Overview
Background
Dr Rob Pensalfini received his PhD in theoretical linguistics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997, with research based on his fieldwork in the Barkly Tableland of Australia's Northern Territory. He then worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago for two years prior to commencing as a Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Queensland in 1999. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and Drama in 2003, and to Associate Professor in 2016. He has published several books and numerous articles in both linguistics and drama, including ground-breaking work on the performance of Shakespeare in prisons. He leads Australia's only ongoing Prison Shakespeare program and is the Artistic Director of the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
Availability
- Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, University of Western Australia
- Doctor of Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research interests
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Australian languages
The structure and use of Australia's indigenous languages, particularly morphology, phonology and syntax. Language documentation and description. Language endangerment and maintenance.
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Prison Shakespeare
The performance or study of Shakespeare's dramatic works in prisons, typically faciliated by external artists. The impacts and challenges of such projects and the history and development of the phenomenon.
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Shakespeare in Performance
Particularly in Australia.
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Actor training
Use of the voice and body in acting. Performing rhetoric and verse.
Works
Search Professor Rob Pensalfini’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2015
Book
Prison Shakespeare: For these deep shames and great indignities
Pensalfini, Rob (2015). Prison Shakespeare: For these deep shames and great indignities. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137450210
Featured
2009
Journal Article
Not in our own voices: Accent and identity in contemporary Australian Shakespeare Performance
Pensalfini, Rob (2009). Not in our own voices: Accent and identity in contemporary Australian Shakespeare Performance. Australasian Drama Studies, 54, 142-158.
Featured
2004
Journal Article
Towards a Typology of Nonconfigurationality
Pensalfini, Robert (2004). Towards a Typology of Nonconfigurationality. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 22 (2), 359-408. doi: 10.1023/B:NALA.0000015794.02583.00
Featured
2003
Book
A Grammar of Jingulu, an Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory
Pensalfini, Rob (2003). A Grammar of Jingulu, an Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory. The Australian National University, Canberra ACT: Pacific Linguistics.
Featured
1999
Journal Article
Arrernte: A language with no syllable onsets
Breen, Gavan and Pensalfini, Rob (1999). Arrernte: A language with no syllable onsets. Linguistic Inquiry, 30 (1), 1-25. doi: 10.1162/002438999553940
2024
Book Chapter
Vowel Harmony in Australian Languages
Pensalfini, Rob (2024). Vowel Harmony in Australian Languages. The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony. (pp. 925-934) Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198826804.013.74
2023
Book Chapter
'All corners else o’th’Earth let liberty make use of’: the Shakespeare Prison Project
Dunne, Steven and Pensalfini, Rob (2023). 'All corners else o’th’Earth let liberty make use of’: the Shakespeare Prison Project. Reimagining Shakespeare education: teaching and learning through collaboration. (pp. 295-306) edited by Liam E. Semler, Claire Hansen and Jacqueline Manuel. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108778510.030
2021
Other Outputs
Bogga
Pensalfini, Rob (2021). Bogga. Brisbane, Qld, Australia: Playlab Theatre.
2021
Conference Publication
Integrating the Linklater and Suzuki methods
Loth, Jo and Pensalfini, Rob (2021). Integrating the Linklater and Suzuki methods. Voice and Speech Teachers Association Annual Conference, Online, June 2021.
2020
Journal Article
Lend me your verbs: verb borrowing between Jingulu and Mudburra
Meakins, Felicity, Pensalfini, Rob, Zipf, Caitlin and Hamilton-Hollaway, Amanda (2020). Lend me your verbs: verb borrowing between Jingulu and Mudburra. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 40 (3), 1-23. doi: 10.1080/07268602.2020.1804830
2020
Journal Article
Holding the mirror up to converted languages: two grammars, one lexicon
Meakins, Felicity and Pensalfini, Rob (2020). Holding the mirror up to converted languages: two grammars, one lexicon. International Journal of Bilingualism, 25 (2), 136700692092246-457. doi: 10.1177/1367006920922461
2020
Conference Publication
Creative negotiations: combining Suzuki and Linklater actor training techniques
Jo Loth and Pensalfini, Rob (2020). Creative negotiations: combining Suzuki and Linklater actor training techniques. Australasian Drama Studies Association Annual Conference, Online, December 2020.
2019
Book
Mudburra to English Dictionary
Green, Rebecca, Green, Jennifer, Hamilton-Hollaway, Amanda, Meakins, Felicity, Osgarby, David and Pensalfini, Rob (2019). Mudburra to English Dictionary. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.
2019
Book Chapter
The play's the thing: performance in Prison Shakespeare
Pensalfini, Rob (2019). The play's the thing: performance in Prison Shakespeare. Performing arts in prisons: creative perspectives. (pp. 151-168) edited by Michael Balfour, Brydie-Leigh Bartleet, Linda Davey, John Rynne and Huib Schippers. Bristol, United Kingdom: Intellect.
2019
Book
Birrka marnini: making things Mudburra
Dixon, Shannon Kulngankarri, Hughes, Wendy, Dixon, Janey Walanyku Lunjabirni, Dixon, Raymond Dimakarri, Bill, Maureen, Bill, Sarah, Bill, Raylene, Kingston, Susan, Nangkurrunyungu, Johnny Devlin, Hamilton-Hollaway, Amanda, Osgarby, David, Pensalfini, Rob and Meakins, Felicity (2019). Birrka marnini: making things Mudburra. Batchelor, NT, Australia: Batchelor Press.
2019
Conference Publication
Bidirectional verb borrowing between Jingulu and Mudburra
Pensalfini, Rob , Meakins, Felicity , Zipf, Caitlin and Hamilton-Holloway, Amanda (2019). Bidirectional verb borrowing between Jingulu and Mudburra. Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia, December 2019.
2019
Journal Article
Gender lender: noun borrowings between Jingulu and Mudburra in northern Australia
Pensalfini, Rob and Meakins, Felicity (2019). Gender lender: noun borrowings between Jingulu and Mudburra in northern Australia. Journal of Language Contact, 12 (2), 440-478. doi: 10.1163/19552629-01202007
2018
Other Outputs
The Blood Votes
Pensalfini, Rob (2018). The Blood Votes. Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
2018
Book
Jingulu and Mudburra plants and animals: biocultural knowledge of the Jingili and Mudburra people of Murranji, Marlinja, Warranganku (Beetaloo) and Kulumindini (Elliott), Northern Territory, Australia
Raymond, Pompey, Dixon, Pharlap, Dixon, Sue, Dixon, Shannon, Dixon, Ray, Dixon, Jeffrey, Dixon, Janey, Dixon, Elizabeth, Raymond, Mark, Dalywaters, Harold, Collins, Jumbo, Woods, Robin, Peterson-Cooper, Eileen, Meakins, Felicity, Pensalfini, Rob and Wightman, Glenn (2018). Jingulu and Mudburra plants and animals: biocultural knowledge of the Jingili and Mudburra people of Murranji, Marlinja, Warranganku (Beetaloo) and Kulumindini (Elliott), Northern Territory, Australia. Batchelor, NT, Australia: Batchelor Institute.
2017
Other Outputs
Bogga
Pensalfini, Rob (2017). Bogga. The University of Queensland: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
A Grammatical Description of Mujawirun Arabic
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
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Doctor Philosophy
Loanwords Adaptation in the Plural System of Urban Hijazi Arabic Dialect
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
-
Doctor Philosophy
The Productivity of Polish Yers: An Experimental Investigation Informed by the Lexicon
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex
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Doctor Philosophy
Paradigm Shift: A Theoretical and Descriptive Study of Mudburra-Kriol Contact
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Felicity Meakins
-
Doctor Philosophy
Acquisition of English Tense-aspect system by native Arabic speakres of English
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Anna Mikhaylova
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Doctor Philosophy
The Productivity of Polish Yers: An Experimental Investigation Informed by the Lexicon
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex
Completed supervision
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2019
Master Philosophy
Verbal morphology and syntax of Mudburra: An Australian Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Felicity Meakins
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2018
Master Philosophy
The Nature of Engagement of Audiences in Prison Theatre: a case study of the Shakespeare Prison Project
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Joanne Tompkins
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Noun Phrases in Urban Hijazi Arabic: A Distributed Morphology Approach
Principal Advisor
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2006
Master Philosophy
SUZUKI AND BEYOND: ADAPTING THE SUZUKI ACTOR TRAINING METHOD
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Richard Fotheringham
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
TYPOLOGY OF PERIPHRASTIC 'DO'- CONSTRUCTIONS
Principal Advisor
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Paradigm Shift: A Theoretical and Descriptive Study of Mudburra-Kriol Contact
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Felicity Meakins
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Morphosyntactic and Semantic Properties of Hijazi Arabic Modals
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Arabic emphatics and gutturals: a phonetic and phonological study
Associate Advisor
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2010
Doctor Philosophy
A hubterranean view of syntax: An analysis of linguistic form through network theory
Associate Advisor
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2004
Doctor Philosophy
THE TONAL CONSTRAINTS ON VIETNAMESE LEARNERS' PERCEPTION AND PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH STRESS
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini directly for media enquiries about:
- Acting
- Acting and speech
- Australian Aboriginal languages
- Indigenous Australian languages
- Language and theatre
- Language endangerment
- Language maintenance
- Linguistics
- Prison theatre
- Shakespeare
- Speech and actors
- Theatre - language, acting, directing
- Theatre and language
- Theatre directing
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