Leadership
![]() | Professor Heather A. Horst - Institute DirectorProfessor Heather A. Horst is the Director of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at Western Sydney University. A sociocultural anthropologist by training, she researches material culture and the mediation of social relations through digital media and technology. |
![]() | Professor Brett Neilson - Deputy DirectorProfessor Neilson is Deputy Director of the Institute for Culture and Society. Brett Neilson’s research and writing aim to provide alternative ways of conceiving globalisation, with particular emphasis upon its social and cultural dimensions. |
![]() | Professor Ned Rossiter - Director of ResearchNed Rossiter is Professor of Communication in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, ICS Institute Fellow and the Director of Research at the Institute. Ned is a media theorist noted for his research on network cultures, the politics of cultural labour, logistical media and data politics. |
![]() | Professor Karen Soldatic - Deputy Director of ResearchProfessor Karen is an Institute Fellow researching global welfare regimes built on her 20 years of experience as an international (Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia), national and state-based senior policy analyst, researcher and practitioner. Karen is Istro-Romanian, the smallest ethnolinguistic minority group in Europe, formally recognised by UNESCO. |
![]() | Associate Professor Liam Magee - Director of EngagementAssociate Professor Liam Magee's principal research interests focus on the application of social methods and information technology to the areas of urban development and sustainability. His current work extends this research into the areas of urban development and sustainability. He is presently investigating how online games, simulations and other information technologies can facilitate greater clarity and visibility of sustainability objectives among urban communities and stakeholder groups. |
![]() | Associate Professor Malini Sur - Deputy Director of EngagementMalini Sur is an Associate Professor in Anthropology and the Deputy Director Engagement at the Institute for Culture and Society. Trained as an environmental and socio-cultural anthropologist, Malini’s research interests addresses three sites of inquiry – agrarian borderlands, cities and the environment. She has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in India, Bangladesh, and more recently, Australia. She brings to academia training and advocacy in human rights and progressive work experience in global research collaborations including the Social Science Research Council (New York). |
![]() | Associate Professor Fiona Cameron - HDR DirectorAssociate Professor Fiona Cameron is Principal Research Fellow, Contemporary Museologies and HDR Director at the Institute. Working at the intersection of social, ecological crises and digital transformation, Fiona researches contemporary global transformations in culture and society for positive change. |
![]() | Professor Denis Byrne - Deputy HDR DirectorProfessor Byrne is a Professorial Research Fellow and the Deputy HDR Director at the Institute for Culture and Society. Denis is currently researching the history of travel and migration in the Australia-Asia sphere, focusing on the material traces which attest to this history and comprise its heritage footprint. |
![]() | Terence (Terry) Fairclough - Institute ManagerTerence Fairclough is the Institute Manager at ICS, managing Institute's financial, physical and human resources. Terence has an MA (Geography); a Certificate IV in HR; and a background in public service, NGO and University administration. His past roles have included Senior Private Secretary to a New Zealand Government Minister; New Zealand Consulate for NSW and QLD; Operations Manager at the Australian Society for HIV Medicine; and Centre Manager for the National Centre for HIV Social Research at UNSW. |