Academic Qualifications
PhD (Literary Studies/Aboriginal Studies), Monash University
MA (English), City University of New York Graduate Center
BA (Literature), State University of New York - College at Purchase
Magna Cum Laude, City University of New York Latin/Greek Institute (Intensive Latin)
Research Interests
Michele's research focus is informed by a strong commitment to cross-cultural analysis and to cross-cultural communities of theory and practice in narrative production and reception. Her main research interests and publications revolve around:
- Indigenous Australian writing and publishing
- Narratives of migration, displacement, diaspora and resettlement
- Transnational settler culture and settlement discourse
- Orality, literacy and modernity
- Transnational Indigenous literatures
- Autobiography, life-writing and cultural memory
Recent Project Experience
- Chief Investigator, Young People's Perspectives on Community Safety, Victoria Police (Brimbank), $128,000, 2007, pending
- Chief Investigator, Comparative Native Canadian and Indigenous Australian oralities, literacies and modernities, Australian High Commission, $5,600, 2006
- Chief Investigator and Node Leader (Communication Stream), Diversity and Diabetes in Western Melbourne, Victoria University Priority Innovation and Research Program Grant, $5.3 million, 2006-2011
- Chief Investigator, Refugee Access and Participation in Tertiary Education and Training, Department of Education and Training (Victoria), $63,500, 2005-2006
- Senior Researcher, Settlement Experiences of Newly Arrived Humanitarian Entrants, Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, $150,000, 2006
Community and Organisational Involvement
Michele has broad links with the South Sudanese community in Melbourne, particularly in the Western region. She works with adult Sudanese women refugees as a tutor with SAIL (Sudanese-Australian Integrated Learning Program) in Footscray, where she sometimes also runs cooking classes for the S.A.I.L. Xtend program for youth. She has recruited and trained a variety of Sudanese bilingual community workers and research assistants for various research projects conducted through ICEPA and elsewhere in Victoria University.
Recent Publications
- Full recent publications list
