Professor Catherine Gomes

Catherine Gomes is Professor in RMIT's School of Media and Communication specialising in communication and culture.

Catherine is an ethnographer who is internationally known for her work in the following areas:

• International student wellbeing 
• Designing of digital campuses for student support  
• Developing effective communication with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities 
• Transient migrant(ions) 

Catherine is a specialist on the Asia-Pacific with Australia and Singapore being significant fieldwork sites. Her current work on Singapore covers food heritage and platform economies. Catherine has also written about gender and audience reception in Chinese cinemas, and multiculturalism in Singapore cinema.

Catherine is co-convenor of the Mobilities, Migrations and Diverse Communities (MMDC) research group. Catherine is editor of the Media, Culture and Communication in Migrant Societies book series (Amsterdam University Press) and founding editor of Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration (Intellect Books). 

Catherine was also a recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher (DECRA) in 2013-2016. She is the 2021 recipient of the A Noam Chomsky Global Connections Shining Star Research Achievement Award for her book Parallel Societies of International Students in Australia: Connections, Connections and Disconnections (Routledge, 2022). 

Catherine has held Visiting Research Fellowships at the Singapore Management University, Nanyang Technological University and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has received funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Digital Health Agency, Study Melbourne, National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (DFAT), Universities Australia, Nanyang Technological University ( CoHASS Incentive Grant Scheme), Singapore's Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 1 grant), to name a few. 

Catherine's research has appeared in numerous journals (e.g. Higher Education Research & Development, Current Sociology, Journal of Youth Studies, Migration Studies, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Journal of International Students, Review of Policy Research, Asian Ethnicity). Her recent books include: 

• Parallel Societies of International Students: Connections, Disconnections and a Global Pandemic (Routledge, 2022) 
• Digital Experiences of International Students: Challenging Assumptions and Rethinking Engagement (with Shanton Chang, Routledge, 2021) 
• Religion, Hypermobility and Digital Media in Global Asia: Faith, Flows and Fellowship (with Lily Kong and Orlando Woods, Amsterdam University Press, 2021) 
• Siloed Diversity: Transnational Migration, Digital Media and Social Networks (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) 
• Transnational Migrations in the Asia-Pacific: Transformative Experiences in the Age of Digital Media (with Brenda S.A. Yeoh, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) 
• Transient Mobility and Middle Class Identity: Media and Migration in Australia and Singapore (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) 
• International student connectedness and identity: transnational perspectives (with Ly Thi Tran, Springer, 2017) 
• The Asia Pacific in the Age of Transnational Mobility: The Search for Community and Identity on and through Social Media (Anthem Press, 2016) 
• Quality Assurance in Asia-Pacific Universities Implementing Massification in Higher Education (with Deane E. Neubauer, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) 
• Multiculturalism through the Lens: A Guide to Ethnic and Migrant Anxieties in Singapore (Ethos Books, 2015). 

Catherine also teaches into the Asian Media and Culture stream.

Visit Catherine's other profiles:

• Personal website
• ARC DECRA Research Website
• Google Scholar

• PhD (University of Melbourne)
• MA (National University of Singapore)
• BA (Hons) (University of Western Australia)

Professional interests

• Co-Convener, Mobilities, Migrations and Diverse Communities research group
• National Scientific Convener and Member, ISANA: International Education Association
• Member, National Academy of International Education, Institute of International Education (New York)
• Member, International Education Association of Australia
• International Affiliate, International and Comparative Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
• Editor, Migration, Culture and Communication in Migrant Societies (Amsterdam University Press)

Journal contributions

• (Founding Editor) Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration 
• (Advisory and Editorial boards) Journal of International Students, International Journal of Bias, Identity and Diversities in Education

Past

• Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal, University of Manchester
• Aedificamus: The Queen's Journal, Queen's College, University of Melbourne

Advisory boards

• Meld Magazine
• International Education Task Force, Morgan State University
• Study Abroad and International Students SIG, Comparative & International Education Society

Accomplishments / achievements / awards

• Dean's Award for Engagement and Impact (2022)
• A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Shining Star Research Achievement Award (2021)
• Visiting CLASS Scholar (Nanyang Technological University, 2018)
• Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow, 2013-2016
• Visiting Research Fellow (Singapore Management University)
• RMIT Teaching Award for teaching a diverse student body, 2012
• College of Design and Social Context Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Large Classes, 201