Donna Henson

My research interests centre on communication with a focus on auto ethnography, narrative, and close relationships. Additional interests include meaning-making, rumination, gender communication and emotion. My current work tends to employ auto ethnographic methods, and reflects a general interest in narrative writing and storytelling as methods of inquiry.

Trained in quantitative and qualitative methods, my work is both interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse. My generalist communication background has also enabled collaboration with colleagues across a range of disciplinary areas.

Notably, I've collaborated on projects examining the communicative dimensions of such varied topics as post-traumatic growth, place-making, and national broadcasting funding systems.

Irrespective of topic, I maintain an interest in and enthusiasm for understanding lived communicative experience.

I would welcome supervisory interest from Higher Degree Research students in my current areas of focus, specifically auto ethnography, narrative, and relational communication.

I would also consider research proposals from students with more general interests in areas of communication such as gender communication, emotion, or aspects of interpersonal or relational communication.

Over the past ten years, I've supervised and examined both Masters and Doctoral students in Australia and New Zealand.