Deepening our understanding of issues facing contemporary society
Our innovative research in humanities and social sciences is driven by four key themes that address pressing social and cultural challenges. We unite researchers from diverse fields to examine critical issues, including the safeguarding of heritage to reinforce community identity and resilience, fostering equitable and sustainable digital transformations, developing frameworks to reduce social disparities and promote inclusivity in culture and the arts. We also focus on enhancing community resourcefulness in response to environmental, economic, health, and political crises that impact migrant, Indigenous, and rural populations.
Safeguarding Heritage
Program Leader—Associate Professor Jillian Huntley
Safeguarding Heritage advances the discovery, analysis, and sustainable management of heritage (material and non-material, human and non-human) to support community identity, bonds and resilience.
Major social challenge
Heritage defines our pasts, informs our present, and shapes our aspirations for the future. It is also transformative in expanding our capacity to understand and protect objects, people and place, and may act as a catalyst for those otherwise marginalised and denied agency. How heritage is identified, understood, managed, and experienced will become increasingly important in a world facing multiple and unprecedented crises. Recognising and supporting sustainable futures for heritage is critical if we are to manage the compounding crises acting upon heritage and support those communities and institutions whose identities are inextricably bound in heritage.
Therefore, the work in this program aims to
- Empower communities to identify or reflect upon their heritage through advocacy and analysis and provide practical tools to help safeguard and manage heritage into the future.
- Unveil new discoveries about the human past, advancing understanding of its contemporary significance
Current Projects
Digital Transformations
Program Leaders—Associate Professor Drew Rae & Dr Yorick Smaal
Digital Transformations examines how to enable equitable, inclusive, and sustainable digital access and community participation.
Major social challenge
The rapid digital transformation of social, economic, and political domains poses risks for individuals and communities. Yet technology’s potential to disrupt familiar forms of human expression and interaction is matched by new possibilities for new modes of creativity, engagement, and collaboration. The central challenge addressed by this program is how to enable equitable, inclusive and sustainable digital access and participation.
Current Projects
Transformative Cultures
Program Leader—Associate Professor Margaret Gibson
Transformative Cultures focuses on creating frameworks and strategies to reduce social disparities in Australia's culture, arts, sports, and well-being sectors, fostering more just and inclusive communities.
Major social challenge
Transformative Cultures focuses on creating inclusive frameworks and strategies that reduce social disparities across Australia’s culture, arts, sports, physical activity, and well‑being sectors. By addressing the diverse needs of people living in cities, regional centres, and rural and remote communities, the program aims to foster more equitable, connected, and culturally vibrant places where all individuals and communities can experience a strong sense of belonging.
Bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives, the program examines how policy and practice intersect across culture, the arts, sport, recreation, and community life. It seeks to better understand how inequalities manifest across different geographies and social groups—including First Nations peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, people with disability, older Australians, young people, and those facing socio-economic disadvantage. Through this work, Transformative Cultures explores pathways for promoting participation, wellbeing, cultural engagement and expression, and access to sport exercise, artistic expression and other forms of community in a rapidly changing social, environmental, and technological landscape.
Current projects
Confronting crisis
Program Leader—Dr Kaya Barry
Confronting Crisis identifies and strengthens social and cultural resourcefulness in environmental, economic, health or political crises among migrant, Indigenous and rural communities, including precarious work sectors.
Major social challenge
Understanding how different communities respond differently to uncertainties produced by crises including climate change, disasters, health crises, financial shocks and new technological transformations. This research challenge aims to unpack the interplay of elements- including cultural, social, linguistic and communicative - that factor into community responses in times of uncertainties wrought by crisis. By interrogating their interplay, we seek to comprehend their impact on advancing societal objectives such as inclusion, equity, and well-being, as outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This investigation aligns with Griffith University’s research social justice priorities, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted aspects shaping resilient and socially impactful community responses to uncertainty and crises.
Current Projects
Contact details
- Phone
- (07) 3735 7338
- gcscr@griffith.edu.au
- Address
- Macrossan Building N16
- Griffith University
- 170 Kessels Road
- Nathan, Qld 4111
