Faculty of Arts
Graduate Profiles

Dr Damien Cahill

PhD (2004) dissertation: "The Radical Neo-liberal Movement as a Hegemonic Force in Australia, 1976-1996"

Since completing his thesis in 2004, Damien has worked as a Researcher and Policy Adviser to Michael Organ MP, Member for Cunningham and is currently a Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Sydney. He has published in numerous books and journals including most recently an examination of electricity privatisation with Professor Sharon Beder in the Journal of Australian Political Economy.

Kathleen Cusack
BA Hons (Class 1), 2008

In 2007, I received a Faculty of Arts Honours Scholarship and an Endeavour Student Exchange Scholarship to undertake my Honours year in Japan whilst completing a twelve-month exchange to Doshisha University in Kyoto. Supervised by Dr Helen Kilpatrick, I wrote my thesis on the Kure women who gave birth to children fathered by Australian personnel during the period of military occupation in that region. I collated and translated local post-war newspapers to examine the experiences of these women with respect to the prevalent social attitudes towards women involved in relationships with foreign servicemen and the construct of the feminine role.

"Undertaking my Honours year whilst in Japan was perhaps the most challenging experience I have been confronted with but it was also the most rewarding. 

"I graduated with 1^st Class Honours in July 2008 and the Japan Foundation of Sydney will publish an abbreviated version of my thesis in the New Voices journal in early 2009.  

"I hope to undertake further post-graduate study in late 2009 but I will first be undertaking a three-month volunteer project in Cambodia."

Dr Gary Edmond

BA Hons (Class I) (Medal) 1992 dissertation: "An Attraction for Copernicanism: Reclaiming Gilbert's de Magnete (1600) for the New Historiography of Science".

Since completing his Honours thesis with the Faculty of Arts, Gary undertook a law degree at the University of Sydney, LLB Hons (Class I), winning prizes in jurisprudence, criminology and finishing first in his year. Thereafter he won a Cambridge Australia Trust scholarship to Cambridge University (St John's College) where he wrote his PhD on law and science. On completion of his doctorate in 2000 he accepted a lecturing position at the University of Adelaide. In 2002 Gary moved to the Faculty of Law, UNSW where he is a senior lecturer specialising in evidence law, expert evidence and the public understanding of law.

 Dr Gustavo Guzman

PhD (1998) dissertation: "Alternative Manufacturing Developments from the Semi-Periphery: The Case of Human-Centred Manufacturing Approach in Brazil"

Since completing his doctoral thesis in 1998, Gustavo Guzman has been working both as academic and consultant in Brazil, the UK and Australia.

Immediately following completion of his thesis, Guz returned to the Production Engineering Department in the 'Federal University of Minas Gerais' (Brazil) where he was Lecturer and Head of Graduate Studies, supervising Masters-level students. Simultaneously, he acted as a consultant in the Production Engineering area with both national and multinational firms, as well as with public sector organizations such as hospitals and the police department. In all cases, he helped to improve their competitiveness level by introducing modern management and production engineering techniques, or helping them to implement new technologies.

Between 2002-3, Guz was appointed as Visiting Academic at the University of Nottingham Business School (UK) where he worked with Professor John Wilson in the area of 'Knowledge Management and Organizational Networks'.

In July 2005, Guz was appointed to Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management at Griffith University, where he has joined the Service Industry Research Centre (SIRC). His main research interest is related to the 'Transfer of Knowledge'  in both service and industrial organizations.

Patrick Hodder

Bachelor of Arts (Hons), 2007

Patrick Hodder graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honours. He was also awarded the University Medal for Arts as well as the University's most prestigious award, the Chancellor Robert Hope Memorial Prize, which is the only accolade awarded by the University Council and includes a $10,000 prize. He is pictured with the Chancellor, Mr Michael Codd AC.

Kelly Knowles
Bachelor of Arts (Politics and Industrial relations), 2000

Kelly Knowles believes in putting something back into the community.

Continue reading about Kelly »

Dr Alan Marshall

PhD (1999) dissertation: "The Unity of Nature: Deconstructing a Contemporary Metanarrative"

Since completing his doctoral thesis in 1999, Alan's thesis has since been published by Imperial College Press, London.

In the last five years Alan has spent each academic year working at different institutions in different nations. In 2000, for example, he was a researcher at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Graz, Austria. In 2001 he worked in radio in New Zealand as a producer and community liason officer. During this time he co-produced the international award-winning radiodrama This Pointless Thing Called Life. In 2002-3 he taught social science courses at Nizhni Novgorod State University in Russia. In 2003-4 he worked as a social scientist for the UK Government nuclear waste organisation and in 2004-5 he was a postdoctoral fellow at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. In 2005 Alan returned briefly to Wollongong to teach in the STS program and to write a book about the future of the nuclear industry for Zed Books, London.

Vanessa Marshall

Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications), 1997

Teaching poor Guatemalan children the art of digital storytelling is all in a day’s work for UOW Media and Communications graduate Vanessa Marshall.

Continue reading about Vanessa »

Katelin McInerny

Bachelor of Arts/Honours 2004
Dean’s Scholar 2002-2004

When Katelin McInerney graduated she hardly expected to be back within a few years interviewing academics and students.

Continue reading about Katelin »

 Mr Ian McNicol

TASC Masters (1988) dissertation:
"The Social Shaping of a Nuclear Umbrella"

Since completing his Masters thesis in 1988, Ian has:

• written a report on Peace Studies in NZ tertiary institutions (1990) for the NZ Ministry of External Affairs' Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament & Arms Control (PACDAC);
• been a foundation staff member of the Auckland Electric Power Board's Electricity Utilisation Centre (1990 - 1992), where he learnt a lot of technical stuff about energy efficiency, was actively involved in union attempts to stage a strike in the early days of the NZ Employment Contracts Act, and prepared a union submission opposing the privatisation of NZ's power authorities;
• managed the NSW Energy Information Centre (1992 - 1995), where he learnt a lot more about energy efficiency and oversaw the development of a major interactive exhibition on energy, greenhouse, energy efficiency and renewable energy in NSW;
• worked for the SA Office of Energy Policy (1995 to 1998), where he managed a number of energy efficiency and energy safety programs;
• worked for the Victorian Sustainable Energy Authority, initially on programs with the appliance industry, and now more generally on developing energy efficiency policy and programs. Recently, Ian was involved in the Victorian team which coordinated the development of the National Framework for Energy Efficiency, agreed by the Ministerial Council on Energy in December 2005.

Dr Sam Paltridge

PhD (1989) dissertation: 'AUSSAT: The Social Shaping of a Satellite System'

After completing an MA and Ph.D. at the University of Wollongong, Dr Sam Paltridge joined the Centre for International Research on Communication and Information Technologies (CIRCIT) based in Melbourne. He worked for CIRCIT from 1989 to 1992 on Australian and international communication policy.

In 1992, Sam was a visiting fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University where he undertook a project, together with colleagues, for the European Commission on remote sensing satellites; and in 1993 he joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as a communications analyst in the OECD's Division of Information Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) in the Directorate for Science Technology and Industry (DSTI).

Sam Paltridge was a principal author of the Communications Outlook series between the 1995 and 2005 editions; and, in 2005, was appointed principal administrator of ICT statistics in the OECD's Economic Analysis and Statistics Division.

Between 1999 and 2005, Dr Paltridge was the OECD's representative on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) Government Advisory Committee (GAC) and, as such, was one of the founding members of the GAC. Sam has also served in a number of advisory roles to governments, such as the Australian Government's Broadband Advisory Group, and he is a former member of the organising committee for the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) held each year in Washington. Sam's work with the OECD involves working closely with other international organisations on ICT policy and, in 2005, he chaired the International Telecommunication Union's World Meeting on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators.

Sam lives in Paris where he avidly follows the fortunes of the Port Adelaide Football Club.

 Dr Mark Rix

PhD (1997) dissertation: "Discipline and Threatened Punishment: The Theory of Nuclear Deterence and the Discipline of Strategic Studies, 1946-1960".

Since completing his doctoral thesis in 1997, Mark has worked in a number of different units in the University. In 1997 he worked in the International Business Research Institute in the Faculty of Commerce, conducting research on the history of the Scientific Management movement between the World Wars with Professor Chris Nyland. When Professor Nyland moved to Monash University in 1998, Mark continued to work with him on the history of Scientific Management but also held a position in the Centre for Research Policy in the Faculty of Commerce. In that position, he conducted research on vocational educating training and education policies in countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan. In 1999, he took up a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies working on an ARC-funded project investigating social exclusion in a number of regions in NSW, including the Illawarra. In 2001, Mark took up a position in the Department of Management at the University of Wollongong, and worked with Professor Peter Carroll on a project investigating policy transfer in the Australian Federation. In that position, he also taught subjects dealing with government regulation of international business, management, and human resource management (HRM). In 2002,  Mark was appointed to a  position in the Graduate School of Business & Professional Development where he taught subjects dealing with international HRM and Organisational Behaviour. He was also MBA Course Coordinator. During his time in the Graduate School of Business, Mark commenced researching in the area of public management and administration, focusing in particular on issues relating to citizenship and access to justice. In 2005, Mark took up an academic secondment position in the Centre for Health Service Development, a research centre of the University of Wollongong. While on secondment, Mark is continuing his research on  citizenship and access to justice, but is also working on public health policy and the costs and benefits of evidence-based public health interventions.

Mark has recently been promoted to Senior Lecturer - a position that incorporates the role of Course Coordinator of the Doctor of Business Administration program at the University.