Anna Szorenyi

Dr Anna Szorenyi

Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I am a gender studies and cultural studies academic published and recognised internationally for pioneering research challenging gendered and colonial dynamics in humanitarian representations, particularly artistic and visual representations of forced migration, refugees/asylum seekers and human trafficking.

My work is based on a relational ethics that seeks to understand how thinking based on borders and exclusions prevents us from understanding that openness and vulnerability are crucial to all life, and that we cannot survive without one another. I see working for intersectional gender, racial and disability justice as crucial to this project, and believe that this must involve taking responsibility for the colonial contexts in which I have been formed. Hence I have written (both academically and creatively) on transgenerational responsibility in relation to the Holocaust and the colonial invasion and occupation of Australia.

I have a PhD in Gender Studies, and a strong interest in the work of Judith Butler and other feminist theory. I have also completed a Masters in Creative Writing in the area of creative non-fiction. I was awarded the 2022 Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in HDR Supervision, and I am currently Co-Convenor of the HDR Supervision Community of Practice, where with the help of HDR students I am pioneering research into neurodivergence in HDR experiences. I very occasionally have openings for new HDR students in the fields of feminist theory, de/anti/post-colonial theory and practice, visual studies, disability studies/crip theory, and/or creative writing.

I am currently working on a number of publication projects on photography, theatre, and film related to refugees, trafficking and migration.  Overall this work (a) investigates the ways in which contemporary international representations of migration crises are constructed in ways which implicitly naturalise and justify increasingly violent border control and exclusion, and (b) examines and proposes representations which challenge these framings. 

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2007 - ongoing Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2006 - 2006 Tutor Deakin University
    2006 - 2007 Equity Administrative Officer La Trobe University
    2004 - 2005 Lecturer/Tutor Monash University

  • Awards and Achievements
    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2022 Award Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in HDR Supervisory Practice University of Adelaide Australia -
    2020 Teaching Award Arts Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching (Supervision) University of Adelaide Australia $1500
    2020 Teaching Award Executive Dean's Prize for Excellence in Teaching University of Adelaide Australia $1000
    2016 Invitation Institute of Advanced Studies Benjamin Meaker Fast Track Visiting Professorhip University of Bristol United Kingdom £265 plus accommodation
    2013 Invitation Invited Guest Speaker Migrant Health Centre, Relationships SA - -
    2004 Award Monash Postgraduate Publications Award Monash University Australia $3900
    2004 Award Honourable Mention, School of Political & Social Inquiry Postgraduate Publication Award Monash University Australia -
    2000 Scholarship Monash Graduate School Scholarship Monash University Australia -

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    Monash University Australia PhD
    University of Adelaide Australia MA (Creative Writing)
    University of Melbourne Australia Grad Dip (Movement & Dance)
    La Trobe University Australia BA (Hons)

  • Certifications
    Date Title Institution name Country
    2004 Certificate in Quality Teaching Monash University Australia

  • Research Interests
    Care for Disabled Culture, Gender, Sexuality Feminist Theory Gender Studies Migration Race and Ethnic Relations Screen and Media Culture Visual Cultures

2016-17  C. Szabo, K. Falkner, A. Szorenyi and D. Michell. Understanding Australia’s Teaching Culture with Respect to Gender Diversity, Google Research Contract, $26,764.

2015-16   K. Falker, C. Szabo, A. Szorenyi & D. Michell, Pathways to Computer Science: Enabling Equity and Diversity, Google Australia, $55,000

2014   A. Szorenyi, K. Falkner, Improving Gender Equity in Computer Science and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Faculty Research Centre Competitive Funding Scheme, $5000

2011    Book Fellowship at the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, University of Adelaide, $5000

2010    Article Fellowship at the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, University of Adelaide, $600

2007    Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Small Research Grant, University of Adelaide, $1950

Current courses:

  • Gender and Race in a Postcolonial World
  • Encountering Human Rights: Global Citizenship
  • Gender and Crime
  • Gender, Work and Society
  • Contemporary Theories in Gender Studies

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2022 Principal Supervisor Fermenting the wave : Generative re-memberings with/in the feminist archive Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Lily Atkinson
    2021 Principal Supervisor Disability in the workplace Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Natalie Jane Thomas
    2020 Principal Supervisor Embodying Autism: an exploration of the ways autistic adults describe their bodily experiences Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Cambrey Oliver Payne

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2020 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Re-collecting Myself: Writing a War Thirty Years On Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Naida Roberts
    2017 - 2021 Principal Supervisor Our ‘Ideal’: Reconfigurations of Masculinities among Filipino Men Who Experienced Violent Conflict and Internal Displacement in Southern Philippines Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jennefer Lyn Lagria Bagaporo
    2016 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Australian Alcohol Advertising, Gender Stereotypes, and Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assault Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Laurence Cobbaert
    2014 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Janus-Faced Mothering and a Cruel Story of Blame: The Representations and Lived Effects of Mothering an Autistic Child Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Karen Jane Williams
    2013 - 2015 Co-Supervisor The Social Production of Loneliness amongst Women of Refugee Background Living in Adelaide, Australia Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Jane Frances Rodeghiero
    2012 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Utopian Encounters: Healing, Transformation and Paradox Amongst Women in Alternative Community Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Nadine Levy
    2011 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Gender and Invested Agency: Cultural Expressions in the United Arab Emirates Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jillian Schedneck

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2019 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Gendered Disabilities: Silent Performatives in Cinema Flinders University - Doctorate - Tova Rozengarten

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2015 - ongoing Advisory Board Member Advisory Board, Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender University of Adelaide Australia
    2008 - 2011 Treasurer Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association - -

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2015 - ongoing Member Cultural Studies Association of Australia (CSAA) Australia
    2007 - ongoing Member Australian Women's and Gender Studies Association Australia

  • Editorial Boards
    Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
    2006 - 2011 Board Member The Australian Feminist Law Journal - -

  • Offices Held
    Date Office Name Institution Country
    2022 - ongoing Co-convenor, HDR Supervision Community of Practice University of Adelaide Australia
    2017 - ongoing School Postgraduate Coordinator University of Adelaide Australia
    2014 - ongoing Postgraduate Coordinator University of Adelaide -
    2008 - 2014 Honours Coordinator University of Adelaide -
  • Position: Lecturer
  • Phone: 83133736
  • Email: anna.szorenyi@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83133772
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Napier, floor 1
  • Org Unit: School of Social Sciences
Connect With Me
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