Dr Sarah Wright

Biography

I was awarded my PhD August 17, 2004 and began work in my first permanent academic position on September 1, 2004. I am thus an early career researcher. My two and a half years post-PhD have been years dedicated not only to establishing my research career but also developing my teaching and beginning administrative duties. In my first year of full-time employment, I was awarded the position of convenor of the Development Studies Program at the University of Newcastle, a position I continue to hold. I serve on the Development Studies Program Committee, the Review committee for the Masters of Social Change and Development at the University of Newcastle, and the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Committee of the School of Environment and Life Sciences. In the two years since I completed my PhD, I have developed, coordinated and taught the development studies stream of courses in the degree at Newcastle and completed a two-year Postgraduate Certificate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Washington, 2004
• Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Sydney

---

Research

Research keywords

• Southeast Asia and the Pacific
• borders
• critical development studies
• governance
• intellectual property
• scale

Research expertise

I am a geographer with a specialisation in cultural geography and critical development studies. My work has a geographical focus in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Since completing my PhD in August 2004, I have established a strong and growing international reputation. My research has three primary foci: borders and flows; geographies of knowledge and intellectual property, and, good governance in the Pacific.

Borders and flows

My research focus on borders and flows has contributed to theoretical and empirical understandings of borderlands by highlighting borders as sites of identity construction and as spaces that connect as well as divide. As a member of the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies and the ARC Network for Spatially Integrated Social Sciences, I have contributed to work on the theory and methodology of flows and networks both regionally (Lloyd et al 2006; ONeill et al 2007) and internationally (ONeill 2006; Roberts et al 2006; Roberts et al Forthcoming) producing insights into the role of flows and connections in healthy regional development and exploring innovative data analysis techniques using GIS technologies. My experience working with in collaboration with two researchers from Macquarie University (Lloyd et al 2005, 2006; Suchet-Pearson et al 2006; Wright et al 2006, 2007, In press) constitutes another important input into research into flows and connections. We have contributed to work on the northern borderlands highlighting the importance of quotidian experiences of the border through an investigation of quarantine practices, tourism as development and storytelling.

Geographies of knowledge and intellectual property

This research area is aimed at understanding the importance of constructions of knowledge and intellectual property in uneven development. I have contributed to theories of globalisation and development by elucidating the importance of knowledge in creating the global scale and in social movements efforts to articulate different conceptions of the global. One major research focus, based in the Philippines, examines the relationship between globally propagated intellectual property laws and the material experience of farmers in the Philippines. As a recipient of the Social Science Research Council (USA) fellowship for Global Security and Cooperation (2004-2005), I demonstrated the importance of constructions of knowledge and identity to understanding food security (Wright 2002, 2006). As a result of this work I was invited to conduct a lecture series in the Philippines presenting at six prominent Filipino universities and policy institutes.

Governance

The research focus explores ideas of good governance in the South Pacific. This research examines the scaled nature of political governance.¿ Using governance and scale as framing devices, it explores governance as a contested pathway of established and evolving practices that empowers certain kinds of interventions and is contested and remade in site specific ways.

Languages

• Spanish

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
160499	Human Geography Not Elsewhere Classified	85
150699	Tourism Not Elsewhere Classified	10
040699	Physical Geography And Environmental Geoscience Not Elsewhere Classified	5

Centres and Groups

Centre

• Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS)

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Institute of Australian Geographers

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

• Member - Association of American Geographers
• Member - NSW Geographical Association

Awards

Honours.

2007	Best Full Paper CAUTHE (Australia) Paper, "Educational tourism and learning exchanges with indigenous tour operators in the Northern Territory," nominated for best full paper at the CAUTHE 2007 conference, Sydney, 11-14 Feb, 2007

Research Award.

2004	Edward Ullman Award for outstanding contribution to written scholarship University of Washington (United States) Edward Ullman Award for outstanding contribution to written scholarship
2002	Social Science Research Council Fellowship Social Science Research Council (United States) Social Science Research Council Fellowship (2002-2004) Program on Global Security and Cooperation
2001	Antipode graduate student scholarship Antipode (Journal) (United Kingdom) Antipode graduate student scholarship
2001	Chester Fritz Award for international study and exchange University of Washington (United States) Chester Fritz Award for international study and exchange
2001	Fellowship Institute for the Study of World Politics (2001-2002) (United States) Dissertation fellowship from the Institute for the Study of World Politics (2001-2002)

Invitations

Lecture series to six prominent Filipino universities and policy institutes Hosted by MASIPAG, Philippines (Conference Presentation - non published.)

2005

---

Administrative

Administrative expertise

I am currently the Program Convenor for the Bachelor of Development studies and the Bachelor of Development Studies (Hons), and a member of the Development Studies Program Committee. I was a member of the review committee for the Masters of Social Change and Development at the University of Newcastle, participated in the Phase 3 Grad Attributes project for development studies and was a member of the Faculty Advisory group for DCIT student marketing project. I sit on the School of Environmental and Life Sciences Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Committee and am currently the course coordinator for three courses in the School.

---

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Cultural Geography
• Development Studies
• Human Geography
• Regional Geography
• Social Geography

Teaching expertise

My teaching is focused on human geography with a specialisation in critical development studies. I am the convenor of the development studies degree at the University of Newcastle and am a lecturer in geography and development studies. I have a Graduate Certificate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching from the University of Newcastle and have supplemented my formal qualifications in teaching with participation in programs to strengthen my teaching skills including with a year long teaching support program involving training, ongoing consultation and evaluation with the renowned Center for Instructional Development and Research at the University of Washington, USA.

Through my teaching I aim for a constructive learning environment that empowers students and facilitates them developing a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their lives. In my work as a teacher, course coordinator and convenor of the Development Studies degree at the University of Newcastle, I aim to encourage an effective learning community both within and beyond my classes. This involves building trust and respectful relationships that support diversity through course design and in the classroom. It is my aim that students develop critical thinking skills and broadly applicable competencies, and come to view themselves as empowered citizens with important contributions to make in the classroom and in broader society.

My teaching experience is informed by 15 years professional work as a practitioner and educator in group facilitation, cross-cultural awareness training and community-based environmental education working with non-government organisations and community groups in the Philippines, Cuba, Australia and the US. I value collaboration in teaching and research and place high importance in making contributions that extend beyond the classroom. Since starting at the University of Newcastle, I have developed collaborations with government, community and indigenous partners that bring students and community together through practical-based fieldwork and research. I have worked with indigenous partners and students to help evaluate educational tourism options, to collaborate on the production of educational materials (Biliru, Darwin), to develop a pilot study tour (Wagiman Women Rangers, Tjuwaliyn) and co-produce a publication on the practice and cultural importance of weaving for an indigenous cross-cultural womens program in Arnhemland (Gaywu womens program).

Teaching interests

I teach in development studies and human geography and am convenor of the Development Studies Degree at the University of Newcastle.

I currently coordinate:

GEOG1030 Global Poverty and Development

GEOG2130 Geographies of Development

GEOG3300 Rethinking Development

Other courses that I have taught in the past include: Cities and Regions; Introduction to Human Geography; Introduction to the Physical Environment; Human Dimensions of Environmental Change; Consumption, Nature and Globalisation; World Hunger and Resource Development.

Philosophy of teaching and learning

Through my teaching, I aim to make a difference in the lives of my students. I aim for a constructive learning environment that empowers students and facilitates them developing a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their lives. In my work as a teacher, course coordinator and convenor of the Development Studies degree at the University of Newcastle, I aim to encourage an effective learning community both within and beyond my classes. This involves building trust and respectful relationships that support diversity through course design and in the classroom. It is my aim that students develop critical thinking skills and broadly applicable competencies, and come to view themselves as empowered citizens with important contributions to make in the classroom and in broader society.

My teaching philosophy is based on the idea that the role of a teacher is to foster and support students in their own process of active learning. I draw upon insights from phenomological and feminist pedagogy to understand learning as a constructive process (see for example, Boulton-Lewis et al 2004; Bradbeer et al 2004; Buchy 2004; Davis 1993; Mahar and Thompson Tetreault 1994; Marton et al 1993; Wiestra et al 2003). Phenomenological and feminist phase-theory models view learning as a series of interactive phases through which students pass as they develop learning skills from acquiring knowledge, to developing understanding, to an approach that ‘constitutes a change in themselves and the world around them’ (Boulton-Lewis et al 2004: 95). As a teacher, a mentor, and a developer of curriculum, I see my role as a guide and co-learner for and with students as they pass through these phases.

Students bring a diverse and valuable array of knowledge and experience into the classroom. In my teaching, I take an approach that emphasizes inclusivity in course content, reading, assessment items and in the classroom. This includes a respect for, and attention to, diverse talents and learning styles. I base my teaching approaches on the recognition that different individuals have a variety of styles of learning (learning styles). I approach diversity as a benefit in the classroom and encourage students to be themselves, to respect their own role as knowledge producers and to value others in the classroom. In my courses I employ a range of teaching strategies and aim to build on the strengths that different students bring to the learning experience. Rather than pigeonholing students or varying my approaches to fit a single specific style, this means using a variety of teaching approaches and strategies to meet a diverse range of learning styles. I take a reflective approach in which I am actively cognizant of my own positionality as a teacher and aware of the power relationships and dynamics within the classroom.

Courses

• GEOG1030 - Global Poverty and Development
• GEOG2130 - Geographies of Development
• GEOG3300 - Rethinking Development