Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini
Associate Professor

Rob Pensalfini

Email: 
Phone: 
+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 2024
All (67) Journal Article (19) Book Chapter (13) Conference Publication (7) Book (7) Other Outputs (20) Edited Outputs (1)

61 - 67 of 67 works

2000

Journal Article

Hyperventilation in actor training and the myth of 'Oxygenation'

Pensalfini, R. J. (2000). Hyperventilation in actor training and the myth of 'Oxygenation'. Australian Voice, 6, 37-40.

Hyperventilation in actor training and the myth of 'Oxygenation'

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?

2000

Book Chapter

Encyclopedia-lexicon distinctions in Jingulu grammar

Pensalfini, R. J. (2000). Encyclopedia-lexicon distinctions in Jingulu grammar. The Lexicon-encyclopedia interface. (pp. 393-431) edited by Bert Peeters. Oxford: Elsevier.

Encyclopedia-lexicon distinctions in Jingulu grammar

1999

Other Outputs

Case Suffixes as Discourse Markers in Jingulu

Pensalfini, Rob (1999). Case Suffixes as Discourse Markers in Jingulu.

Case Suffixes as Discourse Markers in Jingulu

1999

Journal Article

The rise of case suffixes as discourse markers in Jingulu -- a case study of innovation in an obsolcent language

Pensalfini, R. J. (1999). The rise of case suffixes as discourse markers in Jingulu -- a case study of innovation in an obsolcent language. Australian journal of linguistics, 19 (2), 225-240.

The rise of case suffixes as discourse markers in Jingulu -- a case study of innovation in an obsolcent language

1999

Conference Publication

Suffix Coherence and Stress in Australian Languages

Pensalfini, R. J. (1999). Suffix Coherence and Stress in Australian Languages. 1999 Annual Confernce of the Australian Lingiustics Society, University of Western Australia, Perth, 28th September - 2nd October, 1999. Perth, WA: Australian Linguistics Society.

Suffix Coherence and Stress in Australian Languages

1998

Conference Publication

The Development of (Apparently) Onsetless Syllabification: A Constraint-Based Approach

Pensalfini, Rob (1998). The Development of (Apparently) Onsetless Syllabification: A Constraint-Based Approach. Chicago Linguistics Society Annual Meeting 1998, Chicago, 1998.

The Development of (Apparently) Onsetless Syllabification: A Constraint-Based Approach

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

    Loanwords Adaptation in the Plural System of Urban Hijazi Arabic Dialect

    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

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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