The 29th Annual WIP Conference -Tipping Point: Creation in Chaos
Has the world gone a little… crazy?
Tariffs, AI, strongmen, land grabs, rampant ethnic warfare, climate-fuelled environmental disasters: has the world reached—or surpassed—a tipping point? A point of inflection where the status quo undergoes a radical shift, and things could either spontaneously combust – or burst forth into new life?
Gather your charges, summon your bold, creative and audacious wits and get ready to showcase your research, experiment with form, share your passion, your creative energy and scholarly analysis, and investigate this crucial moment, its past or possible futures.
This year's WIP Conference represents a tipping point for the presenters' in the creation, formulation and presentation of their ideas.
Conference dates: Thursday 13 November - Friday 14 November 2025
Venue: Global Change Institute (Bldg 20), UQ St Lucia Campus
Full program: WiP Conference 2025 Schedule
Hosted by: School of Communication and Arts
Enquiries: scawip2025@gmail.com
This conference is supported by the Association of Postgraduate Students.
Invitation to attend the keynote speech at the WIP 2025 Conference
We would like to invite all HDRs, academic and professional staff at The School of Communication and Arts to attend the Keynote Speech from Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox, PhD, M.Phil, B.A., “Our Hyperconnected World: A Landscape of Signals, Speed, and Slop”. Please join us for this session on Friday, 14 November 2025, at 10.30am, The Global Change Institute Building, Room 273.
Kathryn is a Brisbane-based visual artist and researcher whose work explores the invisible dimensions of contemporary technology, human-machine relationships, and militarisation through a unique fusion of cosmic and landscape imagery. With a PhD in Humanities from Curtin University and an MPhil in Cultural Studies/Art History from The University of Queensland, her practice-led research investigates the electromagnetic spectrum as a militarised domain.
Influenced by her childhood on the vast Pirrinuan Plain and her father's amateur radio hobby, Kathryn’s paintings reflect a deep engagement with distance, imagination, and the ethical implications of technological advancement. She has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally, and continues to contribute to academic and artistic discourse through conferences and research.
Dr John McCulloch Memorial Prize - Annual $1000 prize
The School of Communication and Arts is delighted to continue the annual prize open to any Higher Degree Research (HDR) student within the School who presents a paper at the forthcoming 2025 WIP Conference. To be considered for the prize, written and fully referenced papers must be submitted for judging no later than 3 November, and must be presented at the 2025 WIP Conference.
Dr John McCulloch OAM (1938-2010) died of pancreatic cancer in 2010, shortly after submitting his PhD thesis, a biography of Queensland suffragist Elizabeth Brentnall. John was a researcher with a special interest in the advancement of gender equity. His published work includes From Suffragists to Legislators, written to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Queensland. John was a senior parliamentary research officer at the State Parliamentary Library (1984-1995), but also found time to undertake voluntary work for the Queensland and Australian Youth Hostels Association, served as convenor of the Homelessness Taskforce 99, and was a part-time researcher for St Vincent de Paul. John was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in January 2000 for service to youth.
Premier Anna Bligh is recorded in Hansard (28th October 2010) as stating in Parliament, “The word ‘progressive’ is bandied about constantly in political circles and its definition is widely argued, but to my mind John McCulloch was a true political progressive. He was a deep thinker, an activist and a doer.” John had a long connection to The University of Queensland: roles included activity as a student, as a tutor, and as an elected Sub-Dean of the Arts Faculty. He was a member of the first Campus Camp group, established in 1973, and continued throughout his life to be a strong advocate on equity issues. Dr John McCulloch significantly contributed not only to the lives of students in the School and the University, but also to the WiP Conference which he convened and attended while he was completing his studies. But to many of us, John was an unassuming fellow student - supportive, collegial and encouraging.
We are delighted to have the support of John’s family and partner Gary in creating this prize, for Communication and Arts students, in memory of a fellow student. Gary Portley has generously offered to donate the prize to be offered at this WiP conference in memory of Dr John McCulloch OAM. The award will be presented at the conference to the author of the winning paper.
School of Communication and Arts HDR students participating in the forthcoming WIP conference are invited to submit their written papers no later than 3 November 2025, at 5pm. Written papers should be fully referenced and be no longer than 2000 words (excluding bibliography). Papers will be judged by an SCA panel, drawn from across a range of disciplines, and the decision of the judges will be final. Judges will select the winning paper based on academic standards; criteria include argument structure, knowledge of the field, clarity of written expression, attention to referencing, and salience of content in relation to the annual conference theme. The papers must be presented at the conference for the SCA student to be eligible for the award.
Eligibility
Students who:
- are undertaking a higher degree by research program in the School of Communication and Arts, UQ;
- have submitted their paper per the below guidelines by the closing time/date of Monday, 3 November 2025, by 5pm
- have then had their abstract accepted by the 2025 WiP committee to present at the conference, and;
- have not previously been awarded the Prize.
Basis for award
Most outstanding applicant based on:
- A written and fully referenced paper of no more than 2,000 words (excluding bibliography).
- The paper must be presented at the conference for the student to be eligible for the Prize.
- Quality of scholarship and written expression and relevance to the annual conference theme.
Check out previous year’s winners here.
Nature of prize
$1000
Submission guidelines
Entry is free. The closing time and date is 5pm, 3 November 2025 and your 2000-word paper per the above guidelines should be emailed to: scawip2025@gmail.com
29th ANNUAL WORK IN PROGRESS CONFERENCE // 13 & 14 NOVEMBER 2025
Enquiries can be directed to the 2025 WiP Committee: scawip2025@gmail.com
We look forward to welcoming you at the WIP Conference in November!