Skip to content
Curtin University
Humanities

Staff Profiles

[Log in to edit profiles]

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 

Dr Robyn Mayes

Image of Staff Member
    • Role:
    • Research Fellow
    • Department:
    • John Curtin Institute of Public Policy
    • Location:
    • Chancellory 213
    • Telephone:
    • +61 8 9266 1707

Robyn’s current research focuses on the social and cultural dimensions of mining, with particular attention to relationships between communities and corporate social responsibility agendas and practices, community and family dimensions of industrial relations, gendered experiences of mining, and changing senses of place.

During her Research Fellowship with the Alcoa Foundation’s Conservation and Sustainability Program, hosted by Curtin University’s Research Centre for Stronger Communities, Robyn undertook a two-year study of communities in the Ravensthorpe Shire. This ethnographic work focused on local, ‘everyday’ experiences of social and cultural changes brought about by the arrival of a large-scale nickel mine.

Research Interests

Social and cultural dimensions of mining in particular in rural resource-affected communities; corporate social responsibility; cultural work especially postcards and festivals; Anzac Day representation and commemoration.

Research Projects

Pit men and women:  experiences of mining (with Barbara Pini, Curtin University and Paula McDonald, Queensland University of Technology)
This project examines experiences of mine workers in terms of, among others, senses of home, corporate social responsibility, and gender and technology.

Women, Anzac Day and the Dawn Service (with Graham Seal, Curtin University)
Focussing on Western Australian newspaper reportage from 1916 to the present this project explores the changing representation of Anzac Day activities with particular emphasis on constructions of women and of the Dawn Service.

Memberships

Institute of Australian Geographers

Associate member Centre for Advanced Studies in Australia, Asia and the Pacific

Australia at War and Peace Research Group

Publications

Refereed Articles (Scholarly Journals)

  • Mayes, R. 2008. A place in the sun: The politics of place, identity and branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 4(2): 124-135.
  • Mayes, R. 2003. Localising national identity: Albany's ANZACS. Journal of Australian Studies 79: 15-27.

Fully written papers (Refereed Conference proceedings)

  • Mayes, R, and Seal, G. 2009. Women and Anzac Day in Western Australia: newspaper representation in the 1960s. The Australian Sociological Association 2009 Annual Conference, 01/12/2009. Canberra: TASA.
  • Mayes, R. 2007. Contemporary Rural Change: The Complex Case of Jerdacuttup, Western Australia. TASA & SAANZ Joint Conference 2007, 04/12/2007. Auckland, New Zealand: TASA & SAANZ.