Summer Research Program - 2017 Projects
Available Projects
- Places of Memory: Narrative and Trauma, Dr Amy Hubbell
- Australian language-in-education policy and intercultural language learning in Spanish language primary school programs, Dr Adriana Diaz
- Maximizing mobility: Understanding Study Abroad experiences in the context of employability, Dr Barbara Hanna
- The investigation of environmental discourse and ruling ideologies in the school textbooks in Korea and China, Dr Isaac Lee
- Japanese Girl Studies Across Borders, Dr Lucy Fraser
- Gender and Humour in Modern/Contemporary Japanese Culture, Associate Professor Tomoko Aoyama
- Gurindji corpus development
- Steps towards revitalising Jandai
Places of Memory: Narrative and Trauma
Duration: 10 weeks, 27 November 2017 to 16 February 2018, 25 hours per week
Description: How do survivors, witnesses, and observers relate to the places of traumatic memory? This project explores how place figures in narratives of war, terrorism, disaster, exile and discrimination and how people interact with the physical space in which they or their communities were affected, sometimes generations later. We will explore how place and narrative reverberate, sometimes towards healing (commemorative sites) though often reopening wounds (trauma writing and art). The research scholar(s) will gather preliminary research to complete a literature review of existing scholarship on this topic. The scholar(s) will also identify recent trends in this field to help position the book we are writing.
Number of participants: 1 - 2
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars will gain qualitative research experience in the humanities and work across different cultures and languages to identify current trends in trauma and memory studies. The student(s) will write a literature review which requires developed critical thinking and an ability to synthesize complex information in clear and succinct language.
Suitable for: Scholars will ideally be advanced students studying at least one foreign language at UQ. The student should have demonstrated ability to write coherent, structured, and clearly referenced material and should enjoy reading broadly on the subject of place, memory and narrative.
Further info: Please contact Dr Amy L. Hubbell, a.hubbell@uq.edu.au if you require more information on this project.
Australian language-in-education policy and intercultural language learning in Spanish language primary school programs
Duration: 10 weeks (mid-November to mid-February). 20 hrs per week
Description: This small-scale project aims to examine how early Spanish language learning is implemented in Australia and how it relates to language policy, the current curriculum reform at national level and intercultural language teaching. This project is set against a background of growing numbers of migrants from Spanish-speaking countries and the absence of research on Spanish language programs in compulsory education.
Number of participants: 1
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars will gain skills in relation to review of relevant literature (both academic and grey literature, e.g., government reports, national statistics, policy statements, etc.); preparing annotated bibliographies and assisting in the development and administration of data collection instruments (e.g., surveys) as well as collating and analysing collected data.
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from 3rd year students with a background in education and/or (applied) linguistics and intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish language.
Further info: For further details regarding the project, candidates may contact Adriana Diaz on: a.diaz@uq.edu.au
Maximizing mobility: Understanding Study Abroad experiences in the context of employability
Duration: 6 weeks: (exact dates can be negotiated) 20th November - 8th December 2017; 8th January - 26th January 2018 (for example).
20 hours per week
Description: This summer research project fits into a larger project which aims to maximize the potential benefits of Study Abroad for university students by engaging with them before, during, and after their time overseas. This is a collaborative project undertaken by Barbara Hanna (UQ) and Gabriele Schmidt (ANU).
The part of the project in which the RA will be involved explores the ways in which Australian university students understand, interpret and represent the impact of Study Abroad in non-English speaking contexts on their personal identity. It also seeks to identify models of best practice in providing support to students as they move into, through, and out of, Study Abroad and subsequently into their professional lives. Specifically, the RA will undertake a literature review and contribute to the development of the online questionnaire which will be the major data collection instrument.
Number of participants: 1
Expected outcomes and deliverables: The research assistant will develop skills in undertaking literature searches; locating training opportunities for study abroad students (such as MOOCs); using bibliographic software; in questionnaire design; in building an online questionnaire.
He or she will build up an organized collection of articles; entered into the bibliographic software, which the chief investigators will use to write their literature review. He or she will contribute to the development of the online questionnaire which will be administered to participants.
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with a background in Humanities/ Social Sciences, preferably with a university-level experience of Study Abroad in a non-English-speaking country.
Further info: Applicants are invited to contact the Primary Supervisor prior to submitting an application, by sending an email to: Dr Barbara E. Hanna, b.hanna@uq.edu.au
The investigation of environmental discourse and ruling ideologies in the school textbooks in Korea and China
Duration: 10 weeks (Nov-Feb) Start 20/11/17. 30 hrs per week
Description: This project aims to analyse environmental issues and the dominant ideologies that are embedded in school textbooks in China and South Korea. This project analyses Korean and Chinese textbooks for primary and secondary school which were published in South Korea and in China. Textbooks are means which legitimise the government ruling ideologies. Through this project, I will look into how school textbooks portray the environmental issues and government ruling ideologies, and whose interest they portray.
The students will have the opportunity to interpret Chinese and Korean textbooks and scholarly articles into English. They will learn how to read and analyse texts critically, and reveal dominant ruling ideologies embedded in textbooks.
Number of participants: 2
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Students will develop critical analytic skills of texts, and will have an opportunity to translate Korean into English, and Chinese into English (or Korean).
Suitable for: This project is open to receive applications from students with high bi-lingual skills (Korean and/or Chinese and English), UQ enrolled students.
Further info: Please email Isaac Lee, isaaclee@uq.edu.au
Japanese Girl Studies Across Borders
Duration: 9 weeks, (20 November-22 December then 8 January-9 February), 24 hrs per week
Description: The shōjo might be described as a figure or idea of the girl that circulates in Japanese manga, anime, literature, film, television, fashion and more.
Japanese girls’ culture has its origins in translated girls’ literature such as L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, and an interest in ‘Western’ arts and culture. As such, many classic Japanese girls’ stories have romantic settings that are outside Japan—Ikeda Riyoko’s manga of the French revolution, The Rose of Versailles, is a famous example.
This project examines these international dimensions of shōjo culture. The aim is to identify contemporary girls’ texts with foreign settings and characters, and analyse the significance of these texts against the history of Japanese girl culture. Has the meaning of non-Japanese characters and settings changed across time? What significance does this phenomenon hold for the current global market in Japanese popular culture?
In practice, this means firstly searching for and reading/watching manga, anime, novels, and more, then writing concise, relevant summaries. Secondly, it involves researching academic work to build a literature review of the topic.
For interested and suitably qualified applicants, this project may also include a co-translation, from Japanese to English, of an important piece of criticism on this topic.
Number of participants: 2
Expected outcomes and deliverables:
Outcomes for the student who take part in this project are:
- Improvement of their general research skills in the humanities
- Develop the ability to write succinctly and clearly
- Gain knowledge of the field of girl studies in Japan and elsewhere
- Gain knowledge of the field of contemporary Japanese popular culture and literary studies
The student will be expected to:
- Research and write a literature review of fiction and criticism on this topic; detailed, progressive feedback will be provided
OR
With the supervisor, co-translate a selected piece of criticism on this topic, with the aim to submit to for publication
Suitable for: This project is open to students who have achieved excellent results in one or more university courses in literature, film, television, popular culture or similar.
Alternatively, students who are interested in these fields and who can read and write Japanese and English at an advanced level are also invited to apply.
Further info: If you would like more information, please contact the supervisor: l.fraser2@uq.edu.au
Gender and Humour in Modern/Contemporary Japanese Culture
Duration: 8 weeks in two lots of 4-week period before and after Christmas break (20 November – 15 December; 15 January – 9 February). 30 hours per week
Description: The project examines various aspects of humour and gender in modern and contemporary Japanese literary and graphic texts, film and theatre. In particular, it focuses on:
- The pain-alleviating, healing, and empowering functions of humour in Japanese literature, manga and film, especially in connection with discrimination, violence, and other issues concerning gender and ageing.
- Gender-specific or non-specific humour in children’s literature, especially Ishii Momoko’s creative, critical and translation works.
The participants in this Summer project will assist the supervisor in preparing a book project and a journal special issue. The tasks and training will include advanced Japanese-to-English scholarly translation and editing. Students will be assigned to translate and edit collaboratively with the supervisor and the contributing authors in Japan via email and skype.
Number of participants: Two participants are required to work in close collaboration. They both need to have advanced literacy and translation skills in English and Japanese. Preferred combination is one English native speaker and one Japanese native speaker. However, other factors such as the students' interests and experience in literary studies and translation, and their familiarity with English academic writing will be taken into consideration.
Expected outcomes and deliverables: Scholars will learn about the topic of gender and humour in modern/contemporary Japanese literature and culture. They will also gain opportunities to advance their skills in Japanese-to-English scholarly translation and related research under the supervision of, and in collaboration with, the supervisor and other experienced international researchers. They will also learn about requirements and procedures of academic publications. They are expected to provide draft translations of the papers. They will also assist other relevant tasks such as archival search and contacting people that involve bilingual skills. Their assistance will be acknowledged in relevant publications of the researchers. Students will be asked to submit a short report to the supervisor at the end of the project.
Suitable for: This project is suitable for students with advanced J-E translation skills. Native or near-native level of literacy in both languages is required. Students interested in Japanese literature, children's literature, film, women’s manga, and contemporary theatre would particularly enjoy the project. UQ MAJIT (Master of Arts in Japanese Interpreting and Translation) and undergraduate students with high proficiency are encouraged to apply.
Further info: Interested students should contact the supervisor t.aoyama@uq.edu.au before submitting an application.
Gurindji corpus development
Duration: 8 weeks (13 November – 22 December; 8-19 January). 36 hours per week
Description: This project will form a part of an ARC project examining changes in Gurindji across two generations of Gurindji people. It develop a Gurindji corpus from archival material. The Summer Research scholar will be trained in linguistic annotation, transcription of Gurindji and will code transcribed recordings in preparation for statistical analysis.
Number of participants: 1
Expected outcomes and deliverables: The Summer Research scholar will gain hands on experience in using language documentation software common to field linguistics. They will become familiar with linguistic annotation tools and elicitation methodologies, and its application to youth Indigenous varieties in Australia. The end result will be a searchable and analysable corpus of Gurindji transcripts which will form the basis of a number of publications.
Suitable for: This project is open to applications from advanced students with a background in Linguistics and an interest in fieldwork, Australian languages, language contact and quantitative methods. Applicants who are interested in undertaking an RHD thesis will be highly competitive.
Further info: For initial enquiries, please email Felicity Meakins, f.meakins@uq.edu.au
Steps towards revitalising Jandai
Duration: 6 weeks (3 January-13 February 2018)
Description: Jandai, a Yuggera language traditionally spoken on North Stradbroke Island, has no native speakers but many interested community members. The project involves the compilation and organisation of language records, to assist revitalisation efforts by members of the Goenpul people.
Number of participants: 1
Expected outcomes and deliverables: The scholar would gain experience in language revitalisation efforts, working from primary documents, preparing materials for use by non-specialists, and effectively supplementing the work of a local Aboriginal community.
Suitable for: This project is open to UQ enrolled students who have completed at least two of the following courses: Phonology, Morphology, Field Methods, Study on an Australian Aboriginal Language. Students must be free to make day trips to North Stradbroke Island if necessary during the weeks of the project (either by public transport or private vehicle).
Further info: For initial enquiries, please email Kari Sullivan, ksull@uq.edu.au.