02 November 2020
One of the country’s most accomplished screenwriting researchers, Professor Craig Batty, will join the University of South Australia in 2021 as its new Dean of Research in UniSA’s Creative Unit.
Prof Batty, an award-winning researcher, educator and writer, has been appointed to the inaugural role, responsible for steering UniSA’s research strategy in the disciplines of architecture, planning, art and design, journalism, communication and media, creative writing, cultural studies, and film and television.
The British-born author and editor of 15 books and more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, has a background in screenwriting, script editing and creative practice research, and has led the Creative Writing discipline at the University of Technology Sydney since 2018.
Prior to that role, Prof Batty was based at RMIT for seven years as a Creative Practice Research Leader and Director of Higher Degrees by Research.
A strong advocate for the creative arts, he hopes to bring “passion and energy” to inspire not only staff and students at UniSA, but also research partners and the wider community.
“I’m thrilled to be taking on this role at such a progressive, ambitious and values-driven university,” Prof Batty says.
“UniSA Creative is bold and powerful, and I can’t wait to lead its research direction. My leadership style places a strong emphasis on people and believing in what they can achieve. This will underpin how I work with my new colleagues across the university.
“It’s more important than ever, in this time of COVID-19, to invest in creativity and culture, ensuring Australia can move forward from the pandemic with innovative ideas, resilient practices and a strong sense of hope, truth and kindness,” Prof Batty says.
Executive Dean of UniSA Creative, Professor Joanne Cys, says Prof Batty will bring a “wealth of experience” to the role, “not only as Australia’s foremost leader in his own field of film screenwriting and creative writing, but also as an energetic research leader with a passion for supporting and mentoring academics and higher degree by research candidates to achieve their goals.”
“I am delighted that Prof Batty will be joining us as Dean of Research to lead UniSA Creative’s research strategy and activity from 2021,” Prof Cys says.
Media contact: Candy Gibson office +61 8 8302 0961 mobile: +61 434 605 142
email: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au
