معرفی
Dr. Alison Baker is an Associate Professor in Youth and Community Studies at Victoria University, based in Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. She is affiliated with the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities and has held academic appointments at Victoria University since 2012, progressing from Senior Lecturer in Social Pedagogy (2012-2019) to her current position as Associate Professor in Community Programs (2020-present). Previously, she served as a Research Fellow in Child Well-Being and Anti-Racism at the University of Melbourne (2011-2012) and as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Victoria University.
Her educational background includes a BA from the University of Memphis (2003), an MSc from North Carolina State University (2008), and a PhD from North Carolina State University (2011), all obtained in the USA.
Dr. Baker's research explores how systems of inequality shape the lives, identities, and everyday experiences of young people and other marginalised communities. Drawing on critical community and liberation psychologies, feminist and critical race theories, her work is deeply grounded in participatory ethics and collective praxis. She specializes in arts-based and sound storytelling methodologies, including digital audio, zines, and documentary-inspired approaches, to support young people in making sense of and intervening in the worlds they inherit. Her research focuses on creative approaches to cultivating relational care, epistemic justice, and community-based responses to structural harm.
Her publication record shows a consistent focus on youth studies, community psychology, and social justice, with increasing emphasis on creative methodologies and climate justice in recent years. Her work demonstrates interdisciplinary reach across education, human society, health sciences, psychology, and language/communication fields, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals related to reduced inequalities, good health and well-being, and gender equality.
Dr. Baker actively supervises graduate students across multiple disciplines, with research interests spanning educational research, community development, social justice, and youth studies. Her funded research projects include the VicHealth Impact Research Grant on Aboriginal Australian dietary practices, the Regenerative City Living Lab, and several projects focused on youth engagement and social justice concerns.
She is affiliated with the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities and collaborates extensively with community organizations, including Western Edge Youth Arts and Thorne Harbour Health. Her work demonstrates a strong commitment to community-based research that centers collective meaning-making, political imagination, and transformative action.
