The latest books from UniSA researchers

• Making Humanities and Social Sciences Come Alive: Early Years and Primary Education
• Outdoor and Environmental Education: Foundations
• Comics and Women's Mental Health: Five Stories
• Screenwriting the Contemporary Biopic: A Reflexive Case Study
• Language in Sport: Real-Time Talk in Training and Games

Making Humanities and Social Sciences Come Alive: Early Years and Primary Education

By UniSA Senior Lecturer Dr Deborah Green and Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr Deborah Price

A strong foundation in Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) helps young learners to think critically, communicate effectively, make decisions and adapt to change. Making Humanities and Social Sciences Come Alive prepares pre-service educators to effectively teach and integrate the crucial learning area of HASS, incorporating the sub-strands of History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship, and Economics and Business.

The second edition provides a comprehensive introduction to HASS education for both the early years and primary education. Closely aligned with the latest versions of the Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Learning Framework, the text delivers an in-depth understanding of the curriculum structure, pedagogical approaches to teaching HASS, inclusivity, global connections and the transition to practice. Wide-ranging updates include strengthened links to demonstrate the relevance of theory and research to classroom practice, and applications for integrating the Australian Curriculum's general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities.

Making Humanities and Social Sciences Come Alive: Early Years and Primary Education is available from Cambridge University Press.

Outdoor and Environmental Education: Foundations

By UniSA Program Director: Bachelor of Outdoor and Environmental Leadership Dr Scott Polley, Lecturer: Human Movement Dan Anderson Lecturer in Health and Physical Education Nick Glover, sessional staff Chris Hodgson and Dave Rawson, Wayne Enright (Operation Flinders and Beyond the Classroom) Cale Jeynes, (Craigmore High School) Camron Lane (St Michael’s College), Andrew Stace St Ignatius College, Nick Sward (Mt Barker High School) and Ben Trewren (Survive First Aid and Aus Cycling).

Outdoor Environmental Education: Foundations is written by experienced teachers and lecturers in outdoor education and outdoor leadership. This text provides a key foundation for students studying year 11/12 outdoor education, vocational outdoor leadership or tertiary outdoor and environmental education, and outdoor education teaching. This text can be used by students as a resource to aid their assignments and understanding of outdoor environmental education. Teachers now have a foundation textbook to support students that is localised, relevant, up-to-date and aligned to the Australian context. Key topics include Aboriginal perspectives, environmental pressures, relationships with nature, planning for outdoor journeys, navigation, outdoor activities in the Australian context, risk, responding to emergencies, outdoor leadership and integrating the outdoors in our daily lives. The text is written in plain language and provides the perfect springboard for students to conduct deeper analysis and thinking about their relationship with themselves, others and the natural world.

Outdoor and Environmental Education: Foundations is available from Greenhill Publishing.

Comics and Women's Mental Health: Five Stories

By UniSA Program Director: Bachelor of Creative Industries Dr Jeanne-Marie Viljoen

This book discusses five recent, hand-drawn, comic memoirs of women’s mental health experiences not easily captured in words alone. It deals with a range of mental health experiences that are not simply diagnoseable mental disorders, and do not always stem from visible physical conditions (heavy feelings, loneliness, postpartum depression, grief, schizophrenia and suicide). Yet, by also considering the formal qualities of these stories, the book focuses on embodied aspects of experience, inflecting these with perspectives from a range of women of various ages, sexualities, genders, races and cultures. This book demonstrates how comics are an effective, interdisciplinary means of communicating women’s mental health and wellbeing.

Comics and Women's Mental Health: Five Stories is available from Palgrave Springer.

Screenwriting the Contemporary Biopic: A Reflexive Case Study

By UniSA Lecturer Dr Michael Bentham

Screenwriting the Contemporary Biopic: A Reflexive Case Study explores the intricate challenges screenwriters face when balancing fact and fiction in biopics. As biopics have become synonymous with prestige and award-worthiness in contemporary cinema, they also attract intense scrutiny for their handling of historical facts. The allure of the biopic lies in its ability to use fiction to delve into the interiority of its subjects, yet this raises ethical questions about historical fidelity and narrative truth. What obligations does the phrase "based on a true story" impose on screenwriters? Can a biopic truly capture the essence of its subject, or does it inherently distort reality? Through a self-reflexive case study of a screenplay about British boxer Randolph Turpin, this book seeks to answer these pressing questions. It examines the process of transforming extensive research into a compelling narrative, offering insights into the delicate balance between truth and fiction. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, this work provides a fresh perspective on the biopic genre. Ideal for scholars in screenwriting and film studies, industry professionals, and students of screen production, this book offers a deeper understanding of how biopics reveal truths about historical figures and events.

Screenwriting the Contemporary Biopic: A Reflexive Case Study is available from Palgrave Springer.

Language in Sport: Real-Time Talk in Training and Games

By Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra, Dr Andrew S. Ross, Associate Professor in English Language and Literacy, David Caldwell, and Associate Professor in Language and Literacy Education at the Australian Catholic University, Y.J. Doran

This collection showcases the language of ‘doing’ sport, emphasising the real-time talk of players and coaches during training and games toward elucidating real-time language use and encouraging effective sporting pedagogies. While there is established work at the intersection of linguistics and sport, this book places a particular focus on real-time participation, as opposed to media reporting or post-match commentary.

Language in Sport: Real-Time Talk in Training and Games is available from Routledge.

Other Stories

• What a journey … Meet three of UniSA’s longest-serving staff
• A standing ovation
• Work starts on Aboriginal Knowledges Centre
• Social media ban: How parents can help kids stay connected
• From the Vice Chancellor: Of Stories and Sequels
• Closing the chapter
• Time Capsule celebrates UniSA community
• Achievements and Announcements
• New Yarning Circles complete
• In Pictures: 2025 Unstoppable Awards and Celebrating staff service
• The latest books from UniSA researchers