CDU Faculty of Arts and Society

21/10/2026

A CDU architecture student has pitched a Singapore-inspired vertical promenade concept designed to give Darwin City a facelift 👀👉 https://bit.ly/4zDolzZ

21/10/2026

The good, the bad, and the ugly food: Why religious shoppers are buying bruised veggies?🥕🥦🍎🍌

Did you know that religious values could influence whether consumers buy imperfect-looking fruit and vegetables?

A new study involving Charles Darwin University (CDU) explores how religious beliefs shape consumers’ decisions to purchase “ugly foods” aesthetically imperfect but nutritious produce that is often rejected by retailers and consumers.

📊 Surveying household grocery shoppers in Pakistan, the research found that religious values can encourage people to buy ugly foods through a sense of environmental responsibility, a desire to avoid waste, and a preference for affordability and value for money.

🌱 With food waste remaining a major global challenge, these findings highlight how culturally relevant messaging that connects sustainability with ethical values and economic benefits could help encourage more sustainable food consumption.

The research offers valuable insights for policymakers, marketers and organisations looking for new ways to reduce food waste and promote more sustainable food choices.

📖 Read the article: https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/good-bad-ugly-food-why-religious-shoppers-are-buying-bruised-veggies

A recent study with Charles Darwin University examines how consumers’ religiosity influences the purchase of “ugly foods”, or foods that are aesthetically imperfect but nutritious.

15/10/2026

🎬 From the classroom to the big screen! 🌟

CDU Screen students are getting behind the scenes of the film industry through an exciting partnership with the Darwin International Film Festival (DIFF).

This year, students interviewed local, national and international filmmakers, including Cannes Critics’ Week award-winning Indonesian filmmaker Wregas Bhanuteja, and introduced films to festival audiences.

For students Helena Gallagher and Alan Lawlor, the experience boosted their confidence, built industry connections and opened doors to exciting opportunities beyond the classroom.

Discover how this partnership is helping CDU’s next generation of screen creatives bring their skills to the industry.

👉 Read the full story: https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/cdu-partnership-international-film-festival-opens-doors-screen-students

A cohort of Charles Darwin University (CDU) student film buffs have had an invaluable close up with the screen industry thanks to a partnership with the Darwin International Film Festival (DIFF).

12/10/2026

🌿 Darwin needs a BBL and this architecture student has a vision for the Top End.

What if the journey from Darwin’s Waterfront into the C*D became a destination in itself?

First-year Master of Architecture student Patricia Pindot has imagined a bold new way to revitalise Darwin’s C*D, inspired in part by Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay.

Her concept is guided by three simple ideas: Better Belonging and Lingering (BBL).

Through her Discover Darwin project, Patricia explored how design could encourage people to stay, connect and experience more of the city. Her vision includes sweeping staircases, “pause pavilions”, cascading water, lush planting, elevated cafés and dining spaces and even a funicular to improve accessibility.

At the heart of the project is a question: How can we create places where people don’t just pass through, but feel they belong?

For Patricia, architecture is about much more than creating beautiful spaces. It’s about considering our relationship with Country, the environment and the social and cultural life of a place.

🏙️ Could a concept like this change the way people experience Darwin?

👉 Read the full story : https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/darwin-needs-bbl-architecture-students-vision-top-end

A vertical promenade designed by a Charles Darwin University (CDU) architecture student and inspired by Singapore's Gardens by the Bay offers a glimpse into Darwin's future facelift.

09/10/2026

🎓🌏 A milestone worth celebrating!

Six First Nations educators have become the first graduates of CDU’s On Country Program marking a major milestone for the First Nations Training and Teacher Education Hub.

Working and studying in their own communities, the graduates have strengthened their teaching skills while drawing on the knowledge, languages, stories, culture and Country that are already at the heart of their work.

For graduate Witiyana Munuŋgurr, learning on Country was an empowering experience — and one that is helping inspire the next step in his teaching journey.

🌱 Their achievement is more than a graduation. It shows what can be possible when university education is designed with communities, for communities, and alongside the educators who know them best.

And perhaps one of the most powerful moments? Seeing their own students proudly watching their teachers graduate. 💜

Read the full story and learn more about the On Country program here: 👇

🔗 https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/first-nations-training-teacher-education-hub-celebrates-first-major-milestone

As Charles Darwin University's (CDU) First Nations Training and Teacher Education Hub draws closer to the end of its first year, one of its greatest milestones to date was conferring its first six graduates.

08/10/2026

🏆 From crochet to GOLD! 🧶✨

What happens when architecture meets creativity and digital tools are left behind?

CDU architecture student Jorja Handebo turned her five-year crochet hobby into the centrepiece of an award-winning landscape model, helping her team take first place among Northern Territory participants in the 2026 SuperStudio competition.

Inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night and the natural landscape of Darwin’s Myilly Point, the team created a design featuring winding pathways, amphitheatres, vegetation and a handcrafted crochet model made entirely freehand.

🌿🎨 It’s a story about creativity, collaboration and reimagining what architecture can look like when we reconnect with the tactile world around us.

Read the full story and see Jorja’s incredible project here: 👇

🔗 https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/crocheted-landscape-takes-gold-architecture-competition

When tasked to defy growing reliance on artificial intelligence and create a landscape model without digital tools, Charles Darwin University (CDU) Bachelor of Architectural Design student Jorja Handebo turned to her hobby of the past five years: crochet.

07/10/2026

♻️ Turn local surplus into community solutions!

Could your business’s surplus materials help bring a community project to life? 👀

Coming this November, Charles Darwin University’s Darwin Business-to-Community Material Matchmaking (BCMM) program will launch connecting businesses with surplus or reusable materials to community groups and projects that can put them to good use.

Funded through the City of Darwin’s 2026/27 Environment and Climate Change Grants, this 12-month, community-led initiative is all about practical local action, reducing waste and helping build a more circular Darwin. 🌱🤝

📣 BCMM launches in November 2026!

Join us to discover:

- How BCMM works
- Who can take part
- How you can get involved
- How surplus materials could support a local community project

📅 Launch details coming soon!

Got materials to share? Or a community project that could use them? We’d love to hear from you.

07/10/2026

🌟 Research Spotlight 🌟

Projection Augmented Landscape Models for Sharing Knowledge

In this chapter, Dr Rohan Fisher explores how Projection-Augmented Landscape Models (PALMs) combine physical 3D models with projected spatial data to support community engagement, storytelling and knowledge sharing.

From climate change adaptation and fire management to mine closure, PALMs offer new ways to visualise complex landscapes and bring different forms of knowledge together.

📖 Read the full chapter: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035322978.00012

06/10/2026

Buddhism in Australia: Wellbeing, Belonging and Social Engagement Digital Atlas ☸️

What does the history of Buddhism reveal about Australia’s multicultural and multifaith story?

“Tales from the other Australia: Lanterns for the dead, and the persistence of Buddhism in the Far North” explores a part of Australia’s religious history that has often been overlooked — northern Australia.

The article draws on Australia’s first comprehensive study of Buddhism in Australia, which maps multicultural and multifaith communities from the 1860s to today, including the rich and diverse history of Buddhism in the Far North. Dr Sue Smith collaborated with the project representing CDU.

The $500,000 project was privately funded by the Hsin Yun Education Foundation and conducted in partnership with the Nan Tien Institute, Deakin University, Western Sydney University and Charles Darwin University.

🏮 Discover the stories, communities and traditions that have shaped Buddhism in northern Australia.

👉 Read the full article: https://www.abc.net.au/religion/shinju-matsuri-festival-and-history-of-buddhism-in-far-north/102818862

Religious rituals and practices, such as the annual Shinju Matsuri festival — which celebrates diverse communities and commemorates their dead — reveal the long-standing multifaith reality of Australia, particularly across its far northern regions.

05/10/2026

🔬 Exploring New Research

Exploring lived experience of technology-facilitated coercive control during the liminal period of separation: shadows of surveillance, omnipresence and image-based abuse

Published in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence, this research by Judy Rose, Toni McCallum and Belinda Cox examines how technology can be used to monitor, control and abuse victim-survivors during separation.

The study explores experiences of surveillance, image-based abuse and the constant presence of technology, highlighting the growing role of digital devices in gender-based violence.

📖 Read the full research:
https://doi.org/10.1332/23986808Y2026D000000135

Technology-facilitated coercive control (TFCC) is an increasing feature of intimate partner violence. As technology continues to rapidly expand and change, so do the tactics for enacting various forms of coercive control. We situate TFCC within a gendered framework, with devices such as smartphones,...