Creative arts education at Flinders University is going from strength to strength with the arrival of a stellar lineup of teaching talent next year.
Among them is Professor of Creative Arts Garry Stewart (see more on the news blog); acclaimed film producer of Lord of the Rings fame Tim Sanders; Professor of Drama Critical Studies Maryrose Casey; Professor of Drama Critical Studies and Professor of Creative Writing Stephen Muecke; Digital Media, Visual Effects and Entertainment Design expert Jason Bevan; accomplished musician Marco Susino; and (already on board) New York Times best-selling author Dr Sean Williams, to name a few.
“In our arts festival State, Flinders University is leading the way in delivering world-leading creative arts experiences in learning,” says Professor Vanessa Lemm, Vice-President and Executive Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. “Our students continue to be inspired and trained by some of the leaders in their field, many with a wealth of industry experience at the peak of their careers.”
ADT Artistic Director Garry Stewart is joining Flinders in January 2020 as Professor of Creative Arts. He has been the Artistic Director of the Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), Australia’s longest running dance company, since 1999. He has choreographed more than 15 performances at ADT as well as video and live performance installations and film.
His awards include Best Choreography at the Australian Dance Awards and the national Helpmann Awards, and a Centenary medal from the Australian Government for his service to Australian society and dance. In addition to a number of prestigious fellowships and scholarships, Garry was awarded the inaugural Australia Council Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2015.
Award-winning film producer of more than 35 years, Flinders alumnus Tim Sanders, has worked on the internationally successful The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, successful NZ film Whale Rider and dozens of other films and major television projects including the ambitious Fallout, The Frighteners, Kiwi Flyer and the dystopian series This is Not My Life.
Tim Sanders, who grew up in Adelaide, has won two BAFTAs, an AFI and MTV award, and was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He has worked in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Vietnam, Philippines, Nepal, Thailand, India, Israel, Fiji and Rotaronga, to name a few locations, and his film production company Field Theory is currently working on several new projects including The Guinea Pig Club and an adaptation of the sci-fi horror novel Wake. He was selected as one of Flinders University’s ’50 creatives‘ during the University’s 50th anniversary year.
Moving from the Monash Indigenous Centre in Melbourne, Maryrose Casey’s research interests include Indigenous Australian theatre practices and Australian drama. She has widely published in racialised performances in Australia since settlement and her research received a number of national and international awards, fellowships and grants. Previous positions were at Monash University’s Centre for Theatre and Performance, the Australian Studies Centre at the University of Queensland and has been part of the AusStage consortium for more than 10 years.
Professor, Creative Writing Stephen Muecke also brings a wealth of experience in Indigenous cultural studies and the interdisciplinary humanities. As a cultural theorist and writer, his ethnographic work in the West Kimberley with the Goolarabooloo people has led to Australian Research Council projects including two commencing in 2020 and ‘Interpreting Australia’s Indigenous Heritage Trails’ (2019). He is a board member in Communication and Culture at the Academy of the Humanities, and is on the ARC College of Experts and was awarded a Centenary Medal from the Australian Government in 2002.
Highly accomplished senior lecturer Jason Bevan will join Flinders University’s successful Digital Media, Visual Effects and Entertainment Design, moving to Adelaide from Xi’An Jiaotong Liverpool University in Suzhou, China and previously the University of South Wales in the UK. His expertise in visual effects and digital media arts spans animation, digital filmmaking, VFX, graphic and motion design.
Trained musician and music psychologist Marco Susino comes from the JMC academy in Melbourne and Julliard School in New York to become a creative arts lecturer at Flinders. His previous roles include Lecturer in Music (Boxhill Institute, Melbourne) and Lecturer in Dance (Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Sydney). He is also the Australasia co-lead Examiner for music performance for Rockschool London Awards.
Sean Williams – also new to Flinders as Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing – has written more than 40 novels and 120 short stories for adults, young adults and children. He is an affiliate of the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice and has taught for Clarion South and other institutions. His latest novel Impossible Music was published in July – representing a diversion from his usual science fantasy style – and is completing another novel while collaborating on a TV series based on his novel, The Resurrected Man.
The host of other creative arts leaders, including SA filmmaker Dr Tom Young, are driving a vibrant new era in the arts and humanities at Flinders.
Flinders Creative Arts is ranked # 1 in SA in undergraduate Creative Arts for full-time employment, overall quality of educational experience, skills development and teaching quality (The Good Universities Guide 2020, public SA-founded universities only).