
Dr Susan Hemer
Senior Lecturer
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr Susan Hemer is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology & Development Studies. Dr Hemer's research interests include the social, health and gendered impacts of mining and development projects in Melanesia; socio-cultural, gendered, historical and political aspects of access to health care; health care issues including HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, gendered violence and maternal health care in Papua New Guinea; emotions, death, grief and mourning. Dr Hemer publishes in medical and psychological anthropology, and development studies. She holds a long-standing interest in the ethics of research, and is currently a member of the University of Adelaide HREC. Her research expertise includes ethnography, interviews, qualitative surveys and archival research. Her book, Tracing the Melanesian Person, was published in 2013. She lectures in the areas of medical and psychological anthropology, and development studies. She gained her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Melbourne.
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 - ongoing 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 2019 Teaching Award Stephen Cole the Elder Excellence in HDR Supervisory Practices University of Adelaide Australia - 2018 Award Commendation for the Enhancement and Innovation of Student Learning University of Adelaide Australia - 2016 Fellowship Barbara Kidman Fellowship University of Adelaide - - -
Language Competencies
Language Competency Tok Pisin Can read, write and speak -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title The University of Melbourne Australia PhD University of South Australia Australia Graduate Diploma in Aboriginal Studies
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Journals
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Books
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Book Chapters
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2011 Hemer, S. R. (2011). Gender & mining: Strategies for governing the development of women in Lihir, PNG. In https://nouvelle-caledonie.ird.fr/content/download/41897/.../Hemer.pdf. Noumea, New Caledonia.
2022 National Library of Australia Fellowship. $22900 (sole investigator). Women and children last: the establishment of maternal child health services in Papua New Guinea.
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 2022 Principal Supervisor They Whine, I Wine - Identifying and Understanding a wine-mom habitus Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Janine Aujard 2022 Co-Supervisor Medical Compliance and the Transplant Recipient Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Caitlin Jane Fox 2022 Co-Supervisor How might a focus on food and eating generates new knowledge about COVID-19 unavailable through other foci? Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Chenyu Zong 2021 Principal Supervisor Image Gardens: A study of Vanuatu sand drawing Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Stephen Zagala 2019 Principal Supervisor Conceptualisation, handling and management related to human death in contemporary Adelaide Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Annamaria Fratini 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 2016 Principal Supervisor Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Leda Caitlin Sivak -
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 2016 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Navigating deafness and cochlear implants: Parents’ and young adults’ experiences in an Australian setting Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Claire Elizabeth Harris 2015 - 2020 Principal Supervisor To Make Their Journey Back to Nature: Zoo Captivity and Post / Humanism Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Gail Yvonne Wright 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 2014 - 2019 Co-Supervisor The F... is Goth Anyway: Classification, Dynamic Practice and Goth in
AdelaideDoctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Briony Erin Lynette Kate Morrison 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 2012 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Built for Extraction: Dependence, Sovereignty and Development in Timor-Leste Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Terese Geraghty 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 Ms 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 2021 - ongoing Member Human Research Ethics Committee University of Adelaide Australia 2020 - 2021 Member Low Risk Ethics Committee (Arts/Professions) University of Adelaide Australia 2015 - 2016 Advisory Board Member Porgera External Advisory Komiti PEAK Papua New Guinea -
Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2021 - ongoing Member Australian Death Studies Society Australia 2007 - ongoing - Australian Anthropological Society -
Connect With Me
External Profiles