College of Arts, Society & Education
Karen Cavu
- Doctor of Philosophy (Education)
- karen.cavu@jcu.edu.au
Pascal Agbadi
- Lecturer, Social Work
- pascal.agbadi@jcu.edu.au
Leonard Freeman
- Senior Lecturer, English Education (Primary Education)
- leonard.freeman@jcu.edu.au
Kate Manlik
- Lecturer
- kate.manlik@jcu.edu.au
Subhashni Taylor
- Adjunct Senior Lecturer
- subhashni.taylor@jcu.edu.au
Peta Salter
- Associate Professor, Curriculum and Pedagogy
- peta.salter@jcu.edu.au
Ines Zuchowski
- Associate Dean, Research
- ines.zuchowski@jcu.edu.au
Jemma Hamley
- Lecturer, Social Work
- jemma.hamley@jcu.edu.au
Rosita Henry
- Adjunct Professor
- rosita.henry@jcu.edu.au
Michael Ackland
- Adjunct Professor
- michael.ackland@jcu.edu.au
Read all about it: Digital participation in Australian newspaper fiction (Old ID 27186)
The Project aims to transform understandings of Australian literary history by using innovative digital methods to discover, curate and investigate tens of thousands of unrecorded novels, novellas and short stories in 20thcentury Australian newspapers. It intends to advance national research capacity by facilitating collaboration, providing research training and making a substantial contribution to open-access, sustainable digital infrastructure for Australian literary studies. Expected outcomes include a new history of Australian literature and new model for participatory literary history. The Project's benefits should include expanding the National Library of Australia's records and promoting public engagement with Australian literature.
Gender, Work, and Migration: Building Work Capital among Korean Women in Australia
In migrant societies, work functions as more than a means of subsistence. It serves as a critical foundation for building diverse forms of capital that facilitate long-term social integration and empowerment. Yosso (2005), in their study on migrant communities, identified six forms of community cultural capital - aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant. In particular, employment plays a central role in developing these capitals. For example, it sustains hope for upward mobility (aspirational capital), promotes language acquisition through workplace interactions (linguistic capital), strengthens family and community networks (familial and social capital), and provide financial stability. Furthermore, it enables individuals to navigate unfamiliar institutional environments effectively (navigational capital) and to challenge negative stereotypes while fostering a positive self-image (resistant capital; Kitayama & Imai, 2022). Among these, aspirational capital through employment is an important element in helping migrants maintain a vision and goals for their future in a new society.
Australia is systemically dependent on immigration for both economic and demographic growth (Gamlen & Sherrell, 2022). It is recognised as a classical immigration country and a migration state, formed through continuous migration from the earliest Indigenous peoples who arrived up to 65,000 years ago to more recent settlers over the past two centuries. According to the 2021 Census, there were 102,092 Korea-born residents in Australia (45.0% male, 55.0% female), with 48% holding at least a bachelor’s degree. This proportion is significantly higher than the national average of 26.3%, suggesting that a considerable share of Korea-born migrants are highly educated and skilled. Therefore, they represent a population with the foundational capacity to develop work into capital, making the application of the Work Capital concept (Kim & Allan, 2024) particularly relevant. Work capital is a culturally sensitive conceptual and measurement tool that captures how occupational experiences are transformed into career development, economic stability, and socio-cultural integration.
This research project places particular emphasis on the experiences of working female migrants. South Korea’s gender wage gap stands at 29.3%, notably higher than the OECD average of approximately 11.5% and significantly above Australia’s, which is around 11.3% (OECD, 2023). Sul Tcha and Lobo (2003) found that among Korean immigrants in Australia, women were more likely than men to perceive certain structural and environmental constraints as more significant. Building on this, the research focuses on how women who have experienced gender inequality in Korea navigate and overcome institutional and social barriers in Australia, and how they utilise work to strengthen their economic position. Previous research by Choi (2022) examined the formation of Korean entrepreneurial enclaves in Melbourne and Sydney but noted that the contexts, consequences, and implications of life, occupational choices, and business directions among migrants were insufficiently explored, calling for further research.
This study will conduct a survey of 400 Korea-born residents in Australia using the Work Capital Scale developed by Kim and Allan (2024) to investigate how work capital is accumulated and utilised. The study will further examine how theoretically informed contextual factors (such as childhood and current social class and downward classism) and vocational factors (including work volition, career adaptability, and decent work) function as antecedents and outcomes of work capital (Kim et al., 2024). In addition, in-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted to explore the specific career experiences and barrier-overcoming strategies of Korean female migrants.
This research will constitute the first empirical investigation of work capital among Korean immigrants in Australia, thereby extending the theoretical scope of migration integration studies and offering policy-relevant insights to support the economic self-reliance and career development of female migrants. Furthermore, it will contribute to comparative migration research between Australia and Korea. In doing so, the project will advance the field of Korean studies by deepening understanding of the experiences of Koreans abroad, while also strengthening knowledge exchange and collaborative ties between Korea and Australia.
International collaborative study on the reconstruction of the history of Japanese immigrants in Australia and their influence on contemporary Japanese society
First, this study aims to elucidate the concrete experiences of Japanese migrants in Northern Queensland (QLD) from the Meiji period through the Pacific War, reconstructing their history from the perspective of those who lived and worked in the “peripheral” regions, away from national and colonial centers, under the White Australia Policy.
Second, it examines how the reconstruction and rediscovery of the once-interrupted history of Japanese migration influences the identity formation and socio-cultural activities of contemporary Nikkei communities in Australia. Third, through research activities conducted in both Japan and Australia, the study will excavate, organize, and digitize valuable historical materials on prewar and postwar Japanese migration, thereby ensuring their preservation and transmission to future generations in both countries.
Lesbian Histories of HIV and AIDS in Australia
This project seeks to platform LGBTQ media publications, HIV and AIDS campaign materials, photographs, artwork, and ephemera, created between 1983 and 1996, that speak to lesbian and queer women’s role(s) within the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Australia. There are diverse holdings in Australian libraries, museums and archives that highlight lesbian and queer women’s experiences, activism and involvement in the HIV and AIDS pandemic. However, these documents and records are dispersed across multiple institutions and are not easily navigable or locatable to the public. Our proposed website would work as a platform to highlight these materials and thus provide a portal for lesbian and queer women as well as the broader public to access less well-known stories and materials about lesbian and queer women’s role(s) in the AIDS pandemic. Last, the applicants hope that this website detailing lesbian and queer women’s specific cultural histories of the AIDS pandemic might also provide inspiration and direction for future HIV prevention campaigns directed toward lesbian and queer women.
Transnational lives of Taiwanese working holiday makers in rural Australia (Old ID 26557)
This research is to understand the transnational lives of Taiwanese working holiday makers (WHM) in rural Australia, including their cultural, social and economic experiences, and their perception of and interaction with rural Australian society. While Taiwanese are the second largest WHM group in Australia, little is known about them, and nothing about their experience of employment in regional Australia. There is an urgent need to understand this substantial group of temporary migrants, whose presence essentially represents Taiwan to the rural Australian community, and whose labour contribution is potentially critical to the future of Australian rural development.
Prerequisite conditions for Indigenous nation self-government. (Old ID 24857)
Based on evidence that self-governance increases Indigenous socioeconomic and community capacity, this international, inter-disciplinary Project aims to investigate factors that impact on the transition from 'identifying' to 'organising' as a political collective. It expects to generate new knowledge about (1) the effectiveness of an Indigenous nation building (INB) model to initiate self-governing strategies and mechanisms; (2) how Indigenous self-governance may impact on the Australian state; (3) preconditions needed for INB 'from scratch'; and (4) an INB methodology. The Project could significantly benefit Indigenous communities; the broader Australian community; Australian governments; and Australian and international INB researchers.
Youth Research Grants Program (Old ID 27716)
The Youth Research Grants Program aims to stimulate interest in research which reflects the needs and views of young people through enabling them to be involved in setting priorities for and selection of research projects. The Program supports the vision set out in the Queensland Youth Strategy (QYS) that promotes young people’s active contribution to Queensland's economic, civic and cultural life. This project aims to engage with young people (17–24-year-olds) in north and far north Queensland currently studying at James Cook University (JCU), to provide an opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns, dreams and desires, and to provide inspiration for a JCU-led research project with and for youth with a focus on wellbeing, future aspirations, concerns and potential solutions to urgent issues. The project would focus on JCU discipline areas of Social Work, Sociology, Education and Creative Arts, with an intention for young people to develop and present art works- and in particular visual and wearable art- expressing their concerns and aspirations. Please refer to the Project Proposal for full details of the Project’s timing and objectives.
High-value horticulture and global production networks in coastal Australia (Old ID 27799)
High-value horticulture is booming in Australia’s north-eastern coastal strip, where a multifunctional landscape also provides various recreational, cultural and environmental services. This project aims analyses how incorporation within agricultural global production networks interacts with diverse drivers of landscape change to shape regional development outcomes. This will contribute to global production network theory by developing the territorial nexus of these networks. Expected outcomes include improved policy formulations capable of orchestrating a sustainable and equitable future for rural regions and livelihoods within Australia, with broader contributions to understanding rural development pathway elsewhere in the world.
How does morality influence climate change adaptation? (Old ID 27634)
This project aims to understand how morality influences adaptation to climate change in the Great Barrier Reef region. This interdisciplinary project expects to generate new knowledge in the critical area of climate change adaptation. Expected outcomes include empirical insights into the connection between morality and adaptation, international collaborations, theory development, and refined methods to help identify leverage points for incorporating morality into decision-making. This should provide significant benefits including a basis for policy-making in Australia and globally, of practical significance to policy-makers seeking to support successful and just adaptation to climate change sustains livelihoods and respects local values.
Social Work student placements with Primary Health Providers Pilot (Old ID 27263)
The overall aim of this project is to develop, implement and evaluate a field education placement module for social work student placement in General Practice clinics in North Queensland. The project will include the development of module for social work student placements in Primary Healthcare in consultation with general practice Social work students on their 500 hours placement will be placed in General Practices for field education, internally supervised by a task supervisor and externally supervised by a social work supervisor. Students could be either in their first or second placement, in either the Bachelor of Social Work or the Masters of Social Work (Professionally Qualifying) degree. The evaluation of project with consideration of student experience and outcomes as well as General Practice staff experience and feedback. A sustainability/transition plan that identifies other possible funding sources for continuation of the project will be developed.
Teenage motherhood: stigma and wellbeing
- 2026
- Edward Elgar Publishing
- Researchers:Jemma Hamley
Ten Years On: Views from the Child and Family Support Sector Post-Carmody
- 2026
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Researchers:Allira Caddies
Reseracher:
Wili Suluma
(Lecturer, Education (Indigenous [Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander] Education))
Start Date:
01 Jan 2024
Title:
PhD, University of Ottawa
Start Date:
01 Jan 2010
End Date:
01 Jan 2015
Title:
PhD, James Cook University
Start Date:
01 Jan 2007
End Date:
01 Jan 2011
Start Date:
01 Jan 2002
End Date:
01 Jan 2006
Reseracher:
Wili Suluma
(Lecturer, Education (Indigenous [Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander] Education))
Start Date:
01 Jan 2025
Reseracher:
Wili Suluma
(Lecturer, Education (Indigenous [Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander] Education))
Start Date:
01 Jan 2025
Start Date:
01 Jan 1998
Start Date:
01 Jan 2020
Start Date:
01 Jan 2012
Start Date:
01 Jan 2012