My Expertise
refugee-background women, arts-based research, critical suicide studies, co-design, participatory methods and ethics, anti-colonial research, trauma-informed and culturally safe research.
Keywords
Fields of Research (FoR)
Cultural studies, Sociology of inequalitiesBiography
Caroline Lenette is Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences and Deputy Director of the Big Anxiety Research Centre. She is a leading interdisciplinary researcher focussing on participatory methods and social justice informed research especially with refugee-background co-researchers. Her scholarship centres on how ethical co-research through creative means can influence decision-makers towards meaningful change. Caroline is interested...view more
Caroline Lenette is Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences and Deputy Director of the Big Anxiety Research Centre. She is a leading interdisciplinary researcher focussing on participatory methods and social justice informed research especially with refugee-background co-researchers. Her scholarship centres on how ethical co-research through creative means can influence decision-makers towards meaningful change. Caroline is interested in sociocultural approaches to suicide based on refugee perspectives, an area of research in critical suicide studies. She is the author of Arts-based methods in refugee research: Creating sanctuary (2019, Springer) and Participatory Action Research: Ethics and Decolonization (Oxford University Press, 2022), and co-editor of Disrupting the Academy with Lived Experience-Led Knowledge (Bristol University Press, 2024). Her edited book, 'Anti-Colonial Research Praxis: Methods for Knowledge Justice' will be published in 2025 with Manchester University Press. Caroline is the creator of the Anti-Colonial Research Library.
My Grants
Recent grants
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National Disability Research Partnership (NDRP) 2021–22: Co-designing resources to increase access to information and services: Syrian and Iraqi people with disability from refugee backgrounds and service providers ($106,000).
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Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery 2020: Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status ($207,000).
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Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage 2014: Developing Best Practice for Settlement Services for Refugee Women-at-Risk ($225,000).
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Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) grant: Women and girls and the Global Compact on Refugees ($788,500).
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Australian National Commission for UNESCO grant 2018: Changing lives one degree at a time: Refugee students' digital narratives of higher education experiences ($12,000).
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Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Development Scheme (CAD74,000): Finding Home: Housing, Migration & Research-Creation (see https://www.projectfindinghome.com/dfg).
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South West Sydney Health Small Grant Scheme (STARTTS $20,000): Disability in South Western Sydney: Experiences of the Iraqi and Syrian refugee communities.
Fellowships
- 2017 European Union – Durham University Co-fund International Senior Research Fellowship in Research and Enterprise: Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, Durham University, UK.
- 2014 Endeavour Executive Fellowship ($19,500) – Visiting Scholar: Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Canada.
My Qualifications
PhD Social Work and Human Services (QUT) 2011
MIntSocDev (UNSW) 2004
My Awards
2017 European Union–Durham University Co-fund International Senior Research Fellowship: Centre for Social Justice and Community Action (Durham University).
2014 Endeavour Executive Fellowship: Visiting Scholar, Centre for Refugee Studies (York University).
2013 Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre Junior Fellowship (Griffith University).
2016 Shortlisted - FASS Dean’s Research Award for Achievement as ECR (UNSW).
2011 Griffith Health Dean’s Commendation for Outstanding Teaching (Griffith University).
2003 Bachelor of Human Services Medallist (Griffith University).
My Research Activities
Caroline's current and recent projects include: a body mapping project to explore stigma among women affected by refugee, disability and mental health status (Australian Research Council Discovery Grant 2020), developing a repository of resources on Indigenous and decolonial research methods called the Anti-Colonial Research Library (ADA Research Infrastructure Scheme 2023), and mapping the effectiveness of strategies to address suicide around the world (ADA Seed Funding 2024).
My Teaching
- SOSS2001 Qualitative Research Methods
- ARTS4266 Puzzles, Planning, and Presentation for Honours in Social Sciences
- SOSS2822 Decolonising Research Methods
- SOSS3822 Decolonising Methods in Criminal Justice
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2317-0438