Dr Corrinne Sullivan (IAG Award for Dissertation Excellence) Citation
Dr Corrinne Sullivan’s PhD at Macquarie University was submitted in May 2020, examining how Indigenous Australian sex workers (male, female and transgender) negotiate their everyday lives, and their cultural, gender and sexual identities. Thesis findings will directly impact Indigenous peoples by contributing to a more balanced social justice approach in planning and policy.
As an Indigenous researcher, Corrinne employed her Indigenous lens grounded by Indigenous Standpoint Theory to unpack how Indigenous people, places and philosophies are understood, and (re)produced in scholarship. One examiner noted that Corrinne’s thesis ‘forms a distinct contribution to geographical, Indigenous, feminist, and wider critical social science knowledge’.
Corrinne already has five published/accepted Q1 ranked journal articles, one article is under review, and one book chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Gender and Feminist Geographies. Book editors noted her chapter’s ‘original and vitally important contribution’ and that ‘will be a key reference point for researchers and students for many years to come’. According to Google Scholar, her thesis has 30 citations to date.
She has received several university and national post-graduate awards for her work: Pierre Agnus Award (Macquarie University), IAG postgraduate award both for her ‘originality’ and ‘creativity’, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Postgraduate Student Research Commendation Award, ‘Executive Dean’s Excellence in Higher Degree Research Award ’, Walunga Muru Indigenous PhD submission of the year (Macquarie University), and the Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Academic Excellence falling into the top 5% of PhD theses in the field.