Led by Dr Beatriz Carbajal Carrera. This project addresses the linguistic analysis of digital humour in Spanish-language contexts from decolonial approaches. By integrating conceptual frameworks from decolonial thinking with linguistic qualitative methods, the project aims to reveal discursive patterns of coloniality that often remain hidden in humorous communication.

Led by Dr Luis F. Angosto Ferrández. In this stream of research, Dr Luis F. Angosto Ferrández examines how the inhabitants of peripheral regions within semi-peripheral countries such as Venezuela and Chile manoeuvre to recast property regimes (over “land” and “culture”) in face of ongoing threats of dispossession with roots in neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism.

Led by Dr Luis F. Angosto Ferrández. This stream of research examines contemporary expressions and re-creations of criollo/mestizo ideologies as anti-racist and egalitarian utopias.

Led by Dr Vek Lewis. This project explores "diabetic disruptions" (Kolling 2012) among Latino-Australian men, examining how migrant masculinities shape diabetes care and how gendered responsibilities affect health management. Drawing on "doing gender" (West & Zimmerman 1987) and "doing diabetes care" (Broom & Lenagh-Maguire 2010), it situates Latino-Australian men within broader discussions of migrant masculinities (Liburd et al. 2007; Muñoz-Laboy 2013). As the first Australian study linking Latino-Australian migrant masculinities with chronic illness management, this research aims to co-design a culturally relevant diabetes care strategy.

Led by Dr Vek Lewis. This collection, half of which has already been written, adopts a decolonial trans* feminist lens to examine how the coloniality of gender (Lugones) affects trans and Indigenous peoples in migration, asylum law, and state violence while also fostering resistance through alternative knowledge, spirituality, and art. Based on talks in the U.S., Mexico, and India, these essays offer theoretical insights and practical tools for activism.

Led by Dr Vek Lewis. This project examines family formation within colonial entanglements. Dipesh Chakrabarty’s "time-knots" (shomoy granthi) suggest history as non-linear, where past, present, and future intertwine. Families are shaped by erasure and structured absence. Focusing on Irish-Eurasian domiciled British subjects in colonial India—the Bells and Grants—this research explores their migration to Australia. It interrogates colonial whiteness, identity management, and myth-making through autoethnography, archival research, and site visits, analysing the transmission of racial identity, trauma, and belonging across generations.

Led by Dr Fernanda Penaloza. Southern Cinemascapes challenges the traditional perspective that positions Europe as the cradle of film festivals; it develops new perspectives on ‘world cinema’ due to very specific geographical orientations, locations and geopolitical tensions within a South-South circulation axis.

Led by Associate Professor Lucia Sorbera. This book project (University of California Press) maps the tight web of personal and professional relationships developed among multiple generations of Egyptian women who witnessed, actively took part in, and documented a century of Egyptian and Middle Eastern political history.

It is the first study to shed light on the intersection between Human Rights and feminist activism from the 1980s until today, situating women’s perspectives and experiences at the centre of knowledge production.

Led by Associate Professor Lucia Sorbera. This research project contributes to the intellectual history of European frontiers and to the literature on women’s history from a decolonial feminist perspective.

Historical analysis of female Arab and African political activists crossing geographical and epistemic borders in the post-colonial age works toward better understanding the long-terms trajectories that link international politics and the construction of gender subjectivities.

(Sorbera collaborative project with Mark LeVine (UC Irvine), Jakelin Troy, Janelle Evans, Rosanne Quinnell, Rebecca Cross, Mitchell Gibbs, Katie Moore, Mujahid Torwali, Kashef Khan, and Melanie Pitkin)

This project is situated across Australia, Africa and South Asia, and draws on the established research strengths of the project team to document the impacts of ecological degradation on our coastlines caused by ever worsening climate, food and health crises.

It documents and brings together the tradition of oral history with digital storytelling and artistic/cultural activities, producing an innovative multimedia archive on migration, and applying principles of Indigenous social sciences research methodologies by privileging the voices and goals of local Indigenous populations.

Led by Dr Macarena Jimenez, this stream of research aims to incorporate critical pedagogy and decolonial critique into language(s) education in order to question Eurocentric norms and language ideologies that have been naturalised as common-sense arguments by coloniality. It also seeks to critically reflect on the intersectional nature of structural inequality and, ultimately, delink ourselves from Western knowledge as the only possible way of thinking and being.

Led by Dr Su-kyoung Hwang. I am working on the history of the Korean War bombing from the civilian perspective. Erupting at the juncture of a decolonizing world and the new Cold War order, the Korean War displayed a mixture of violent practices—carried over from centuries of global colonialism, racial domination, and the extermination of the Other, as well as ideological polarity. This project addresses these issues through the lens of wartime bombing.

Collaborative project led by Dr Timothy Amos with Dr Akiko Ishii (National University of Singapore) and Dr Samson Lim (Monash University). This book project (Routledge) explores the history of development in East Asia through the lens of material transformation and human-nature interactions, emphasizing the perspectives of local populations in both modern and pre-modern contexts. Each chapter invites readers to reconsider conventional ideas of modern development by presenting case studies that uncover and reconstruct indigenous knowledge systems and local practices associated with material changes. Through this approach, the book reveals how contemporary concepts of development first arose and gained dominance, expands our understanding of what development might encompass, and opens up new pathways for reimagining our relationship with society and the environment.

Led by Dr Clara Sitbon, this project examines the island as a pivotal site of inquiry in crime fiction, revealing how isolation, resource constraints, and cultural diversity dynamically shape narrative structures beyond Anglocentric frameworks. By merging literary analysis with cultural geography and transnational studies, the research investigates vibrant crime fiction traditions across the Mediterranean, Central America, and various Asian contexts. Through comparative analysis of multilingual texts, this work demonstrates how insular settings function not merely as exotic backdrops but as complex narrative agents reflecting distinct cultural, historical, and linguistic realities. This archipelagic lens challenges conventional literary paradigms while offering fresh perspectives on isolation, community dynamics, and justice systems within diverse cultural contexts.

We speak with migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds to learn about their experiences managing diabetes and engaging with the healthcare system. Learn more.