Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders have been boosted by a suite of internationally renowned academics joining the college this year, including multi-awarded academics from institutions in Australia and overseas.

A number of exciting opportunities for existing staff have also arisen as part of the revised structure, including for Dr Tom Young, who is now Lecturer, Screen Production; and Dr Sean Williams, as Senior Lecturer, Creative Writing.

Associate Professor Penny Edmonds

New Dean (Research) and Matthew Flinders Fellow Associate Professor Penny Edmonds took up her role this month. She brings two decades of interdisciplinary work in the areas of empire and colonialism, Indigenous and settler histories, humanitarianism, transnational Australian and Pacific-region histories, performance, gender, and heritage. Associate Professor Edmonds worked in the public history and museum sector prior to her academic career.

Professor Stephen Muecke 

Professor Stephen Muecke has commenced as Professor, Creative Writing. A cultural theorist and writer, he joins Flinders from the University of Adelaide. Professor Muecke has collaborated extensively with the Goolarabooloo people in the West Kimberley and is currently working on several ARC projects. He is a board member at the Academy of the Humanities and is serving on the ARC College of Experts.

Garry Stewart

Garry Stewart joins Flinders as Professor Creative Arts. He has danced with the Australian dance Theatre (ADT), Queensland Ballet, Expressions Dance Company and The One Extra Dance Company (Onex), and performed with the Sydney Theatre Company. He has also choreographed more than 15 performances at ADT as well as video and live performance installations and film and won many award. Read more on this Flinders news article.

Professor Maryrose Casey

Professor Maryrose Casey has joined the college as Professor, Drama Critical Studies. From Monash, Professor Casey’s research interests include Indigenous Australian theatre practices and Australian drama. She is on the management committee for AusStage and has published extensively on racialised performances in Australia.

Associate Professor Liam Brady

Associate Professor Liam Brady has joined Flinders as Future Fellow and Associate Professor in Archaeology. Previously an ARC Future Fellow at the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, Associate Professor Brady’s research challenges traditional approaches to interpreting and understanding archaeology, generating new insights and ways of thinking on research partnerships with Indigenous people. He has collaborated on research with communities in the Torres Strait islands, Gulf of Carpentaria, Pilbara and Arnhem Land in Australia, and overseas in the US and Canada.

Dr Diana Newport-Peace

Dr Newport-Peace joins the team as Research Fellow, bringing research policy development and language teacher training experience from the UK including the University of Southampton, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the University of Bath and Bath Spa University. More recently she worked in research strategy and project management at the University of South Australia.

Dr Laura Roberts

Dr Laura Roberts has joined the team as Lecturer, Women’s and Gender Studies. From the University of Queensland, Dr Roberts’ key interests include feminist philosophy and post/decolonial theory, gender studies and 20th century European social philosophy. Dr Roberts has published in these areas and most recently published her first monograph Irigaray and Politics with Edinburgh University Press (2019).

Dr Tom Young

Dr Young has been with Flinders since 2011. He received a Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation in Teaching Award for pioneering the college’s long-format Screen Production honours program that saw a significant lift in enrolments. He leads the highly-regarded Community Voices social enterprise program and has his own video production company.

Dr Sean Williams

New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, Dr Sean Williams has been lecturing part time with the College this year. He is also an affiliate of the J. M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice and has taught for other institutions including Clarion South workshops. Primarily a fantasy fiction writer, his latest novel was published in July this year.

Dr Werner Botha

Dr Werner Botha is Senior Lecturer, Language Studies, Applied Linguistics and TESOL. Relocating to Flinders from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Dr Botha’s research interests include English linguistics, applied linguistics, educational linguistics and the study of language in society. At Flinders, Dr Botha will be coordinating the academic and professional communication skills program.

Dr James Kane

Dr James Kane is Lecturer, History (Medieval History). Dr Kane moved from the University of Sydney where he taught Early Medieval Languages and Literature studies. His research encompasses material written in various western medieval languages, with key interests including the history of the crusades, medieval historiography and multilingualism.

Dr Alessandro Antonello

Dr Alessandro Antonello is a Senior Research Fellow, History. Previously an ARC Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne, Dr Antonello’s work has focused on the environmental and modern international history of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. He is also interested in politics and diplomacy of global and international environments in the twentieth century.

Mr Jason Bevan

Mr Jason Bevan is Senior Lecturer in Digital Media, Visual Effects and Entertainment Design. Moving from China’s Xi’An Jiaotong Liverpool University in Suzhou, he worked previously in the UK. His expertise includes motion design, animation, digital filmmaking, visual effects and graphic design. Boasting a strong industry background, he has also enjoyed much graduate success with many of his past students gaining roles on Hollywood productions.

Dr Knox Peden

Dr Knox Peden is Lecturer, Continental Philosophy. From the University of Melbourne, he has published widely on European and continental philosophy and is recognised as an expert on Spinoza. He is working on a translation and scholarly edition of Jean Cavaillès’s ‘Sur la logique et la théorie de la science’ and recently co-authored a volume on French Philosophy for Oxford University Press.

Marco Susino

Marco Susino is Lecturer, Creative Arts. A musician and music psychologist, Mr Susino was Deputy Head of the Program for Music and Creative Arts at the JMC Academy in Melbourne, and was also a Research Fellow at the Julliard School in New York last year.  His work has been performed across Europe, the Americas and Australasia and has been commisioned internationally. He has toured Asia, Europe and the Americas, recorded for major labels and performed at the Sydney Opera House and in London.

John McCarthy

John McCarthy has been appointed as an Associate Lecturer at Flinders, supporting the Deep History of Sea Country ARC Discovery Project and the Maritime Archaeology teaching programme. Mr McCarthy has worked in commercial and academic archaeology for 15 years and is a scientific diver and expert on digital 3D techniques for maritime archaeology. He has published widely on research in Scotland, the Netherlands, Israel and Western Australia. Most recently he has been working on the creation of digital 3D libraries for historic ships, and on a virtual dive experience for a 17th century shipwreck in Iceland as part of his PhD thesis.