New Directions in Faculty of Society and Design Research

This session introduces the newest generation of researchers in the Faculty of Society and Design, covering a range of disciplines researched in the faculty including the humanities, criminology and built environment.

The presenters will each speak for 30mins with 10 mins for Q& A.

11am to 11.40am

Dr. Oscar Davis – Indigenous Fellow

Intercultural Aporia: The Motu Lifeworld as Hermeneutic

Hermeneutics as a theoretical orientation emerged as a way to interpret texts (such as those from classical antiquity) without relying on the unquestioned authority of some meditating tradition (such as the ecclesiastical traditions of the Latin Middle Ages). Hermeneutics is a discipline of interpretation which is particularly attuned to questions of understanding in situations involving difference. Engaging with the ways of being, doing, and knowing in the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, I will argue, rehearses and illustrates this feature of hermeneutical philosophy. Drawing upon Gadamer’s conception of a Fusion of Horizons, I argue that the interpreter must experience a kind of intercultural aporia in order to establish the openness necessary for meaningful dialogue with new and other ways of knowing.

11.40am to 12.20pm

Dr. Tyler Cawthray

Title: ‘Light touch’ Police Reform: The Tonga Police Development Program

Research on police reform in the Global South has historically tended to have a strong focus on large scale foreign aid funded interventions in post-conflict settings. Yet, these types of interventions represent extreme manifestations of police development and capacity building programs, and the contexts in which they occur. This presentation discusses another perspective on police reform by discussing a ‘light touch’ externally sponsored reform program undertaken over 15 years in a small Pacific Island Country (PIC). It examines the Tonga Police Development Program (TPDP) an agreement between the governments of Australia, New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga that ran from 2008 until 2020. Using the work of Wozniak (2017; 2018), who provides a cogent assessment of the classical challenges of, and articulates a pathway towards, delivering more effective police building programs, this work critically evaluates this programme. Drawing on an analysis of publicly available documentary evidence, we make the argument that intentional design choices, as well as inadvertent outcomes of activities have made the TPDP an example of a ‘reflexive’ police building programme that addresses the ‘material basis’ needed for reform (Wozniak 2017; 2018). It asserts that because of this to some degree unintended approach the program has been more successful in terms of improving the policing environment in the Kingdom of Tonga through pursing key reforms such as, police infrastructure development, the implementation of community policing, and improvements to the accountability and integrity of police and other government officials. The presentation concludes by highlighting what the TPDP ‘got right’ with the aim of further contributing to discussions of police reform.

12.20pm to 1pm

Dr. Valentah Siamuzwe-Manase

An Assessment of the Housing Investment Needs in Australia – A Case Study of Queensland

The housing crisis in Australia is well known and documented by various stakeholders. Driven by an exponential population growth and a shortage of affordable housing in locations near jobs and facilities, its impact is more adverse on the young and the low-income groups. Numerous stakeholders with variant and sometime conflicting priorities from both public and private sectors are impacted by and influence the factors prevalent in this sector. Therefore, the housing crisis needs to be understood and addressed from a holistic and multidisciplinary perspective that takes into account the various dimensions and stakeholders involved.

This research seeks to analyse the causal factors to the housing crisis with the aim developing insights into the multi-faceted investment approaches that can address the housing crisis. These findings will shape and develop an investment framework that will help define and project the current and future housing needs and, consequently the investment needs from both public and private stakeholders. The research will draw on the lessons learnt from other developed economies where similar challenges have been faced and addressed.

The study will focus on Queensland as a case study because it has experienced an exponential population growth post-Covid and is particularly impacted by the housing crisis.

*1pm to 2pm: Light Lunch

Audience will be called upon for comments, feedback and questions at the conclusion of each individual presentation.

Attendees will discover the extraordinary range and power of the research done by new appointees to the Faculty of Society and Design.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Princeton Room, Building 6, Level 3, Bond University, 14 University Drive, Robina, Australia