I research and teach in the areas of sociology, refugee education and human rights. I have a deep concern for issues related to education and justice which led me to working within the enabling education field and this informs my teaching approaches. My PhD dissertation titled ‘Women’s Rights and Cultural Rights of Liberian and Afghani Women in Multicultural Australia’ is inspired by the theoretical debates about the tensions between women’s rights and cultural rights. With my research I seek to contribute to feminist discussions about rights and also to research on policies concerning refugee women and their communities in multicultural contexts. My Master thesis is titled ‘Human rights, women and culture: an ... Read more
About me
I research and teach in the areas of sociology, refugee education and human rights. I have a deep concern for issues related to education and justice which led me to working within the enabling education field and this informs my teaching approaches. My PhD dissertation titled ‘Women’s Rights and Cultural Rights of Liberian and Afghani Women in Multicultural Australia’ is inspired by the theoretical debates about the tensions between women’s rights and cultural rights. With my research I seek to contribute to feminist discussions about rights and also to research on policies concerning refugee women and their communities in multicultural contexts. My Master thesis is titled ‘Human rights, women and culture: an examination of the possibility for universal human rights in the culturally-diverse world, with particular regard to the area of women's rights’. This research engaged with the debates between universalism and cultural relativism and examined their implications in the area of women’s rights. I have a long standing involvement with the Amnesty International Australia as well as with some women's and refugee organisations. In 2018 I was honoured to receive 2018 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning with Dr Anthea Fudge and Ms Tamra Ulpen 'for the development of supportive resources to enhance student learning of Academic Integrity (AI) in enabling education'. In 2020 I have received national recogntion for development of development of supportive resources to enhance student learning of academic integrity: Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT). In 2021, I was a successful recipient of Education Research Academy (ERA) fellowship with Dr Heidi Hetz for the project 'Developing best practice approaches for teaching and supporting students from refugee backgrounds in higher education'.
About me
Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI)
Refugee Education Special Interest Group, Refugee Council of Australia
Pedagogies of Social Justice, School of Education
The National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia (NAEEA)
ESL Support and External Links UNISA College working group
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia
Master of International Studies University of South Australia
Bachelor of Psychology University of South Australia
Research Projects
2021- current 'Developing best practice approaches for teaching and supporting students from refugee backgrounds in higher education'
Chief Investigator with Dr Heidi Hetz
2019 (Fostering Integration Grant) Building the capacity of students from refugee background and cultural competencies necessary to transition and succeed in higher education
Chief Investigator with Prof Dierdre Tedmanson and Ms Teresa Thai
2017
Project title: Engaging the disengaged and disenfranchised: 20 years on from ‘dropping out and drifting off’, to ‘turning back around’’
Chief Investigator with Dr Sarah Hattam and Ms Jennifer Stokes
2016
Project title: “Exploring 'sense of belonging' ... Read more
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Exploring ‘sense of belonging’ amongst culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students at UNISA College
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
Open access
3
2
4
|
| 2022 |
Open access
3
1
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2022 |
Open access
3
2
4
|
| 2022 |
Open access
2
1
53
|
| 2022 |
Open access
3
1
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2017 |
Open access
1
|
| 2013 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
| 2013 |
Open access
|
| 2012 |
Open access
|
| 2008 |
Open access
|
Conference Proceedings
Bilic S. and Hetz H., (2022), Developing best practice approaches for teaching and supporting students from refugee backgrounds in higher education. UniSA Teaching and Learning Symposium, 18th November, Adelaide.
Bilic S. and Hetz H., (2022), Teaching students from refugee backgrounds in the classroom and online: Investigating culturally responsive pedagogies and tailored learning resources and technologies. EPHEA/NAEEA Conference, 5-6 December, Adelaide
Bilic, S., Hattam S., Weiler, T, Hattam, R (2022), Changing pedagogical spaces in HE through community of praxis in action research projects. Symposium, AARE conference, Adelaide, 27 Nov-1 Dec, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. (2021) ‘Enhancing Agency and fostering hope in a Global Sociology course’. Education Futures : Showcase of Scholarship of Teaching Symposium, 19th November, UniSA, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. Fudge A. and Ulpen, T (2021) ‘Educative culture of Academic Integrity: professional development and new initiatives at UniSA College’, NAEEA Webinar Conference, 22 October.
Bilic, S. (2019) ‘Students of refugee backgrounds in higher education: aspirations and challenges’ . MARRNet Refugee Alternatives Pre-Conference Academic Forum. 18 February, Adelaide.
Bilic, S., and Ulpen,T (2019) ‘Language, literacy and support mechanisms for students of refugee backgrounds in enabling pathway programs’, MARRNet Refugee Alternatives Pre-Conference Academic Forum. 18 February, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. (2019), ‘The Populist Challenge To Cultural Diversity’ CEEISA-ISA (International Studies Association) International Conference, 17-19 June, Belgrade, Serbia
Bilic, S. (2019), “Enabling pathways: refugee background students in higher education’., 2nd International Conference on Social Science, Humanities and Education, 21-23 June, Vienna, Austria
Bilic, S. and Hattam, S. (2019), Transformative pedagogies in enabling education to empower recently homeless women, UniSA Teaching and Learning Symposium, 8th November, Adelaide.
Bilic, S., Ulpen, T and Fudge A., 2018, ‘Fostering a culture of academic integrity: Supporting and encouraging student involvement in AI practices at UniSA College’, UNISA Teaching and Learning Symposium, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. Hattam, S. and Stokes J. 2018, ‘‘I’ve always wanted to come back’: turning-back-around to education for early school leavers at UniSA College’, UNISA Teaching and Learning Symposium, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. Hattam R, Hattam S, Stokes, J, Wilson N, Oldham P, Ng J, 2018 Sustaining enabling pedagogies through action research project at UniSA (Panel Discussion) UNISA Teaching and Learning Symposium, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. Hattam, S. Hetz H, Sulaiman M and Wetherall, S (2018) ‘Teaching Global Citizenship and Critical Thinking in the Trump era’ (Panel Discussion) UNISA Teaching and Learning Symposium, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. 2018, ‘The rise of populism in liberal democracies and its challenge to cultural diversity, International Journal of Arts and Sciences Conference’, 10-13 July Munich, Germany.
Bilic, S. Hattam, S. and Stokes J. 2018, ‘Just don’t give up on me’: Exploring the lived experience of early school leavers and factors which lead them to ‘turn back around’ to education’, HERDSA Conference, 2-5 July, Adelaide.
Bilic, S., Picard, M., Fudge, A., & Cooper, S. (2018). Academic Integrity: An Educative and Equitable Approach in Enabling Pathway Programs, HERDSA Conference 2-5 July, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. 2018, Teaching Critical Literacy as an equity strategy: A case study of a literacy course in an enabling pathways program, International Conference for Academic Disciplines, 26-29 June, Florence
Bilic, S. 2017, “Exploring 'sense of belonging' in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students at UNISA College”, Re-imagining Education for Democracy Summit Conference (REDS), 13-15 November, Brisbane.
Bilic, S. Hattam, S. and Stokes J. 2017, ‘Engaging the disengaged and disenfranchised: 20 years on from ‘dropping out and drifting off’, to ‘turning back around’’ Re-imagining Education for Democracy Summit Conference (REDS), 13-15 November, Brisbane.
Bilic, S. 2017, ‘Now I view the world differently’: A case for Constructivist Approach to teaching Critical Literacy, 9th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, 3-5 July 2017, Barcelona.
Bilic, S. 2017, "Diversity in peril: cultural rights in multicultural settings?", International Congress on Social Sciences, 12 July 2017, Madrid.
Bilic, S. Ulpen, T and Fudge A. 2016, ‘“Teaching students to take charge: Educational approaches to academic integrity at UniSA College’, NAEEA Southern Symposium, 23 September, Adelaide.
Bilic, S. and Hattam S. 2016, ‘Fostering an active school culture through a sociological imagining: enabling ‘liberation’ at UniSA College’, Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference, 1 December, Melbourne.
Bilic, S. 2015, ‘On Rights and Dialogue: Minority Culture Women’s Lives in Diaspora’, Australasian Conference on Business and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, 13 April, Sydney.
Research
Research Projects
2021- current 'Developing best practice approaches for teaching and supporting students from refugee backgrounds in higher education'
Chief Investigator with Dr Heidi Hetz
2019 (Fostering Integration Grant) Building the capacity of students from refugee background and cultural competencies necessary to transition and succeed in higher education
Chief Investigator with Prof Dierdre Tedmanson and Ms Teresa Thai
2017
Project title: Engaging the disengaged and disenfranchised: 20 years on from ‘dropping out and drifting off’, to ‘turning back around’’
Chief Investigator with Dr Sarah Hattam and Ms Jennifer Stokes
2016
Project title: “Exploring 'sense of belonging' in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students at UNiSA College”
Chief Investigator
Membership
Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI)
The National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia (NAEEA)
The Pedagogies for Justice Research Group, UNISA
Amnesty International Australia
Settlement Action Network (SAN)
Australian Migrant Resource Centre (AMRC)
Catherine House - Solution for women experiencing homelessness
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Curtin University | AUSTRALIA |
| Murdoch University | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Newcastle | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student LearningOffice for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Australian Government |
2020 |
Associate EditorThe International Journal of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies |
2014 |
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| The role of women's non-government organisations in building peace in the Republic of Macedonia | Completed |
