Researcher

Associate Professor Caroline Lenette

My Expertise

refugee-background women, arts-based research, refugee-background students in higher education, human rights, co-design, participatory methods and ethics, trauma-informed and social justice research.

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Cultural studies, Sociology of inequalities

Biography

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 co-research through creative and artistic means can influence decision-makers and policymaking towards meaningful change....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 co-research through creative and artistic means can influence decision-makers and policymaking towards meaningful change. Caroline explores how ethics in research practice is conceptualised in participatory research. She has a passion for arts-health research. Caroline 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).


My Grants

Recent grants

  1. 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).

  2. Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery 2020: Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status ($207,000).

  3. Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage 2014: Developing Best Practice for Settlement Services for Refugee Women-at-Risk ($225,000).

  4. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) grant: Women and girls and the Global Compact on Refugees ($788,500).

  5. Australian National Commission for UNESCO grant 2018: Changing lives one degree at a time: Refugee students' digital narratives of higher education experiences ($12,000).

  6. 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).

  7. South West Sydney Health Small Grant Scheme (STARTTS $20,000): Disability in South Western Sydney: Experiences of the Iraqi and Syrian refugee communities.

Fellowships

  1. 2017 European Union – Durham University Co-fund International Senior Research Fellowship in Research and EnterpriseCentre for Social Justice and Community Action, Durham University, UK.
  2. 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); walking interviews to explore women's meanings attached to ‘home’ (Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development grant 2018); an exploration of the experiences of Syrian and Iraqi refugee children and young people with disabilities who have recently arrived in Sydney via arts-based methods (South West Sydney Research Small Grant Scheme 2018); and developing a repository of resources on Indigenous and decolonial research methods (ADA Research Infrastructure Scheme 2023).


My Teaching

  • SOSS1001 Social Research and Society
  • SOSS2001 Qualitative Research Methods
  • ARTS4266 Puzzles, Planning, and Presentation for Honours in Social Sciences
  • ARTS2822 Decolonising Research Methods
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