Hannah Solomons

Thesis: The Wig, the Wheelchair and The New World Order: Disabled Citizens in Australian Law

Using Derrida's concept of the aporia, and Agamben's concept of exception, I explore the relationship between how the law deals with disability and how it defines itself. I do this by experimenting with scoping review methodologies to map the role that disability has played in cases dealing with questions of judicial power in Australian courts over the past 30 years. 

Supervisors:

Network themes: Social Justice, Diversity and Equity.

Vicki Bamford

Thesis: Who's in? Analysing the impact of inclusive communication policy and processes on organisations seeking to engage with minority publics.

This thesis interrogates why people from diverse backgrounds are excluded in organisational communication. The focus is people with disability and people from non-English speaking backgrounds given their significant number in society and as clients of organisations, and so expect to be the focus of communication attention. An investigation of whether inclusion is possible for all clients or if the process only privileges some and, if so, why aims to identify gaps in service. A review of three organisations who actively include their diverse clients across the government, not-for-profit and corporate business sectors aims to identify gaps in service to understand why marginalisation occurs and how it can be addressed in communication policy and processes.

Supervisors:

Network themes: Inclusion and Social Participation; Diversity and Equity. 

Rhiannon Noon

Thesis:  Film Impairment: Understanding the Relationship of Disability and Access to Screen Production in Australia

My aim is to understand where Australian screen industry is situated in creating opportunities for people with disabilities, what plans and progress are happening, and insight into where the opportunities lie by first-hand experience from individuals with disabilities in the industry. 

Supervisors: 

  • Dr Timothy Laurie, Senior Lecturer, School of Communication, Faculty of Design and Society
  • Dr Natalie Krikowa, Lecturer, Digital and Social Media, Faculty of Design and Society

Network themes: Inclusion and Social Participation; Social Justice; Diversity and Equity; Enabling Technologies.

Catherine Maitland

Thesis: Wronging the Right: interrogating the ontological politics of intellectual disability and the potential of democratic relations of care.

My thesis explores care practices in congregate settings for people who are constituted as having an intellectual disability. Listening to ‘insider’ knowledge by means of photovoice, focus group discussions, participant observations and interviews, I analyse the potential of care as a participatory relationship of trust that is guided by the ways in which people with intellectual disability navigate ableist care practices.

In order to interrogate stigma and ableist expectations, I use a feminist ethic of care framework which also takes into account the triadic nature of care, namely the systemic responsibility for inadequately resourced working environments of support workers.

Supervisor:

Network themes: Social Justice; Inclusion and Social Participation.

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