Associate Professor Caroline Lenette
Associate Professor
PhD Social Work and Human Services (QUT) 2011
MIntSocDev (UNSW) 2004
Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA)
School of Social Sciences
Caroline Lenette is Professor of Anti-Colonial Research, School of Social Sciences, and Deputy Director of the Big Anxiety Research Centre. She is a leading interdisciplinary researcher in refugee studies and uses participatory, creative methods with community partners and co-researchers. Caroline is interested in sociocultural approaches to understanding and addressing suicide based on refugee perspectives, as part of 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 April 2025 with Manchester University Press. Caroline is the creator of the Anti-Colonial Research Library.
E-mail
Location
130 Morven Brown
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
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.
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).
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 Research Supervision
PhD: Oscar Curry (2018, Joint-Principal): Domestic migration of refugee populations in Australia; Ruth Horsfall (2020, Joint-Principal): Participatory theatre and refugee women in Western Sydney; Carly Hawkins (2020, Joint-Principal): Educational attainment of school-aged asylum seeker and refugee children detained in Nauru. Keren David (2021, Joint-Principal): Impact of COVID-19 on regional resettlement. Tierney Marey (2023, Joint-Principal): Embodied experiences of equity labour in higher education.
Completions - PhD: Dr Reeny Jurczyczyn (Associate): Higher education and young people in care (2014); Dr Paula Jops (Secondary): Negotiating Survival: Experiences of Urban Refugee Women in Delhi, India Who Engage in "Risky" Livelihoods (2017). Dr Annabel Dulhunty (Co-Principal): Gender and Development: Worth the Hype for the most marginalised? The impact on lower caste women in West Bengal, India. Dr Amelia Wheeler (2015, Joint-Principal): Bringing the child’s perspective into family dispute resolution: a critical analysis of policy and legislation related to Australian post-separation family dispute resolution practices. Dr Amani Kasherwa (2024, Principal): Survival strategies among child sexual abuse victims. Masters: Catherine Clark (2018): Enabling Pathways for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Higher Education. Grace Thomas (2018): Women’s narratives and the #MeToo movement. Geneve O'Connor (2017): Neoliberal appropriation of community development and young women aged 15-25. Honours: Luke Upton (2015): Evidence-based refugee policy; Hannah Zeb (2016): Visual representations of asylum seekers and terrorism. Rachel Lui (2017): Narrative therapy and trauma among refugee women.
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