Dr Susan Hemer

Biography/ Background

Doctor Susan Hemer lectures in the areas of medical and psychological anthropology, and development studies. Dr Hemer's research interests include the social impact of mining and development projects in the Pacific, and expatriate communities associated with development projects. Research interests in psychological anthropology are focused on emotion and grief in both Melanesia and Indigenous Australia.

Prior to working at the University of Adelaide, Dr Hemer held a research and project implementation position in the Community Relations Department for Lihir Gold in Papua New Guinea.

Dr Hemer publishes on both medical or psychological anthropology and development studies, and has a book, Being Lihirian, currently in press.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology) Honours, University of Adelaide.

PhD (Anthropology), University of Melbourne.

Graduate Diploma (Aboriginal Studies), University of South Australia.

Teaching Interests

• Anthropology of Health and Medicine.
• Anthropology of Emotion, Mind and Person.
• Emotion, Culture and Medicine.
• Ethnographic Research.
• Poverty and Social development.
• Honours Anthropology.

Research Interests

My research interests

• Personhood, social relations, emotion, and grief in Melanesia.
• Australian Aboriginal grief, trauma and healing.
• The social impact of mining and development projects in the Pacific.
• Expatriate communities associated with development projects.

Current PhD projects

• An Ethnographic study of postnatal mental illness.
• Rebirthing: the embodied experience of self-determined health.
• The individual and the state in Kerala, India.
• Online/offline social interaction among babyboomers and senior Australians.
• An ethnographic study of the Familial Cancer Unit.
• Human:animal relations: a study of working and companion animals.

Publications

In Press. Being Lihirian: Person, Emotion and Relations in Lihir. Crawford House Publishing.

2008 Piot, Personhood, Place and Mobility in Lihir, Papua New Guinea. Oceania 78(1):109-125.

2005 Healthcare and Illness in Lihir, New Ireland Province, in the context of the development of the Lihir Gold mine. PNG Medical Journal 48(3-4):188-195.

2002 A Malmalien e Makil: Person, Emotion and Relations in Lihir. PhD Thesis, University of Melbourne.

 

Conference Papers

2008 Pursuing the good life in Londolovit Township. Paper given at Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth 2008 Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 8 December 2008.

2008 Localisation and global connections: Catholic and United churches in Lihir, PNG. Paper given at ARC-Asia Pacific Futures Network Conference, University of Adelaide, Australia, 2 December 2008.

2008 Death in Society. Invited lecture for Masters of Grief and Palliative Care, University of Adelaide, Australia, 21 August 2008.

Unpublished Reports

2002 Lihir Education Review report. Report to Lihir Management Company. 122 pp. Jointly authored with Trevor Birney, Chris Stores and Les Roai.

2002 Tutorme Training and Sewing Centre: A Review of tis History and Issues. Report to Lihir Management Company. 20 pp.

2002 Maternal Health Report. A Report to Lihir Management Company. 35 pp.

2001 The Relocation of Kapit Village: A Review. Report to Lihir Management company. 50 pp.

2001 Illness and Healthcare in the Lihir Islands: A review. A report to Lihir Management Company. 59 pp.

 

Professional Associations

Fellow of the Australian Anthropological Society

Entry last updated: Wednesday, 16 Sep 2009