Dr Alison Atkinson-Phillips

• Lecturer in Community Development, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences , Murdoch Univ
• Former Research Associate with the Oral History Unit.

Alison continues to be interested in the ways communities of people connect with their shared pasts to make sense of their place in the world. My research explores themes of memory and activism, and the ways the actions of ordinary people intersect with government policies. My research practice uses oral history along with visual and other sources. 

Alison joined the Community Development teaching team at Murdoch in 2023. Before that, she lived and worked for five years at Newcastle University (UK) as part of the Newcastle Oral History Unit & Collective (NOHUC), where she also helped to develop and teach a Masters in Public History.

Alison's current research is an ongoing collaboration with Dwellbeing Shieldfield, a community co-operative in the North East of England, exploring the development of 'messy archiving'. This has so far resulted in a small print booklet:

At Murdoch, she teaches in Community Development focusses on storytelling, collaboration and supervising placement students.