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 Katherine Gibson - Deputy DirectorProfessor Katherine Gibson is Deputy Director of the Institute for Culture and Society. Katherine is an economic geographer with an international reputation for innovative research on economic transformation and over 30 years’ experience of working with communities to build resilient economies. |
![]() | 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. |
![]() | Associate Professor Anna Cristina Pertierra - Deputy Director of ResearchAssociate Professor Anna Cristina Pertierra is a school-based researcher within the School of Humanities and Communication Arts. Anna's research uses ethnography to examine everyday social practice, with a particular interest in media, consumption and material culture, and urban modernities. Regionally, her work focuses on Cuba, Mexico and the Philippines. |
![]() | Associate Professor Liam Magee - Director of EngagementAssociate Professor Liam Magee is an Associate Professor at ICS. Liam'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. |
![]() | Dr Malini Sur - Deputy Director of EngagementDr. Malini Sur is a Senior Lecturer 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 Denis Byrne - HDR DirectorAssociate Professor Denis Byrne is a Senior Research Fellow and the 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. |
![]() | Dr Fiona Cameron - Deputy HDR DirectorDr Fiona Cameron is a Senior Research Fellow and the Deputy HDR Director. Fiona works across two broad fields: agency of the museum sector in public culture in the representation of 'hot' topics of societal significance and climate change; and digital technologies and heritage collections. |
![]() | 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. |