Staff profile

Dr Kirsty Duncanson

Lecturer

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Social Sciences

MB 445, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

BA Hons, PhD (Melbourne).

Membership of professional Associations

Editorial board member, The International Journal for the Semiotics of Law. Member, Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand. Member, Law and Literature Association.

Area of study

Legal Studies

Brief Profile

While maintaining a central focus on the intersections of law, crime and the social world, my work is strongly interdisciplinary. In my research and teaching I draw on theory and method from across the fields of socio-legal studies, criminology, political science, gender studies, visual culture and media studies. My key areas of interest include the negotiation of sexual assault through the criminal justice system and the greater community, and strategies of prevention; and popular engagements with law and sovereignty as they take place in the production and consumption of visual culture.

Research interests

Criminological Theories

- Criminology

Gender, Culture, Sexuality

- Gender studies

Law and Society

- Socio-legal studies

Political Theory and Political Philosophy

- Political science

Teaching Units

I have taught subjects spanning a number of disciplines and institutions including criminal law at Melbourne Law School; criminology, socio-legal studies and gender studies at the University of Melbourne; media studies at RMIT and women’s studies at La Trobe University.

  • LST1LEP – Legal Practices
  • LST2/3LPC - Law, Policy, Community

 

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

  • Duncanson, K. (forthcoming) ‘“Native” Landscapes and “Cultivated” Gardens and the Erasure of Indigenous Sovereignty in Two Recent Instances of Australian Cinematic Jurisprudence’ Law, Culture and the Humanities.
  • Duncanson, K. and McMillan, N. (in press – 2010) ‘“This is Africa”: Filmic Negotiations of Crime, Justice and Global Responsibility’ in Mason, G., Milivojevic, S. and Lee, M. (eds) Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference Proceedings 2010 New South Wales: Australia and New Zealand Critical Criminology Network.
  • Duncanson, K. (2010) '"We the People of the United States …": The Matrix and the Realisation of Constitutional Sovereignty', The International Journal for the Semiotics of Law.
  • Duncanson, K. (2009) 'The Scene of the Crime: The Uneasy Figuring of Anglo-Australian Sovereignty in the Landscape of Lantana', Law Text Culture vol.13, pp.25-54.
  • Duncanson, K. (2008) 'Embodiments of the English Constitution in the Romanticised Narratives of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales and Four Weddings and a Funeral', The Australian Feminist Law Journal vol.28, pp.121-147.
  • Duncanson, K., Elder, C. and Pratt, M. (2004) 'Entanglement and the Modern Australian Rhythm Method: Lantana’s Lessons on Policing Sexuality and Gender', Portal: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies vol.1(1).
  • Duncanson, K. (2001) 'Tracing the Law Through The Matrix', Griffith Law Review vol.10(2), pp.160-172.

Public Sector Publications

  • Duncanson, K., Quadara, A. and Clark. H. (2009) 'Prevention Frameworks', Aware vol.22 ACSSA.
  • Duncanson, K. (2009) 'Asking the "Man" Question: Interview with Adrian Howe', Aware vol.23 ACSSA.

Reviews

  • Duncanson, K. (2011) Language, Meaning and the Law by Chris Hutton International Journal for the Semiotics of Law
  • Duncanson, K. (2009) Sex, Violence and Crime by Adrian Howe, Aware vol.23 ACSSA.

Seminars/Conferences/Workshops

  • 2010 'Reading Stories of Sovereignty in Cinema using the English Gardens in The Proposition and Australia as examples', Knowing Acting Creating: Melbourne Forum of Doctoral Legal Research, Melbourne Law School .
  • 2009 'Reading Anglo-Australian Sovereignty in the Depiction of English Cottage Gardens in The Proposition and Australia', Translegalities: Law and Literature & Law and Society, Griffith Law School.
  • 2009 'Uneasy Consumptions of Cinematically Landscaped Anglo-Australian Sovereignty in Lantana', Methodological Approaches to Legal Scholarship: Early Career Researcher’s Workshop, Melbourne Law School.
  • 2004 'The Imagining of an English Nation in the Telling of Trauma at Diana’s Funeral', Apertures: Critical Legal Conference, University of Westminster.
  • 2002 'Female Bodies Performing the Law', Research Seminar, University of Wollongong – funded by the University of Wollongong.
  • 2002 'Ronald Dworking Goes Legally Blonde', The Association of Law, Culture and the Humanities, University of Pennsylvania.
  • 2002 'Tracing the Law through The Matrix', Law and Society, Griffith Law School – funded by Griffith Law School.

Research projects

Research Undertaken

Drawing on theory and methodology from the fields of socio-legal studies, criminology, visual culture, political science, gender and media studies, my PhD thesis examined popular engagements with narratives of sovereignty as they appear in key film and television texts from Australia, England and the United States of America.

Working with the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault I have examined a number of issues and concerns surrounding the perpetration, regulation and prevention of sexual violence. I also conducted research into the responses of victim services and the criminal justice system to the prevalence of sexual assault.

Research Projects

  • Popular Sovereignty: Examining Cinematic Engagements with Sovereign Authority
  • Investigating Social Marketing in the Prevention of Sexual Violence
  • Juries, Rape and Consent: An Examination of Jury Directions in Rape Trials in Victoria