Pro Vice Chancellor, Education

Professor Cate Thill

BA Hons 1 (USyd), PhD (USyd)

Email: cate.thill@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Cate Thill is Professor of Sociology in the National School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Notre Dame Australia. Her research focuses on political listening and intersectionality in public policy. Professor Thill’s specific expertise concerns how the claims of marginalised groups are heard in the policy process. Her recent projects include developing a new methodology for intersectional policy analysis and examining how the human rights claims of people with disability are heard in media and policy. Professor Thill is passionately committed to the value of a Liberal Arts education, which gives students the critical and creative thinking skills to understand themselves and make a difference in the world. She enjoys the scope and challenge of educational leadership in this interdisciplinary context and has held administrative and leadership positions at Notre Dame for over 10 years – including her current position as Head of Curriculum & Quality. Professor Thill is also actively engaged in the Catholic school and social sectors. She is a Director of the Board of Sydney Catholic Schools and Chair of their Core Strategy Committee. Additionally, Professor Thill spearheaded innovative co-designed postgraduate programs in Mathematics Education with Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta and Wollongong and is currently co-designing a formation and leadership program with the St Vincent de Paul Society of NSW.

  • Teaching areas

    • Sociology of disability
    • Social and public policy
    • Sociology of childhood
    • Sociological theory and method
    • Representation

  • Research expertise and supervision

    Cate has supervised honours and PhD students to completion on topics of social and public policy, disability, Indigeneity and social and environmental movements. She is available to supervise Higher Degree by Research projects in the following areas:

    • Voice and listening
    • Disability studies
    • Intersectionality
    • Policy analysis

  • Books

    Thill, C. Goggin, G. & Kayess, R. (2020 forthcoming) Listening to Disability: Voices of Democracy. Routledge.

  • Book chapters

    • Thill, C. (2019) Listening for Intersectionality: How Disabled Persons' Organisations Have Improved Recognition of Difference in Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme. In O. Hankivsky & J. S. Jordan-Zachery (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Intersectionality in Public Policy (pp. 689-704). Cham: Palgrave.
    • Thill, C. (2018) Listening with Recognition for Social Justice. In A. Mondal & T. Dreher (eds) Ethical Responsiveness and the Politics of Difference (pp. 57-73). Cham: Palgrave.

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    • St Guillaume, L., & Thill, C. (2018). An intersection in population control: Welfare reform and Indigenous people with a partial capacity to work in the Australian Northern Territory. Disability and the Global South, 5(2), 1508-1530.
    • Thill, C. (2014). Listening for Policy Change: How the Voices of Disabled People Shaped Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme. Disability and Society, DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2014.987220
    • Thill, C. (2009). Courageous Listening, Responsibility for the Other and the Northern Territory Intervention. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 23(4), 537-548, DOI: 10.1080/10304310903012651
    • Brown, W., Colegate, C., Dalton, J., Rayner, T. and Thill, C. (2006). Learning to love again: An interview with Wendy Brown. Contretemps: An on-line journal of philosophy 6: 25-42.

  • Conference papers

    • Plenary: Listening Interventions with Tanja Dreher & Justine Lloyd. Presented at The Politics of Listening Symposium, University of New South Wales, 29 - 30 November, 2018. Available at: https://www.politicsoflistening2018.com/plenary-listening-interventions
    • Listening for Intersectionality. Listening with Disability for Democracy Panel with Rosemary Kayess & Gerard Goggin. Presented at The Politics of Listening Symposium, University of New South Wales, 29 - 30 November, 2018.
    • Disability, Listening & Media Justice. Presented at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference, University of Sydney, 5 - 7 July, 2017.
    • Listening for Media Justice. Presented at Crossroads in Cultural Studies, University of Sydney and Western Sydney University, 14 - 17 December, 2016
    • Listening as Feminist Politics Roundtable invited speaker at Listening as a Feminist Intervention Workshop, convened by Dr Tanja Dreher and hosted by the Feminist Research Network, University of Wollongong, 19 April, 2016
    • Against the Process of Recognition: Listening for Social Justice. Invited speaker at Ethical Responsiveness: Listening and Reading Across Difference, convened by Dr Tanja Dreher, University of Wollongong, 18 March, 2016

  • In the media

    • M. Rodrigues, Formulas, Faith and Figures, The Catholic Weekly, 6 November 2019
    • University launches program to tackle teacher shortages, The Educator, 30 October 2019
    • J. Ramirez, New forum adds to maths appeal at Sydney Catholic Schools, About Catholic Schools, 2 September 2019
    • A. Phelan, Tertiary Choices: Why social workers, counsellors won't be extinct any time soon, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 December 2019

  • Community engagement

    • Catholic Education Diocese of Paramatta
    • Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong
    • Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association
    • St Vincent de Paul Society

  • Awards

    Christopher Newell Award, with Tanja Dreher, for the paper Disability, Listening and Media Justice at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association 2017 Conference.

  • Professional affiliations

    Board Member Sydney Catholic Schools