JCU > Research Portfolio > A/Prof Theresa Petray

About

Dr Theresa Petray (she/her) is an Associate Professor in Sociology and Head of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences academic group. Her research and teaching both centre on the concepts of agency and social change. Theresa is committed to using her academic work to contribute to social justice.

Theresa is a Research Fellow of The Cairns Institute, and Theme Leader of the Social & Environmental Justice Group at TCI.

Her primary research focus is on Aboriginal activism and self-determination. Her current research, with Gugu Badhun nation, looks at economic development and nation-building through the lens of self-determination. This research has led to important partnerships with researchers around Australia and internationally, and was funded by an ARC Discovery Award, administered though UTS 2019-2023.

Theresa has researched Aboriginal protest movements in North Queensland as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social media activism. In particular, she is interested in the ways that seemingly marginalised people exercise agency to speak back to power.

Theresa also has research and professional interests in gender equity. From 2018-2022 she was Coordinator of JCU's Gender Equity Action & Research team (formerly Gender Equity Self-Assessment Team). In this role, she led the development of JCU's SAGE Athena Swan Bronze application, and the subsequent implementation of the Gender Equity Action Plan.

Theresa supervises JCU students in sociology and related disciplines, and has been on supervisory panels for research students from University of Sydney, University of Copenhagen, and Ben Gurion University. In 2022, Theresa was awarded JCU's Advisory Panel Member of the Year award, and in 2016 JCU's Early Career Advisor of the Year award.

Teaching

BA4000: Becoming a Researcher (Level 4; TSV)
SY1001: Australian Society: An Introduction to Sociology (Level 1; TSV)

Interests

Professional

Gender equity

Research

Social movements, social change, protest and activism
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agency

Teaching

Active learning, student engagement and agency
Social Research Methods
Sociology and Anthropology

Experience

2023 to present - Head, HASS, JCU
2019 to 2023 - Local Organising Committee member, International Sociological Association World Congress
2022 - Associate Dean, Research Education, JCU
2022 - Associate Dean, Research Education, James Cook University
2019 to 2022 - BA Honours Course Coordinator, James Cook University
2018 to 2022 - GEAR Coordinator, JCU
2014 to 2021 - Sociology major coordinator, JCU
2020 - Stephen Crook Award for best book in Australian sociology panel member, The Australian Sociological Association
2017 - Jean Martin Award for best thesis in Australian sociology panel member, The Australian Sociological Association
2016 - Journal of Sociology Best Paper Prize panel member, The Australian Sociological Association
2016 - Indigenous Governance Program, Native Nations Institute (University of Arizona)
2015 - Conference Convenor, The Australian Sociological Association (Cairns)
2015 - Bachelor of Arts First Year Coordinator, JCU
2013 to 2014 - Secretary, The Australian Sociological Association
2011 to 2014 - Convenor, Sociology of Indigenous Issues thematic group
2013 - BSocSc (Hons) Course Coordinator, JCU
2013 - Jean Martin Award for best thesis in Australian sociology panel member, The Australian Sociological Association
2011 to 2012 - Postgraduate portfolio manager, The Australian Sociological Association

Research Disciplines

Socio-Economic Objectives

Honours

Awards

2022 - JCU Advisory Panel Member of the Year award
2016 - JCU Early Career Advisor of the Year award
2015 - Rising Star top up award
2013 - JCU Teaching and Learning Development grant with Dr Wendy Li and Dr Kelsey Halbert: CAR in the Flipped Classroom
2012 - JCU Rising Star Award
2011 - PhD - James Cook University
2010 - JCU Inclusive Practice Teaching Award

Memberships

2020 to 2023 - International Sociological Association member
2015 to 2023 - Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies member
2008 to 2023 - The Australian Sociological Association member
2014 to 2019 - Asia-Pacific Sociological Association member
2007 to 2019 - Australian Anthropological Association Fellow
2011 to 2015 - Trans-Oceanik partnership between James Cook University and L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociale, College de France

Publications

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

Compton A, Vivian A, Petray T, Walsh M and Hemming S (in press) Indigenous nation building and native title: strategic uses of a fraught settler-colonial regime. Settler Colonial Studies,
Lubicz-Zaorski C, Newlands M and Petray T (in press) Fuelling the climate and science 'denial machine' on social media: A case study of the Great Barrier Reef's 2021 'in danger' recommendation on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Public Understanding of Science,
Velazquez M, Petray T and Miles D (in press) The impacts of drug and alcohol use on sentencing for First Nations and non-Indigenous defendants. Race and Justice,
Alexander N, Petray T and McDowall A (2022) Conscientisation and Radical Habitus: Expanding Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice in Youth Activism Studies. Youth, 2 (3). pp. 295-308
Alexander N, Petray T and McDowall A (2022) More learning, less activism: narratives of childhood in Australian media representations of the School Strike for Climate. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 38 (1). pp. 96-111
Milton J and Petray T (2020) The two subalterns: perceived status and violent punitiveness. M/C Journal, 23 (2).
Petray T, Doyle T, Howard E, Morgan R and Harrison R (2019) Re-engineering the "leaky pipeline" metaphor: diversifying the pool by teaching STEM "by stealth". International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 11 (1). pp. 10-29
Petray T and Gertz J (2018) Building an economy and building a nation: Gugu Badhun self-determination as prefigurative resistance. Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, 12 (1).
Petray T and Pendergrast N (2018) Challenging power and creating alternatives: integrationist, antisystemic and non-hegemonic approaches in Australian social movements. Journal of Sociology, 54 (4). pp. 665-679
Lloyd R, Newlands M and Petray T (2017) Coral Battleground? Re-examining the 'Save the Reef' campaign in 1960s Australia. Environmental Sociology, 3 (1). pp. 54-63
Petray T and Collin R (2017) Your privilege is trending: confronting whiteness on social media. Social Media and Society, 3 (2). pp. 1-10

Book Chapters

Alexander N, Ashley A, Lisciandro R, Oleszek R and Petray T (2021) When students protest and when they don’t: challenging the apathy narrative in Australia. In: When Students Protest: Universities in the Global North. Rowman & Littlefield, London, UK, pp. 159-178

More: ResearchOnline@JCU stores 42+ research outputs authored by A/Prof Theresa Petray from 2008 onwards.

Current Funding

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Australian Research Council - Discovery - Projects

Prerequisite conditions for Indigenous nation self-government.

Indicative Funding: $60,000 over 4 years (administered by University of Technology Sydney)
Summary: Based on evidence that self-governance increases Indigenous socioeconomic and community capacity, this international, inter-disciplinary Project aims to investigate factors that impact on the transition from 'identifying' to 'organising' as a political collective. It expects to generate new knowledge about (1) the effectiveness of an Indigenous nation building (INB) model to initiate self-governing strategies and mechanisms; (2) how Indigenous self-governance may impact on the Australian state; (3) preconditions needed for INB 'from scratch'; and (4) an INB methodology. The Project could significantly benefit Indigenous communities; the broader Australian community; Australian governments; and Australian and international INB researchers.
Investigators: Alison Vivian, Daryle Rigney, Steve Hemming, Simone Bignall, Theresa Petray and Pauline Clague in collaboration with Stephen Cornell, Janine Gertz and Dennis Eddington (University of Arizona, University of Technology Sydney, Flinders University, College of Arts, Society & Education and Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Ltd)
Keywords: Aboriginal; Governance; Indigenous nation-building; self-determination

Supervision

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

Aboriginal Social theory: The commonalities of Aboriginal Social Knowledge (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
Experiences of embodiment and exclusion in medical systems: Power, knowledge and transvaginal mesh devices (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
A Comparative Analysis of the Construction of French Identity in the Tropics through the Language and Music of the French National Anthem (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
A sociological examination of children?s experience and effectiveness when participating in activism. (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
Rifts and Reconnection: An Examination of Reconnective Mitigative Practices under Capitalism (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Risk Perception and Intersectionality: Implications for Large-scale Restoration and Adaptation (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Swimming Upstream: A narrative exploration of the lived experience of older LGBT people and how social work professionals can support and advocate for their community. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

Trauma and gender in natural disaster and conflict contexts: a comparative study of Aceh, Indonesia and the Deep South of Thailand (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Exploring place in North Queensland: a contemporary visual artist responds to colonial journeys (2020, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Mapping connection, disconnection and power within the social news media network: a case study of the Great Barrier Reef UNESCO 2021 'In Danger' recommendation on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook (2022, Masters , Secondary Advisor)
Indigenous perspectives on evaluating community development programs in Indigenous communities: a case study of Palm Island (2022, Masters , Secondary Advisor)
Gugu Badhun Sovereignty, Self-Determination and Nationhood. (2022, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
Self-Determination Discourses of Zenadth Kes People through Time (2023, Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
Sentencers' attitudes toward women in the criminal justice system: explanations for sentencing treatment disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor)
Social Media as a zone of violence: Neoliberal ideology and violent self-presentation in online spaces (2023, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

Data

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

Petray, T. (2017) #WhiteProverbs Australia tweets. James Cook University
Petray, T. (2014) Using the Internet for Civic Engagement. James Cook University

Collaboration

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.