within the PhD to make a major contribution to the development of measures to assess the children’s cognitive, social and emotional competencies in both indigenous and non-indigenous children. Options include direct observation methods, in conjunction with teacher/parent-teacher reports. The project will focus on measuring changes in children’s social competencies, peer interaction and parent-child interaction and the contribution of each of the observed outcomes in classroom behaviour.
Contact: carmen.cubillo@cdu.edu.au |
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 Jane Walker
Thesis topic: The culture of conservation: valuing Aboriginal land management in and around Australia's protected areas
Supervisor: Prof Donna Craig
Project précis: This PhD research aims to look at what relationship exists between the values and involvement of Indigenous people and existing protected area governance approaches in achieving the goals of sustainability. Specifically the project will examine values and outcomes important to Indigenous people involved in protected area management; participatory processes for developing key performance indicators to measure protected area effectiveness; how indigenous identified values, outcomes and performance indicators relate to current national approaches; and if the inclusion of indigenous identified values, outcomes and performance indicators enhances governance and sustainability within protected areas. This research uses a case study approach, focusing specifically on the Lajamanu Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in the northern Tanami Desert, Northern Territory. This project involves Traditional Owners and other community members from both the Warlpiri and Gurindji language groups and the Central Land Council. Key methodologies used in the research include participant observation and interviews; biophysical data collection and community participation (assistant researcher/s, language workers etc).
Contact: jane.walker@cdu.edu.au |
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 Karen Cieri
Thesis topic: Outcomes focused school resource allocation - The next phase of improving education outcomes in the Northern Territory
Supervisors: Assoc Prof Ibtisam Abu-DuHou
Project précis: Aims to provide advice on how to go about developing the staffing formula and supervise the development of the final resource allocation model. Satisfying student educational needs is about identifying and addressing those characteristics of students, schools, programs and school sites that generate genuine cost differentials. Needs-based formula funding is a funding where resources are matched to relative education needs so that like students in like schools are resourced the same and those that have further needs that incur greater costs receive relatively more resources to meet those needs. Contemporary per capita staff allocation to schools, based on the needs of students has been shown to improve student outcomes by enabling education authorities to align available resources to student needs and educational goals. The Northern Territory Government has made a commitment to develop a new staffing formula in a first step to eventually develop a full resource model to equitably distribute the education resources to schools.
Contact: karen.cieri@nt.gov.au |
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Damien Jacobsen
Thesis Topic: Hermeneutics of Domestic Tourists: Understanding How Domestic 4WDer Experiences Influence Tourism Opportunities for Desert Aboriginal People
Academic supervisor/s: Principal Supervisor: Dr Pascal Tremblay (CDU), Associate Supervisor: Dr Dean Carson (CDU), External Advisor: Prof. Keith Hollinshead (The University of Bedfordshire, UK)
Funding: Desert Knowledge CRC Scholarship
Project précis: Some theorists suggest that tourist experiences are of an arbitrary, ‘middle role’ socio-political relation to destination communities, but is this so for domestic tourists – people travelling within their own country? Through the application of philosophical hermeneutics, the study attempts to comment on the social, cultural, political and historically embedded nature of domestic tourist experiences in the context of Australian tourists 4WDing in Australian deserts. Participants on a desert 4WD tag along tour were asked to provide and be interviewed about photographs (taken during the tour) which they considered to reflect their experiences. Hermeneutic interpretation situates such existential texts beyond subjectivity by probing the unsaid within the language of these accounts. The study discusses a hermeneutic ontology of being a domestic tourist, while also considering factors that may influence the viability of tourism development for desert (Aboriginal) communities. The emphasis of the project is to achieve greater understanding of domestic tourists and tourism opportunities for Aboriginal people.
Contact: whojaar@mail.com or DAMIEN.JACOBSEN@students.cdu.edu.au |
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Marisa Paterson
Thesis topic: From card games to poker machines: An analysis of the impacts of gambling on Aboriginal communities in northern Australia
Supervisors: Dr Martin Young and Dr Ian Crundell
Project précis: The following project seeks to develop and expand the theoretical, methodological, structural and cultural discourses surrounding Aboriginal gambling. Aboriginal gambling, particularly in the Northern Territory, is an area of research that has been significantly overlooked in previous research, particularly since the introduction of poker machines into clubs and hotels in 1996. This project will look to understand the impacts, both positive and negative, that gambling has had on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The research will be conducted from an anthropological perspective, in which long term fieldwork will be conducted in a remote Aboriginal community and in the city of Darwin, Northern Territory. As a result of gathering both qualitative and quantitative data on both community card games and urban poker machine use, the research intends to develop new, culturally appropriate methods for measuring the impact of commercial gambling on Aboriginal communities.
Related SSPR project: gambling research
Contact: marisa.paterson@cdu.edu.au |
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Cecilia DeDonatis
Thesis topic: Role and practices of Aboriginal mental health workers and healers
Supervisor: Assoc Prof Gary Robinson, John Greatorex, Prof Franca Tamisari (Ca' Foscari University, Venice)
Project précis: The research aims develop original knowledge about the nature of healing practices and theories among Aboriginal people and to explore the contemporary role and relevance of Aboriginal healers against the background of development of community health services. The two main related issues are: 1) to explore the relationship between Aborigines and Mental Health Services from Aboriginal points of view, in order to shed light on any tensions in this relationship and to understand Aboriginal theories about them; 2) to explore the relevance of cultural knowledge with reference to Aboriginal Mental Health Workers and Aboriginal healers and their healing practices in the context of mental health care.
Contact: cecilia.dedonatis@libero.it |
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Kalotina Halkitis
Thesis Title: The influence of staff turnover on NT hospitality: working together in a state of constant change
Supervisors: Assoc Prof Dean Carson and Dr Martin Young
Project précis: Acknowledging the inevitability of staff turnover, this project looks at the social implications of staff turnover among hospitality peers. The aim is to find ways for peers to work together irrespective of the certainty and predictability of change.
Contact: emtm04003@gmail.com
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