I work as a lecturer and researcher in Social Work. I have a special interest in working with students who are first in their family to attend university and love working with, and learning from international students. My research to date has focussed on the experiences of women leaving prison, the connection between gendered violence, mental health and substance use and the experiences of women who are studying in the social sciences who are first in family to study at university. My PhD thesis, titled Radically rethinking imprisonment: A Photovoice exploration of life in and after prison in South Australia was conferred in 2018 and was awarded the Flinders University Vice Chancellors Prize for Thesis Excellence. When I am not teaching, researching or writing, I volunteer with Seeds of Affinity: Pathways for Women, a community group which supports criminalised women as they leave, or prepare to leave prison. I am passionate about challenging and undoing the harm caused by prisons for families and communities, understanding the overlapping oppressions of gender, race and class, and the interconnections between humans and the environment
Michele's Teaching Philosophy: Access to education is a human right and as my own experience tells me, education can be both liberative and empowering. But, if delivered uncritically, formal education can reproduce and perpetuate the same systems and ideologies of power which deny people’s rights in the first place. I aim to create a community in my classroom and use multiple, creative and interactive methods to encourage learning. I model good social work practice and principles when working alongside students in the classroom and, while I have high expectations in terms of their participation and submitted work, this is reciprocal in that I create topic content that is organised, detailed and engaging. I am respectful of the lived experiences students bring to the classroom and value the process of seeking and incorporating student feedback to improve my teaching.