Praxis – action and reflection in context – has informed Anita’s eclectic research and professional interests over the course of her 35 year career. Her interest in personal, vocational and community formation in faith-based contexts has informed her leadership in congregational, denominational, agency and academic settings. She has written about biblical hermeneutics, ecclesiology, liturgical practice and church agencies. Her methodology is informed by poststructuralist philosophy and feminist perspectives.
For 10 years, from 2013 to 2022, Anita led Grace College, a tertiary residential college located on the St Lucia Campus of The University of Queensland (UQ) and affiliated with the Uniting and Presbyterian Churches. During this time, Anita fostered significant cultural change in the student community and the governance and management of the organisation. In 2021, the College Council made the momentous decision to move from being a women-only college to being gender inclusive. As a direct result of her work with the student community and staff over her tenure, this transition was effected smoothly and practically.
Anita’s research interests remain contextual and eclectic. She is currently Research Assistant with the project Consent Education Goes to University in the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University. This project began out of a relationship fostered by Anita between Grace College and the Gender Studies Program in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences at UQ. During her time at Grace College, Anita was Honorary Research Senior Fellow with the School of Historical & Philosophical Inquiry in that faculty.
Anita continues to build her research on the methodological foundations outlined in her PhD thesis, Subjecting Ambiguity: Towards a Feminist Postructuralist Theological Methodology as she interrogates theology and practice in context.
Anita has taught biblical hermeneutics, theology, liturgy, religious studies and philosophy in a variety of settings including Coolamon College (Brisbane College of Theology & Sydney College of Divinity), United Theological College (Sydney College of Divinity & Charles Sturt University), St Francis College (University of Divinity) and UQ. She pioneered early online education strategies for theology at postgraduate level through Coolamon College in the early 2000s and has developed and edited a range of distance theological education programs from Diploma to postgraduate levels. She has actively participated in a range of negotiations for colleges transitioning between theological consortia over the course of her academic career, and led the negotiations for the transition of Coolamon College from BCT/SCD to Adelaide College of Divinity in the early 2000s.
As a congregational minister and theological teacher, Anita has contributed many articles to community and church newspapers, and participated in local radio. While at Grace College, she was identified as a UQ expert for the purposes of media contacts in relation to religious studies. She appeared on Channel 10 local news in response to questions about the imaging of God by a nearby Catholic high school.
Anita was ordained as a Minister of the Word (Presbyter) of The Uniting Church in Australia in 1988. She has served in the Synods of Qld and NSW/ACT and in national Assembly roles. She was a key contributor to the National Working Group on Worship and Uniting in Worship 2 (2005).
University Appointments
- Sessional Lecturer
St Francis College
Teaching disciplines
Systematic TheologyRecent Publications
All publicationsExternal Affiliations
- Uniting Church in Australia, The (Minister of the Word)
- Societas Liturgica (Member)
- Australian Institute of Company Directors (Graduate Member)