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
2017
Other Outputs
Bogga
Pensalfini, Rob (2017). Bogga. The University of Queensland, Queensland: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
2016
Other Outputs
Music and Madness
Pensalfini, Rob (2016). Music and Madness. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble and UQ.
2016
Other Outputs
Twelfth Night
Pensalfini, Rob (2016). Twelfth Night. Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
2016
Book Chapter
Gender bender: Disagreement in Jingulu noun class marking
Meakins, Felicity and Pensalfini, Rob (2016). Gender bender: Disagreement in Jingulu noun class marking. Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation. (pp. 425-450) edited by Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.
2015
Book Chapter
Jingulu
Pensalfini, R. (2015). Jingulu. Edinburgh Handbook of Evaluative Morphology. (pp. 416-422) edited by Nicola Grandi and Livia Kortvelyessy. London, United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press.
2014
Other Outputs
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Prison Project
Pensalfini, Rob, Sanderson, Leah, Franklin, Jo and Dekker, Kat (2014). A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Prison Project. Southern Queensland Correctional Centre: Gatton, QLD, Australia.
2014
Book Chapter
Editors' introduction
Pensalfini, Rob, Guillemin, Diana and Turpin, Myfany (2014). Editors' introduction. Language description informed by theory. (pp. 1-13) edited by Rob Pensalfini, Myfany Turpin and Diana Guillemin. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing.
2014
Book Chapter
Verbs as spatial deixis markers in Jingulu
Pensalfini, Rob (2014). Verbs as spatial deixis markers in Jingulu. Language description informed by theory. (pp. 123-152) edited by Rob Pensalfini, Myfany Turpin and Diana Guillemin. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing. doi: 10.1075/slcs.147.07pen
2014
Book
Language description informed by theory
Rob Pensalfini, Myfany Turpin and Diana Guillemin eds. (2014). Language description informed by theory. Studies in Language Companion Series, Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing. doi: 10.1075/slcs.147
2013
Other Outputs
The Comedy of Errors
Pensalfini, Rob, Kosch, Angel, Franklin, Jo and Sanderson, Leah (2013). The Comedy of Errors. Gatton, QLD, Australia: Southern Queensland Correctional Centre.
2013
Other Outputs
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Pensalfini, Rob (2013). A Midsummer Night's Dream. Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
2013
Book Chapter
Shakespeare of the oppressed
Pensalfini, Rob (2013). Shakespeare of the oppressed. Teaching Shakespeare Beyond the Centre: Australasian Perspectives. (pp. 225-236) edited by Kate Flaherty, Penny Gay and L. E. Semler. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137275073.0025
2013
Journal Article
Shakespeare in prison: affecting health and wellbeing
Heard, Emma Marie, Mutch, Allyson, Fitzgerald, Lisa and Pensalfini, Rob (2013). Shakespeare in prison: affecting health and wellbeing. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 9 (3), 111-123. doi: 10.1108/IJPH-03-2013-0013
2012
Other Outputs
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Pensalfini, Rob (2012). The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.
2011
Other Outputs
Shakespeare in prison
Pensalfini, Rob, Edwards, Gavin, Tofteland, Curt, Heard, Emma, Trnka, Irma and Pensalfini, Anne (2011). Shakespeare in prison. Ironbark, QLD, Australia: Borallon Correctional Centre.
2011
Conference Publication
Re-imagining the actor’s quartet
Pensalfini, Rob (2011). Re-imagining the actor’s quartet. Winnipeg, Canada: University of Manitoba. doi: 10.1353/mos.2011.a418759
2011
Book
Jingulu texts and dictionary: An Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory
Pensalfini, Rob (2011). Jingulu texts and dictionary: An Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Pacific Linguistics.
2010
Other Outputs
Macbeth
Barry, Jane, Hoey, Aisling, Pensalfini, Anne, Pensalfini, Rob and Verbraak, Liz (2010). Macbeth. Ironbark, QLD, Australia: Borallon Correctional Centre.
2009
Other Outputs
Julius Caesar
Carne, Andrea, Kosch, Angel, Pensalfini, Anne, Pensalfini, Rob and Small, Belinda (2009). Julius Caesar. Ironbark, QLD, Australia: Borallon Correctional Centre.
2008
Journal Article
'Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say' - Shakespeare and the capacity to sustain complexity
Pensalfini, Robert (2008). 'Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say' - Shakespeare and the capacity to sustain complexity. Words' Worth, 41 (1), 16-29.
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
Loanwords Adaptation in the Plural System of Urban Hijazi Arabic Dialect
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
-
Doctor Philosophy
A Grammatical Description of Mujawirun Arabic
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Paradigm Shift: A Theoretical and Descriptive Study of Mudburra-Kriol Contact
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Felicity Meakins
-
Doctor Philosophy
The Productivity of Polish Yers: An Experimental Investigation Informed by the Lexicon
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex
-
Doctor Philosophy
The Productivity of Polish Yers: An Experimental Investigation Informed by the Lexicon
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex
-
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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2025
Doctor Philosophy
The Productivity of Polish Yers: An Experimental Investigation Informed by the Lexicon
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Paradigm Shift: A Theoretical and Descriptive Study of Mudburra-Kriol Contact
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Felicity Meakins
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
Morphosyntactic and Semantic Properties of Hijazi Arabic Modals
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
-
2012
Doctor Philosophy
Arabic emphatics and gutturals: a phonetic and phonological study
Associate Advisor
-
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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