HASH Convenors
Renata is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of critical mental health studies, social theory and medical humanities. Renata utilises qualitative research methods, with particular interest in narrative approaches to mental health. Currently, she is lead investigator on an ARC LP on ‘Borderline Personality’ as Social Phenomena, a three-year study aiming to provide a sophisticated understanding of ‘BP’ as a social phenomenon, develop sociological evidence based on lived experiences and generate Australian digital resources including narratives of ‘BP’, creative outputs and health and social practitioner perspectives. In 2022, Renata was Co-director (with Jill Bennet) of The Big Anxiety Festival presenting arts events tackling the major anxieties of our times and the practical challenges of supporting people experiencing emotional distress in the community.
Renata is a co-founder and director of Healthtalk Australia, a unique digital archive of health and illness narratives.
Dr Emma Seal is a research fellow in the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University. Emma’s interdisciplinary research expertise intersects the cognate areas of sociology, humanities and critical theoretical approaches and broadly focuses on examining health and social inequalities. She has conducted applied research in a variety of contexts, with cross-cutting themes, including people’s lived experience of mental and physical health, inclusion and diversity in sport and leisure, the politics of the moving body, and the prevention of violence against women. Emma’s research is driven by community engaged research practices and participatory methodologies to establish a common purpose and collectively work towards social change. She has attracted significant research funding from a variety of government and non-government agencies including the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services, Respect Victoria, and the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation
Rebecca is a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at in the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University. Her work explores the role of recreational sports and physical activities in human-ocean health and wellbeing, with a focus on surfing and ocean swimming and issues of localism, living with sharks, and pollution. She is interested in how the experiences people have during these activities shapes how they come to be active in the care of coasts and oceans. You can read more about her work at movingoceans.com.
Theme Convenors
Mental Health Futures
Renata is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of critical mental health studies, social theory and medical humanities. Renata utilises qualitative research methods, with particular interest in narrative approaches to mental health. Currently, she is lead investigator on an ARC LP on ‘Borderline Personality’ as Social Phenomena, a three-year study aiming to provide a sophisticated understanding of ‘BP’ as a social phenomenon, develop sociological evidence based on lived experiences and generate Australian digital resources including narratives of ‘BP’, creative outputs and health and social practitioner perspectives. In 2022, Renata was Co-director (with Jill Bennet) of The Big Anxiety Festival presenting arts events tackling the major anxieties of our times and the practical challenges of supporting people experiencing emotional distress in the community.
Renata is a co-founder and director of Healthtalk Australia, a unique digital archive of health and illness narratives.
Grace is a published art historian, curator and artist with expertise in art and health, public art, social practice, social enterprise and community development. Grace’s research aims to transform understandings of contemporary art to center social justice and greater diversity – in terms of culture, ethnicity, ability, mental health, neurodiversity and socio-economic access. Her research challenges and transforms conventional understandings of the relationship between margin and centre in relation to the cultural economy, contemporary art practice and art history. She has pioneered work on the field of art-based social enterprise in Australia, and has worked extensively in migrant and refugee settlement. Grace is also interested in the relationship between art, craft, design and sustainable communities. She has published widely including books, journal articles, curated exhibition, creative works in literary journals and authored exhibition catalogues.
Theme Convenors
Human-Environmental Health & Wellbeing
Rebecca is a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at in the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University. Her work explores the role of recreational sports and physical activities in human-ocean health and wellbeing, with a focus on surfing and ocean swimming and issues of localism, living with sharks, and pollution. She is interested in how the experiences people have during these activities shapes how they come to be active in the care of coasts and oceans. You can read more about her work at movingoceans.com.
Cecily is a senior researcher in the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University. Her work on everyday human-environmental interactions in urban settings has been supported by multiple Fellowships including from Victorian Health Promotion Foundation. She has been a Lead Editor for the interdisciplinary journal, People and Nature, and is the author of the book, Healthy Urban Environments.
Benjamin is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University, where he co-leads the ‘People and Environment’ research group and teaches about Sustainability and Urban Planning. With a background in environment management and geography, his recent work is interested in the social dimensions of nature conservation, encompassing what’s happening in protected area, on farms and in our cities and backyards.
Theme Convenors
Arts & Creative Practice for Health & Wellbeing
Tamara (she/her) is an early-career researcher at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, at RMIT. Tamara’s research focuses on embodied and creative practice (mainly dance and mindful movement) and psycho-social approaches to mental health and well-being. Her expertise is in embodied and arts-based methods for participatory research inclusive of non-normative ways of knowing, with a focus on exploring links between movement, embodiment, creativity, belonging and well-being.
Fleur Summers is an early career researcher in the School of Art and is the Studio leader in Sculpture. Fleur’s research focuses on the embodied nature of the sculptural encounter in galleries, public space and community settings. She is particularly interested in touch and how haptic experiences can create community connections. Fleur extends this relational philosophy into her pedagogy to create belonging in the classroom and involve students in interdisciplinary projects. She most recently worked with art students and nurses and midwives in a collaborative project as part of The Big Anxiety Festival.
Kelly (she/her) is a creative researcher with a background in social practices, art and trauma, community-oriented education and (reframing) photography as a social and relational practice. She regularly collaborates with community and industry across disciplines to develop research projects that connect the university to local issues and contexts through creative practice. She is currently working on research projects in the areas of public pedagogy, care labour and community-oriented education. In 2022 she co-curated Archives of Feeling as part of The Big Anxiety Festival in Naarm/Melbourne where she collaborated on education, research and curatorial projects with artists, communities and researchers interested in critical, creative and social understandings of mental health and trauma. She is a senior lecturer in the School of Art at RMIT University.
Theme Convenors
Design & Digital Media Technologies for Human Wellbeing
Jonathan is an Associate Professor in Digital Design, founder, and convener of CiART (Creative interventions, Art and Rehabilitative Technology), School of Design at RMIT. Dr Duckworth has established a strong reputation for his interdisciplinary practice-based design research that forges synergies between media art, allied-health science, disability, and interactive digital technology. His work has yielded significant innovations and impact within acquired brain injury rehabilitation, the arts and technology field, and been recognised for design innovation as a recipient of the Victorian Premier’s Design Award and Good Design Award in Digital Design. Duckworth has exhibited at numerous major national and international venues for creative work including Craft ACT, Canberra; Ars Electronica, Linz; Melbourne Festival, Sónar+D, Barcelona, and co-curator of Future U, RMIT gallery, an international art exhibition exploring what it means to be human in an age of rapid technological acceleration.
Stephanie is currently the Program Manager for the Masters of Animation, Games, and Interactivity (MAGI) at the RMIT School of Design and holds a PhD in the creation of virtual reality experiences. She began as a Technical Director at Pixar, and has had a genre-spanning career around the intersection of art and technology since. She has worked extensively in 3D graphics, including animation, motion capture, programming, and UX design. Andrews has been a leader in curriculum innovation in 3D experimental art, winning major grants for stereoscopic research at the University of Washington. She’s been exhibiting internationally for more than twenty years, her works exploring kinetic sculpture, holography, digital imaging, and lighting installation. As an entrepreneur, she has also founded product design companies for the online metaverse Second Life, provided leadership to 3D printing startups, and worked as Creative Director in the virtual reality neuroscience industry.
Theme Convenors
Research Impact & Societal Engagement
Lisa is Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, and Professor of Information Sciences. Her interdisciplinary research in human information behaviour brings a critical, social research lens to studies of technology use and user-focused design. Her studies embed social change, focusing on diverse settings and populations, and methodological innovations across disciplines. A former President of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Prof Given is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and has served on the Australian Research Council’s (ARC’s) College of Experts. She holds numerous grants funded by ARC, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, working with university and community partners across disciplines. She is lead author of Looking for Information: Examining Research on How People Engage with Information, author of 100 Questions (and Answers) about Qualitative Research, and editor of The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. You can follow her on Twitter @lisagiven and read more about her work at lisagiven.com
Sarah, PhD, is the Research Fellow in the Social Change Enabling Impact Platform. She studies the nature and role of information in people’s lives, with an abiding interest in people’s embodied experiences of information. Her work illustrates the value of bringing humanities, arts, and social science perspectives into conversation so we can better understand human experiences and the larger structures shaping our lives. She focuses on people’s food lives, embodiment and information, and ongoing transformations in scholarly publishing and research practices. Dr. Polkinghorne has published in venues such as the Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Library Trends, and Commonplace. She has taught in the postgraduate library and information science programs at the University of Alberta and the University of Ottawa, and is a past President of the Canadian Association for Information Science. Read more about her work at sarahpolkinghorne.ca / @sarahpolk