Dr Kimberley McMahon-Coleman teaches in Learning Development at the University of Wollongong, with a particular focus on assisting students with disabilities. She holds a Master of Education (Educational Leadership) from Charles Sturt University and a BA (Hons) and PhD from the University of Wollongong. Her doctoral thesis examines shamanism and Indigenous diaspora in the works of Alootook Ipellie and Sam Watson. She has recently cowritten a book with Dr Roslyn Weaver from the University of Western Sydney, focussing on the figure of the shapeshifter in literature and popular culture, and how it is used as a metaphor for difference. Her current interest in representations of the Gothic in popular culture marks a return to an earlier interest in vampires, werewolves and other things which go bump in the night.
Articles
Book Review: Developing College Skills in Students with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, Journal of Academic Language & Learning (2012)
Book Review of Sarita Freedman's "Developing College Skills in Students with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome."
Editorial: Social Inclusion – Are we there yet? (with Alisa Percy and Bronwyn James), Journal of Academic Language & Learning (2012)
Indigenous diasporic literature : representations of the Shaman in the works of Sam Watson and Alootook Ipellie, University of Wollongong Thesis Collection (2009)
This thesis attempts to bring together postcolonial and diaspora theories to look at the work...
Arctic and Outback--Indigenous Literature at the 'Ends of the Earth.', Australasian Canadian Studies (2008)
Canada and Australia share a colonial history which featured an attempt to eradicate Indigenous spirituality...
Heritage and regional development: an indigenous perspective (with Roberta Collins), Sustaining Regions (2007)
Heritage is important to regional development in terms of promoting a sense of place and...
Books
Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters in Popular Culture: A Thematic Analysis of Recent Depictions (with Roslyn Weaver) (2012)
In recent years, shapeshifting characters in literature, film and television have been on the rise....
Contributions to Books
Mystic Falls meets the World Wide Web: Where is The Vampire Diaries located?, Fanpires: Audience Consumption of the Modern Vampire (2011)
"Lost" children: crossing indigenous cultural borders in the Canadian Arctic, in R. Dhawan & S. Gill (eds), Canadian studies today: responses from the Asia Pacific (2009)
This paper focuses on artistic representations of the cultural loss faced by Indigenous children when...
Presentations
Who's Your Daddy?: Representations of Masculinity and Coming of Age in Television’s The Vampire Diaries, Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ) (2012)
Fantasy narratives often use the metaphor of the werewolf for the adolescent identity-forming process. The...
"The Ties that Bind: Family and Blood in television’s The Vampire Diaries.”, Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ) (2011)
Southern Civility, Sexuality and Secularity: Minority Politics in "True Blood.", PCA/ACA 41st Annual Conference (2011)
Southern Civility, Sexuality and Secularity: Minority Politics in True Blood. Paper Topic area: Science Fiction...
Heritage and Regional Development: An Indigenous Perspective (with Robbie Collins), Academic Services Division - Papers (2006)
Heritage is important to regional development in terms of promoting a sense of place and...