Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini
Associate Professor

Rob Pensalfini

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+61 7 336 56239

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

Linguistics

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, University of Western Australia
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research interests

  • Australian languages

    The structure and use of Australia's indigenous languages, particularly morphology, phonology and syntax. Language documentation and description. Language endangerment and maintenance.

  • 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.

  • Shakespeare in Performance

    Particularly in Australia.

  • Actor training

    Use of the voice and body in acting. Performing rhetoric and verse.

Search Professor Rob Pensalfini’s works on UQ eSpace

67 works between 1998 and 2023
All (67) Journal Article (20) Book Chapter (12) Conference Publication (7) Book (7) Other Outputs (20) Edited Outputs (1)

41 - 60 of 67 works

2008

Journal Article

Prosodic transfer in Vietnamese acquisition of English contrastive stress patterns

Nguyen, T. Anh-Thu, Ingram, John C. L. and Pensalfini, Rob J. (2008). Prosodic transfer in Vietnamese acquisition of English contrastive stress patterns. Journal of Phonetics, 36 (1), 158-190. doi: 10.1016/j.wocn.2007.09.001

Prosodic transfer in Vietnamese acquisition of English contrastive stress patterns

2007

Edited Outputs

University of Queensland Working Papers in Linguistics

University of Queensland Working Papers in Linguistics. (2007). 1

University of Queensland Working Papers in Linguistics

2007

Other Outputs

Introduction

Jäger, Andreas and Pensalfini, Rob (2007). Introduction. School of English, Media Studies and Art History, The University of Queensland.

Introduction

2007

Other Outputs

Verbs as Spatial Deixis markers in Jingulu

Pensalfini, Rob (2007). Verbs as Spatial Deixis markers in Jingulu. School of English, Media Studies and Art History, The University of Queensland.

Verbs as Spatial Deixis markers in Jingulu

2007

Journal Article

Anti-colonial Voices? Non-British Accents and the National Authentication of Shakespeare in Australia in the 1970s

Fotheringham, Richard and Pensalfini, Rob (2007). Anti-colonial Voices? Non-British Accents and the National Authentication of Shakespeare in Australia in the 1970s. Australasian Drama Studies, 50 (50), 49-65.

Anti-colonial Voices? Non-British Accents and the National Authentication of Shakespeare in Australia in the 1970s

2006

Book Chapter

Configurationality

Pensalfini, R. J. (2006). Configurationality. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. (pp. 23-27) edited by K. Brown. UK: Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/01959-3

Configurationality

2006

Journal Article

Theatre, Therapy, Theology, and the Dis-integration of the Human

Pensalfini, R. (2006). Theatre, Therapy, Theology, and the Dis-integration of the Human. Ignite journal

Theatre, Therapy, Theology, and the Dis-integration of the Human

2006

Other Outputs

Shakespeare Prison Project (formerly known as Arts in Community Enhancement - ACE)

Pensalfini, Robert J. (2006). Shakespeare Prison Project (formerly known as Arts in Community Enhancement - ACE). Borallon Correctional Centre: Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.

Shakespeare Prison Project (formerly known as Arts in Community Enhancement - ACE)

2006

Journal Article

How the Voice Works

Pensalfini, R. (2006). How the Voice Works. Drama Queensland Journal

How the Voice Works

2005

Book Chapter

Kriol (Roper River Creole)

Pensalfini, R. J. (2005). Kriol (Roper River Creole). Encyclopedia of Linguistics. (pp. 585-587) edited by P Stranzny. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn.

Kriol (Roper River Creole)

2005

Book Chapter

Accounting for verb-initial order in an Australian language

Laughren, Mary, Pensalfini, Rob and Mylne, Tom (2005). Accounting for verb-initial order in an Australian language. Verb First: On the syntax of verb-initial languages. (pp. 367-401) edited by Carnie, Andrew, Harley, Heidi and Dooley, Sheila Ann. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Accounting for verb-initial order in an Australian language

2004

Journal Article

Eulogizing a language: The Ngarnka experience

Pensalfini, Rob (2004). Eulogizing a language: The Ngarnka experience. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 168 (168), 141-156. doi: 10.1515/ijsl.2004.029

Eulogizing a language: The Ngarnka experience

2003

Other Outputs

Towards a Typology of Configurationality

Pensalfini, Rob (2003). Towards a Typology of Configurationality.

Towards a Typology of Configurationality

2003

Other Outputs

Part Of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar: New Evidence from Jingulu

Pensalfini, Rob (2003). Part Of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar: New Evidence from Jingulu.

Part Of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar: New Evidence from Jingulu

2003

Journal Article

Part of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar: New Evidence from Jingulu

Pensalfini, R. J. (2003). Part of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar: New Evidence from Jingulu. Linguistic Variation Yearbook, 1, 209-227.

Part of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar: New Evidence from Jingulu

2003

Other Outputs

Verbs as Spatial Deixis Markers in Jingulu

Pensalfini, Rob (2003). Verbs as Spatial Deixis Markers in Jingulu.

Verbs as Spatial Deixis Markers in Jingulu

2002

Journal Article

Vowel Harmony in Jingulu

Pensalfini, Rob (2002). Vowel Harmony in Jingulu. Lingua, 112 (7), 561-586. doi: 10.1016/S0024-3841(01)00061-4

Vowel Harmony in Jingulu

2001

Journal Article

Part of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar

Pensalfini, R. (2001). Part of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar. Linguistic Variation Yearbook, 1, 209-227. doi: 10.1075/livy.1.09pen

Part of Speech Mismatches in Modular Grammar

2001

Book Chapter

On the Typological and Genetic Affiliation of Jingulu

Pensalfini, Robert (2001). On the Typological and Genetic Affiliation of Jingulu. Forty Years on: Ken Hale and Australian languages. (pp. 385-399) edited by Simpson, Jane, Nash, David, Laughren, Mary, Austin, Peter and Alpher, Barry. Australian National University, Canberra: Pacific Lingustics.

On the Typological and Genetic Affiliation of Jingulu

2000

Journal Article

Pineapple as voice remedy: alternative or mainstream?

Winkworth, A., Pensalfini, R. J. and Baldock, P. (2000). Pineapple as voice remedy: alternative or mainstream?. Australian Voice, 6, 16-18.

Pineapple as voice remedy: alternative or mainstream?

Past funding

  • 2018
    The blood votes: a historical drama
    Queensland Anzac Centenary Grants Program
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2017
    "Conscription!?" The debates of 1916-17 as historical theatre
    Queensland Anzac Centenary Grants Program
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Trilingual language contact in an Indigenous community
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2005
    Reconstructing the Prehistory of the Verbal System of the Mindi Languages of Northern Australia
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2004 - 2007
    From British Imperialist to Honorary Aussie to International Meeting-Place: How Shakespeare has been spoken and staged in Australia 1910-2003
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2002 - 2003
    An Investigation Using Primarily Visual and Aural Sources into the Ways in Which Shakespeare's Plays Have Been Performed in Australia.
    UQ FirstLink Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2002
    Ngarnka sketch grammar
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2000
    Unravelling the Linguistic Prehistory of the Gulf of Carpentaria Region.
    ARC Australian Research Council (Small grants)
    Open grant
  • 1999
    Linguistic and Artistic perspectives on the human voice
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

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

  • Doctor Philosophy

    A Grammatical Description of Mujawirun Arabic

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Acquisition of English Tense-aspect system by native Arabic speakres of English

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Anna Mikhaylova

  • 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

Completed supervision

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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