Doctor Rachel Morley

Doctor Rachel Morley

Academic Program Advisor, First Year Comm/Design/Music,
Communication, Creative Industries & Screen Media

Senior Lecturer,
Communication, Creative Industries & Screen Media

Senior Lecturer,
Communication, Creative Industries & Screen Media

Biography

Dr Rachel Morley is a Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media, and the First Year Advisor for Creative Industries, Communication, Music, Screen Media and Design. Former academic leadership roles have included Associate Dean of Engagement (School of Humanities and Communication Arts) and Director of Academic Program (Communication, Creative Industries and Screen Media). 

Rachel currently teaches across multiple subjects in the Bachelor of Creative Industries. Her pedagogical practice is grounded in co-created industry engaged curricula initiatives that draw on her passion and deep connection to Western Sydney's vibrant and dynamic arts and cultural communities. Rachel has received numerous awards for her contributions to student learning including an HCA Excellence in Partnership Pedagogies award (2021), two Western Sydney University Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2013 and 2014), a Vice Chancellor's Excellence Award for Postgraduate Training and Supervision (highly commended, 2014), a Vice Chancellor's Excellence Award for Learning and Teaching (2015), and a Vice Chancellor's Professional Development Scholarship (2015). Rachel has also been recognised for excellence in industry and community engagement, winning the 2023 international prize in Budapest for Excellence in Regional Engagement at the University Industry Innovation Network Conference awards.

Rachel's research interests include literary and creative practice (with a particular interest in biography and autobiography); narrative practice and community storytelling; digital media, memory and identity; and ageing, creativity and cognition. She is currently engaged in research focused on identity and life story practices in out-of-home-care communities. Previously, Rachel held an ARC grant focused on digital storytelling in Central Australia and she was a co-researcher on 'Ageing Creatively: Creative Writing as a Tool for Healthy Ageing'. She is a certified LEGO Serious Play facilitator and she is currently completing certification training in Narrative Practice. She is an experienced PhD and DCA supervisor. Her creative praxis PhD, 'Re-membering Michael Field: Scenes From a Biographical Praxis' (Macquarie University, 2009), used fictocriticism and autoethnography to explore the processes and experiences that inform the making of a biographical text in an attempt to understand the effects of those experiences on research and writing, and the production of biographical knowledge more broadly. 

This information has been contributed by Doctor Morley.

Qualifications

  • PhD Macquarie University
  • MA University of Western Sydney

Professional Memberships

  • Writing and Society Research Centre, UWS (2009)
  • Digital Humanities Research Group (2014)

Awards

  • UWS Learning and Teaching Award: Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning 2013-12-10
  • UWS Learning and Teaching Award: Citation for Outstanding Contribution To Student Learning 2014-12-09

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

  • Communication, Creative Industries & Screen Media
  • Communication, Creative Industries & Screen Media
  • Communication, Creative Industries & Screen Media

Committees

  • First Year Communication Arts Academic Course Advisor

Contact

Email: R.Morley@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone: (02) 9685 4668
Mobile:
Location: ED.G.43
Parramatta

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Publications

Chapters in Books

  • Cohen, H., Morley, R., Dallow, P. and Kaufmann, L. (2010), 'Database Narratives: Conceptualising Digital Heitage Databases in Remote Aboriginal Communities', Information Visualization, IEEE computer society, Conference Publishing Services (CPS) 9780769541655.
  • Morley, R. (2007), 'From Demidenko to Darville: Scenes from a Literary Carnivale', Metafiction and Metahistory in Contemporary Women's Writing, Palgrave Macmillan 9780230005044.
  • Morley, R. (2007), 'Between the Sheets with Michael Field: Conversations in Auto/Bio/Graphy', Michael Field and Their World, Rivendale Press 1904201083.
  • Morley, R. (2005), 'A Stitch in Time: An Experiment in Collaboration', Lesbian Academic Couples, Harrington Park Press 9781560236184.

Journal Articles

  • Jewell, M., Morley, R. and Uhlmann, A. (2019), 'New writing in an aged care setting', New Writing, vol 16, no 2 , pp 206 - 219.
  • Cohen, H., Cohen, H., Morley, R., Morley, R. and Moenandar, S. (2017), 'And then an elephant came along', Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, vol 11, no 1 .
  • Cohen, H., Cohen, H., Morley, R., Morley, R. and Moenandar, S. (2017), 'And then an elephant came along', Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, vol 11, no 1 .
  • Cohen, H., Morley, R. and Moenandar, S. (2017), 'Narrative resistance', Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, vol 11, no 1 .
  • Morley, R. (2016), 'In conversation with Juan Francisco Salazar', Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, vol 10, no 1 .
  • Cohen, H. and Morley, R. (2015), 'The visual remediation of a complex narrative : reimagining the "small world" stories of Journey to Horseshoe Bend', Scholarly and Research Communication, vol 6, no 4 .
  • Morley, R. (2015), 'Carmel Bird : 'flying about the place'', Sydney Review of Books, vol December 4, 2015 .
  • Morley, R. (2015), 'Everyday intimacies : an interview with Fiona Wright', Sydney Review of Books, vol October 9, 2015 .
  • Morley, R. (2015), '25 'Week in Review' essays in Sydney Review of Books', Sydney Review of Books, .
  • Morley, R. (2012), 'Fighting feeling : re-thinking biographical praxis', Life Writing, vol 9, no 1 , pp 77 - 95.
  • Morley, R. (2011), 'Writing Intimate Lives: Mediations in Biographical Praxis', Literature Compass, vol 8, no 12 , pp 962 - 971.
  • Morley, R. (2009), 'The trial of Katharine Harris Bradley and Edith Emma Cooper : poets and lovers', Michaelian, vol 1, no 1 .
  • Morley, R. (2005), ''A New Sketch of Edith Cooper'', Notes and Queries, vol 52, no 1 , pp 81 - 82.
  • Morley, R. (2005), 'A stitch in time: An experiment in collaboration', Journal of Lesbian Studies, vol 9, no 4 , pp 13 - 24.
  • Morley, R. (2004), 'Constructing the self, composing the other : auto/fixation and the case of Michael Field', Colloquy, , no 8 .
  • Morley, R. (2003), ''Boxed In: Muscling in on Masculine Identities'', Journal of Australian Studies, vol 76, no 2003 , pp 109 - 116.

Conference Papers

  • Morley, R. (2023), 'The research creations showcase : spanning the boundaries of a university-led curatorial engagement practice in Western Sydney : a case study in engaged and dynamic partnership within a regional creative arts ecosystem', University Industry Innovation Network. Conference, Budapest, Hungary.

Other Publications

  • 2022, 'Out-of-Home-Care (OOHC) Digital Lives: A Collaborative Investigation into Digital Opportunities for the Personal Narratives of Young People in Care', Report
  • 2016, 'Ntaria Heroes', Recorded Work
  • 2013, 'Shelf Life', Recorded Work

Previous Projects

Title: Ageing Creatively: Creative Writing as a Tool for Healthy Ageing
Funder:
  • University of Western Sydney
Western Researchers: Anthony Uhlmann, Paul Arthur, Christopher Davis, Denis Burnham, Esther Chang, Hazel Smith, Jason Ensor, Rachel Hendery, Rachel Morley and Melinda Jewell
Years: 2015-03-01 - 2016-06-30
ID: P00022526
Title: Digital Archives, Datadiversity and Discoverability: The Strehlow Collection as Knowledge Resource for Remote Indigenous Communities
Funder:
  • Northern Territory of Australia
  • Australian Research Council (ACRG)
  • Northern Territory of Australia
Western Researchers: Hart Cohen, Rachel Morley and Juan Francisco Salazar Sutil
Years: 2012-01-24 - 2016-05-31
ID: P00019985

Supervision

Doctor Morley is available to be a principal supervisor for doctoral projects

Current Supervision

Thesis Title: Cultural Work: Writing about Albums as Cultural Artefacts.
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: On the Road to Damascus: Theorising Transformational Encounters in Art Galleries and Museums
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Visualising Empathy: An Alchemist in the Landscape
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: AS I SAT DYING: Bringing theological, philosophical and literary tools of inquiry to interface with human experience on Rev. Carl Strehlow's 1922 journey to his death at Horseshoe Bend in the Desert of Central Australia
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: I Witness - Titrating Grace: Towards Wholehearted Living.
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: A Brief History of Starvation
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Contemporary Feminist Autoethnographic Account and Modern Reconstruction: Responses to Early Twentieth Century Female Missionary Writing about Northwest China
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: The Significance of Aboriginal Film Culture for Aboriginal People. An Auto-ethnographic study
Field of Research:

Previous Supervision

Thesis Title: A Heuristic Inquiry into the Writing Process of a Feature Film Script - The Red Sun Trail
Field of Research: Audio Visual Studies; History; Drama And Theatre Studies; Gender Specific Studies
Thesis Title: Amergein and Burilda: A Story Told on Film
Field of Research: Communication And Media Studies, N.e.c.
Thesis Title: Beside Our Selves: Panic as Unbecoming
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: From Rant to Revolution: The Possibilities and Limitations of Motherhood Memoir
Field of Research: Society And Culture
Thesis Title: In Search of Lost Objects
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Is there such a thing as a too `safe place for change'? An enquiry into how client dependency is understood by therapists and their clients
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: It's Not the Biggest Story Ever, I Know, but it's Telling': Women, Music, and the Confessional Mode; and Her Fidelity: A Novel
Field of Research: Music
Thesis Title: Reading Books in Buenos Aires
Field of Research: Written Communication; Literature
Thesis Title: Becoming on YouTube: Exploring the Automedial Identities and Narratives of Australian Mummy Vlogging
Field of Research: Communication And Media Studies
Thesis Title: Graving another Testament: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Sydney Anglicans Under Peter Jensen 2001- 2010
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Green room Gidgets: deconstructing the female surf protagonist in Australian Young Adult fiction
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Of Cancer and Other Things: Conversations with the Royal Philosopher on Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella
Field of Research: Other Creative Arts
Thesis Title: One Giant Leap for Jazz: The Life and Work of Roger Frampton
Field of Research: Communication And Media Studies; Language And Literature
Thesis Title: Power and the Passion: Representation of Single Motherhood in Contemporary Australian Fiction since Whitlam and a novel, The Verge
Field of Research: Other Creative Arts; Gender Specific Studies
Thesis Title: Tilraji?s Cry: A Life from the Margins. Statement of Problem and Context of Practice
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Unbroken: Personal Storytelling as a Method of Illuminating Parenting Experiences of Disability, Illness and Diversity
Field of Research: Journalism; Other Creative Arts
Thesis Title: Being There, Online: Structuring for sociality at online writers? festivals
Field of Research:
Thesis Title: Embodied belonging and the politics of race in Australian poetry slams
Field of Research: Society And Culture
Thesis Title: Roger Frampton Comes Alive: Finding the Father, Sleuthing the Self Through an Analysis of Grief, Patriography and Documentary Film
Field of Research: Audio Visual Studies; Psychology; Music
Thesis Title: The Contextual Relevance of Freedom of Speech and Public Opinion as Mediated by the Class Structures of the Real and Digital Spheres
Field of Research:

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