Associate Professor
Verena Thomas
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Design
Biography
Verena Thomas is Senior Research Fellow in the School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology. She holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Technology Sydney. Her research interests include communication and social change, communication for development, health communication, arts-based research approaches, visual methodologies and participatory design. Verena has developed innovative and creative approaches to localising research in cross-cultural contexts. She is the founding Director of the Centre for Social and Creative Media at the University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea, which she led from 2012-2016. Verena has led over 20 projects funded by donor agencies, government and non-government partners. She has extensive experience in research and media capacity building in the Pacific region.Personal details
Positions
- Principal Research Fellow
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Design
Keywords
Communication and Social Change, Communication for Development, Arts-based Research, Visual Methodologies
Discipline
Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (University of Tech., Sydney)
Selected publications
- Kauli J, Thomas V, (2019) Media practice and theatre in conversation: Creating narratives for positive social change, ArtsPraxis, 5 (2), pp. 225-242.
- Eggins J, Papoutsaki E, Thomas V, (2018) Engaging youth in community action research: a visual methods approach to HIV and AIDS awareness, Whanake: The Pacific Journal of Community Development, 4 (2), pp. 48-66.
- Thomas V, Kauli J, Borrey A, (2018) Harnessing community-led innovations: the role of participatory media in addressing gender-based violence, Development in Practice, 28 (3), pp. 345-357.
- Kauli J, Thomas V, (2018) Communicating the law: A participatory communication toolkit for human rights defenders in Papua New Guinea.
- Inamara A, Thomas V, (2017) Pacific climate change adaptation: The use of participatory media to promote Indigenous knowledge, Pacific Journalism Review, 23 (1), pp. 113-132.
- Thomas V, Eby M, (2016) Media and public health communication at the grassroots: Village cinemas and HIV education in Papua New Guinea. In RK Vemula & SM Gavaravarapu, Health communication in the changing media landscape: Perspectives from developing countries [Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and IAMCR Series], Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 115-133.
- Papoutsaki E, Thomas V, Horst H, Tacchi J, Noske-Turner J, Eggins J, (2016) A review of the Pacific media landscape: A baseline study, Asia Pacific Media Educator, 26 (2), pp. 270-287.
- Eby M, Thomas V, (2016) Haus Piksa: The informal economy of film distribution in Papua New Guinea, Information Technologies and International Development, 12 (4), pp. 23-33.
- Thomas V, Papoutsaki E, Gouda H, (2016) Integrating ICTs in communication campaigns for noncommunicable diseases in the Pacific, Information Technologies and International Development, 12 (4), pp. 35-45.
- Thomas V, Eggins J, Papoutsaki E, (2016) Relational accountability in indigenizing visual research for participatory communication, SAGE Open, 6 (1), pp. 1-11.
QUT ePrints
To find publications by Verena, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Community-in-the-loop: exploring community experience of artificial intelligence for social good and the implications for ethical development and accountability in developing contexts
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Markus Rittenbruch - UNDERSTANDING TRANSFORMED PERPETRATORS OF SORCERY VIOLENCE AND THEIR ROLES IN DEVELOPING PREVENTION STRATEGIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Christina Spurgeon, Associate Professor Jackie Kauli - Implementing gender education in early childhood learning in Papua New Guinea: Documenting perspectives from teachers
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Jackie Kauli, Dr Oksana Zelenko - Peace Journalism and Conflict Reporting Practices in Myanmar
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Angela Romano - THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY BASED ARTS IN SUPPORTING SURVIVORS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (GBV) IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PNG)
PhD, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Jackie Kauli - Sustaining heritage through creative conversation, community engagement, innovative design and enterprise
Professional Doctorate, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Jeremy Neideck