Please join us to support and learn from a group of speakers who bring feminist perspectives to pressing challenges. From climate change and the resource boom to literature’s unruly women and hidden inequalities in essential services this group of talks from ECR researchers will provoke fresh thinking.
Join the Teams Meeting
Abstract: The presentation offers insight into the ecofeminist methodology developed for the recently published book Performing Climates, co-authored with Eddie Paterson. It reflects on the value and limitations of ecofeminist thinking within a climate emergency through sharing part of the chapter
'Lego' and its discussion on the place of plastics in the world today.
Bio: Dr Lara Stevens is a Lecturer in English at Charles Sturt University, co-author of ‘Performing Climates’ (Routledge 2025) and co-editor of ‘Feminist Ecologies’ (Palgrave 2018), a collection of essays about the pioneering work of Australian women environmental philosophers, activists, artists and writers. She is the author of ‘Anti-War Theatre After Brecht’ (Palgrave 2016), editor and translator (Fre-Eng) of essays by Hélène Cixous (Re.press 2018) and is about to release the co-authored book ‘Ecology and Climate in Theatre and Australian Performance’ (CUP, 2026).
When: Friday 25th July
Time: 12.30 – 1.30 pm,
Where: Teams Meeting
Please contact one of us for more information:
Abstract: Social reproduction, a concept developed by Marxist feminists during 1970s 'second-wave' feminism, refers to the processes and services that keep people alive and functioning well so that their labour can serve capitalism. In the context of multiple major resources projects ramping up in Dubbo, NSW, this presentation presents findings on how social reproduction services are being organised for the large influx of workers arriving in the town for these projects, and their impacts on gender equality and on the community.
Bio: Dr Catherine Orian Weiss is a lecturer in sociology at Charles Sturt. Her research interests are feminism and gender inequality, and race and migration. She has researched topics including social reproduction, care, and sexuality; lesbian identity; gender and disaster; and migrant communities and disaster. She is currently working on a book project, developing a theoretical approach to care and sexuality.
Abstract: Sexism and gender-based discrimination within paramedicine are persistent, systemic, and deeply rooted in the organisational and cultural fabric of the profession. These challenges undermine the well-being and professional development of paramedics and the broader goals of DEI. The systemic nature of these issues requires a focused, evidence-based approach to understanding and addressing the underlying drivers of sexism and discrimination. This discussion will focus on the prevalence and manifestations of sexism and critically analyses the cultural, organisational, and societal factors that perpetuate them.
Bio: Alisha McFarlane is an intensive care paramedic and lecturer in paramedicine at Charles Sturt. Her research aims to promote and drive change in the professional culture of paramedicine.. Her work is published in journals such as The Australian Journal of Social Issues, Paramedicine, and with Routledge
Abstract: Published in 2024, Disruptive Women of Literature: Rooting for the Antiheroine focuses on the literary antiheroine in contemporary Gothic and crime-thriller novels and traces her emergence from the deviant women of Greek mythology and Shakespeare to the twenty-first century. It explores how the antiheroine shifts dependent on genre, time period, and format, demonstrating that she is capable of both challenging and reaffirming problematic ideologies surrounding women, power, violence, sexuality, and motherhood. The antiheroine is defined by her experience of a patriarchal trauma and must therefore navigate her identity differently and more complexly than her antihero counterpart.
Bio: Dr Ellie Gardner is a Lecturer in English at Charles Sturt. She has an interest in feminist, queer, and Gothic literature. Her research focuses primarily on the representation of the antiheroine in modern literature, with a particular interest in abjection, power, and the monstrous-feminine. She is also interested in the connection between queerness and the Gothic, as well as with recent approaches in fiction to motherhood, sexuality, and violence.