Susan Hemer

Dr Susan Hemer

Senior Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Faculty of Arts

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

Dr Susan Hemer is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology & Development Studies, and is Acting Head of Department for Anthropology and Development Studies. She gained her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Melbourne. Dr Hemer's research interests include the social, health and gendered impacts of mining and development projects in Melanesia, as well as social and emotional dynamics in Melanesia more generally. Dr Hemer publishes on medical or psychological anthropology, and development studies. Her book, Tracing the Melanesian Person, was published in 2013. She lectures in the areas of medical and psychological anthropology, and development studies.

Prior to working at the University of Adelaide, Dr Hemer held a research and project implementation position in the Community Relations Department for Lihir Gold in Papua New Guinea, particularly focusing on health, gender relations and village resettlement.

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  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2013 Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2009 - 2012 Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2000 - 2002 Community Health & Research Officer Lihir Management Company

  • Awards and Achievements
    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2016 Fellowship Barbara Kidman Fellowship University of Adelaide — —

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    — The University of Melbourne Australia PhD
    — University of South Australia Australia Graduate Diploma in Aboriginal Studies

2017 Fred Johns Scholarship for Biography. University of Adelaide. $8000 (sole investigator). Pioneer nurse: Betty Crouch, the Australian Baptist Mission and maternal-child health in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

2016 Barbara Kidman Fellowship, University of Adelaide. $30,000 (sole awardee).

2014   Africa Australia Universities Network (AAUN) Partnership Development Research Fund Grant. Mining for a Healthier Community (Co-investigator with Helen McDonald [CI], Penny Johnson, Martha Macintyre, et al). $10,000.

2012   Papua New Guinea National AIDS Council Secretariat Small Grant. (Lead investigator) K36,000 ($16,000).

Susan Hemer teaches in both Anthropology and Development Studies. Courses taught include:

Anthropology of Health and Medicine

Life, Death and Culture

Anthropology of Emotion, Mind & Person

Ethnography

Poverty & Social Development

Dr Hemer has team taught in Psychiatry in Emotion, Culture and Medicine

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  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2018 Co-Supervisor Water harvesting in Parseeling, India Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Matt Barlow
    2018 Co-Supervisor The Lived Experiences of Refugee Advocacy: an Anthropological Study of Support Work, Wellbeing and Resilience Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Alison Kim Reid
    2018 Principal Supervisor Keeping Culture alive: Aboriginal uses of Salvage Anthropology Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Rebecca Grace Richards
    2018 Co-Supervisor The Seven Phases to Integrating Loss and Grief Framework: A Reflexive Journey Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Rosemary Mavis Wanganeen
    2016 Principal Supervisor Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Leda Caitlin Sivak
    2016 Principal Supervisor Deafness Identity and parent choice: How does history and politics impact parents choices for deaf children Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Claire Elizabeth Harris
    2016 Principal Supervisor An Ethnographic Study of Scientific Knowledge Production by Antarcticans Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Luke John Baker
    2015 Co-Supervisor The Culture of Risk and Threat in the Metropolitan Fire Service Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Gail Yvonne Wright
    2014 Co-Supervisor The Goth Subculture: An Australian Case Study Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Briony Erin Lynette Kate Morrison

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2016 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Welfare in Transition: The Political Economy of Social Protection Reform in Indonesia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Maryke Christine Van Diermen
    2014 - 2017 Principal Supervisor An Exploration of Collaboration: Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Relationships in Ethnographic Filmmaking Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Naomi Offler
    2013 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Wanbel: Conflict, Reconciliation and Personhood among the Sam People, Madang Province Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr David Eric Troolin
    2013 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Panoptic Bio-Power and the Illusion of Transparency Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Paloma White
    2012 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Chase the Feeling: Making Meaning in an Autistic Theatre Company Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Mr Michael James Allen
    2011 - 2012 Co-Supervisor Consuming Identities: Contemporary Japanese Foodways in a Global Locale Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Micah Peters
    2010 - 2015 Principal Supervisor Remember Forever: Relationships with the living and the dead in a Vietnamese online memorial site Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Anthony Heathcote
    2009 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Potential Futures: An Ethnography of a Familial Cancer Counselling and Genetic Testing Unit Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Amaya Gilson
    2009 - 2017 Principal Supervisor The Inside Out of the Ageing Self: Identity, Trust, and Friendship of Australian Seniors in an Online Community of Older People Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Di Shaw
    2009 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Human-Animal Relations: Agency, Inter-dependence and Emotion between Humans and Assistance Dogs Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Sarah Anne Curtis
    2008 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Rebirthing: the transformation of personhood through embodiment and emotion Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Elise Mary Carr
    2008 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Mothering and Mental Illness: An Ethnography of Attachment in an Institutional Context Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Sonia Masciantonio
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  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2015 - ongoing Advisory Board Member Porgera External Advisory Komiti — Papua New Guinea

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2007 - ongoing — Australian Anthropological Society —
  • Position: Senior Lecturer
  • Phone: 83135732
  • Email: susan.hemer@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Napier, floor 1
  • Room: 1 34
  • Org Unit: Anthropology and Development Studies
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