DDCA

Deans and Directors of Creative Arts

Meet the Mentors

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ASSOC PROF BEATA BATOROWIZ

Uni Southern Queensland

Beata Batorowicz is the Associate Head (Research and Research Training) and an Associate Professor in Sculpture (Visual Arts) in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Southern Queensland. She is a contemporary artist exhibiting nationally and internationally, and her key touring projects such as Dark Rituals (2018-2019) – partnered with the University of Sunshine Coast Gallery and University of Tasmania Gallery – have secured Australia Council for the Arts funding. Her other key project funding include: the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research (2015) and Arts Queensland (2011; 2004). 

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant & funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

PROFESSOR CRAIG BATTY

Adelaide University

Craig is Pro Vice Chancellor in the College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities. He is an award-winning educator, researcher and supervisor in the areas of screenwriting, creative writing and screen production, and the broader field of creative practice research, which includes the creative doctorate. He is currently editor of the Journal of Screenwriting, and co-editor of Media Practice and Education. Craig has published over 100 books, book chapters, journal articles and creative practice research works, as well as industry articles, book reviews and interviews. He has also worked on a variety of screen projects as a writer, script editor and script consultant, where he continues to mentor emerging screenwriters.

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant & funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking

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PROFESSOR SAMANTHA BENNETT

Australian National University

Samantha Bennett is Professor of Music and Associate Dean Higher Degree Research at the Australian National University, and Chair of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM). Her research interests bridge music and science and technology studies, focusing on sound recording, music production, music technology, and the manifestation of technology and process in recorded popular music. She is the author, co-author or co-editor of six books to include her latest, Gear: Cultures of Audio and Music Technologies (co-authored with A/Prof Eliot Bates, CUNY, The MIT Press).

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant & funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

Rick Chew

PROFESSOR RICK CHEW

Federation University

Professor Richard Chew is an acclaimed composer and pianist, whose output includes orchestral and instrumental works, chamber, opera, choral and music for theatre and film.

Richard received his PhD from the University of South Australia and taught as a lecturer in music and drama at UniSA, Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide and the Arts Academy, Federation University, as Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor in Performing Arts and programme coordinator, Music Theatre, prior to his appointment as Director in 2018.

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant & funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking

PROFESSOR KATYA JOHANSON

Edith Cowan University

Professor Katya Johanson is the Associate Dean, Creative Humanities at Edith Cowan University, where she oversees the staff and courses focused on creative production in the School of Arts and Humanities. She has occupied school and faculty leadership positions at ECU and previously Deakin University. Katya’s research agenda focuses on working with public arts and cultural policy agencies and arts organisations to create more and better opportunities for communities to participate in arts activities. She is equally passionate about creating public engagement opportunities for creative researchers and students.

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Teaching, Leadership, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

PROFESSOR MEGAN KEATING

University of Tasmania

Professor Meg Keating is the Head of School at the School of Creative Arts and Media, University of Tasmania. An award-winning multidisciplinary artist, her work explores intersections between the environment, technology, and culture. She re-contextualises traditional paper-cutting folk art through animation and cut-out works. With 12 years as a tertiary educator and 20 years as an international artist, Meg has led creative arts programs and completed residencies in Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and China.

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Teaching, Leadership, Promotion application.

Meghan Kelly

PROFESSOR MEGHAN KELLY

Deakin University

Meghan is Senior Lecturer Visual Communication Design at Deakin University. Meghan’s research examines the diverse ways identity and representation can be created through design, with an aim of probing how to empower people with self-determining their own visual representation. There are many areas of negotiation in the process and Meghan’s research examines ways to ensure ethical, appropriate and measurable ways to guarantee communities are protected and supported through codesign processes. 

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant & funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

ASS PROFESSOR GUY KEULEMANS

Adelaide University

Guy Keulemans is a designer, artist and researcher. His major research themes are repair and reuse, generative processes, materials of design, and the environmental impacts of production and consumption. An Enterprise Fellow at the University of South Australia, he is Craft and Design Team Leader a the Creative People, Products and Places Research Centre (CP3) and associate member of the Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments (IVE). Interest in materials has led Guy towards examination of sustainability across supply chains and their role in product typologies from from architecture to jewellery. 

Mentoring expertise

Higher Degree by Research candidates and Early Career Researchers; Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

ASS PROFESSOR ANDREW LAVERY

University of Sydney

Associate Professor Andrew Lavery is Co-Director and Co-Chair of Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) and Dean’s Fellow for Academic Excellence. 

Andrew’s artistic practice spans three decades, with works exhibited nationally and internationally and held in public and private collections. Through a historical materialist framework, his works interpret urban decay—past, present, and future —as a critique of progress in late capitalist society. 

Mentoring expertise

Leadership,  Promotion application

Mia Lindgren

PROFESSOR MIA LINDGREN

RMIT University

Adjunct Professor Mia Lindgren is a globally recognised authority in podcast, radio and journalism studies with positions on several editorial boards and scientific committees.

Her practice-led research is developed through podcasts, documentaries, and websites created in partnership with academics, media organisations, and audio producers. She has secured five competitive national grants (ARC LP & DP; NHMRC) for her work on digital storytelling for sense-making in public health issues.

Mia is a past DDCA Board Member and has served as a Mentor in the DDCA Mentorship program for the past three years.  

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

ASS PROFESSOR AINSLIE MURRAY

Univeristy of New South Wales

Ainslie Murray is an interdisciplinary spatial artist and Associate Professor of Architecture at UNSW. Her work explores the minimum conditions of architectural space through solitary walking practice in volatile and remote environments. Through embodied practice and methods of material erosion, she investigates fundamental questions of how we might live in precarious and turbulent conditions. She is a Powerhouse Associate, Research Scholar and current Creative Resident at Powerhouse Ultimo. Her installation, film and environmental works have been exhibited in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the UK. 

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

ASS PROFESSOR NIKLAVS RUBENIS

University of Tasmania

Associate Professor Niklavs Rubenis is an award winning creative practitioner and academic whose work brings together craft, design, sustain-ability, and community engagement. He comes from a trade background, and his extensive industry experience informs a hands on, materials driven approach to his research and teaching. At the University of Tasmania, Niklavs leads cross disciplinary initiatives that explore how creative practice can drive change around environmental and social challenges. His projects span international collaborations and partnerships across non profit, commercial, cultural, and community sectors—all grounded in the belief that creative practice can strengthen connections between people, place, and culture.

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

Verena Thomas

PROFESSOR VERENA THOMAS

Edith Cowan University

Prof. Verena Thomas is a Professor of Communication and the Associate Dean Research in the School of Arts and Humanities at the Edith Cowan University. She holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Technology Sydney. Her research focuses on creative research approaches and communication for social change in international development contexts. Prof Thomas facilitates participatory research processes in collaboration with community groups, and works with institutions and organizations that want to strategically integrate creative approaches into social change programs. Her publication record involves a wide range of collaborations including, filmic and visual outputs co-created with community groups.

 

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

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PROFESSOR KIM WILKINS

THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Kim Wilkins is a humanities researcher and acclaimed creative writer who specialises in the intersection of creativity, technology, and cultural industries. Currently Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UQ, she leads innovative research into the socio-material dimensions of creative industries and the application of creative thinking to complex technological challenges.

Kim is a recognised expert on storytelling, popular literature, and the publishing industry. She is the author of more than 30 full-length works of fiction, and her work is translated into more than 20 languages globally. Her scholarly research centres on creative communities, such as writing groups and fan cultures. 

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.

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PROFESSOR JESSICA WILKINSON

RMIT University

Jessica is a Professor in Creative Writing in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. In her own poetry and scholarship, Jessica is interested in pushing boundaries of form, and in exploring what poetry can ‘do’, whether as a research tool, for communities/social change, or to expand other writing genres. She is the founding and managing editor of ‘Rabbit: a journal for nonfiction poetry’ (2011-present). As a mentor, Jessica is interested in helping others to devise a research/academic ‘narrative’, to develop grant applications (esp. Cat 2/3), to prepare for promotion and to develop leadership potential.

Mentoring expertise

Research planning, Academic Publishing, Creative publishing/exhibiting, Teaching, Leadership, Grant + funding applications, Promotion application, Industry partnerships / networking.