Dr Tim Kurz
Email: t.kurz@murdoch.edu.au

Qualifications:

• B.A. (Hons.), Ph.D.

Research

My research interests span the areas of social, environmental, and discursive psychology.

The three main branches of my research relate to:

• Social psychological aspects associated with what is often termed “Environmental Sustainability”
• Stereotypes and prejudice
• The social construction of gender

Activities

I took up my current position as Lecturer within the School in 2006, having completed a couple of years of post-doctoral research in the United Kingdom at the Queen’s University of Belfast (2004) and the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (2005).

I currently have a number of ongoing research projects. The first of these relates to the issue of climate change, and in particular, the intersection between government policy, political rhetoric and citizen action (at both an individual and collective level). A component of this research, focused on bolstering commitment to collective social action on climate change, is currently being funded by an ARC Discovery Grant (McGarty and Kurz).

I am also involved as a chief investigator in the recently funded State Government Centre of Research Excellence for “Climate Change and Forest and Woodland Health”. This is a large, interdisciplinary, multi-project research endeavor involving researchers from a range of disciplines including environmental science, education and psychology. The project that I am involved with is concerned with the community engagement and environmental education processes that are required to ensure that research findings from the Centre’s other programs can be transformed into successful restoration outcomes ‘on the ground’.

In addition, I also have an ongoing stream of research (with Dr Catherine Baudains in Environmental Science) that is investigating the social psychology of the Australian suburban garden. This research is looking at such things as the psychological relationships that people have with their front and back yards in urban settings and the ways that they respond to particular urban landscapes (e.g., native vs exotic plant species). We plan to integrate this analysis with ecological analysis of particular areas to develop community-based programs to improve habitat provision for native fauna in urban areas.

Finally, I also have a stream of research that is concerned with studying the communicative aspects of social stereotypes, especially those relating to gender.

Prospective research students should note that I generally utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods in my research, so am happy to supervise students in all areas of social psychology, especially those which relate to the areas discussed above.

Selected Publications

Whitehead, K. & Kurz, T. (2009). ‘Empowerment’ and the pole: A discursive investigation of the re-invention of pole dancing as a recreational activity. Feminism & Psychology, 19, 224-244.

Kurz, T., & Lyons, A. (in press). Inter-group influences on the stereotype-consistency bias in communication: Does it matter who we are communicating about and to whom we are communicating? Social Cognition.

Whitehead, K. & Kurz, T. (2008). Saints, sinners & standards of femininity: Discursive constructions of anorexia nervosa and obesity in women’s magazines. Journal of Gender Studies, 17, 345-358.

Lyons, A., Clark, A.E., Kashima, Y., & Kurz, T. (2008). Cultural dynamics of stereotypes. In Y. Kashima, K. Fiedler, & P. Freytag (eds.) Stereotype Dynamics: Language-Based Approaches to the Formation, Maintenance, and Transformation of Stereotypes. (pp. 59-92). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kurz, T., Linden, M., & Sheehy, N. (2007). Attitudinal and community influences on participation in new curbside recycling initiatives in Northern Ireland. Environment & Behavior, 39, 367-391.

Kurz, T., Donaghue, N., Rapley, M., & Walker, I. (2005). The ways that people talk about natural resources: Discursive strategies as barriers to environmentally sustainable practices. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 603-620.

Kurz, T., Donaghue, N., & Walker, I. (2005). Utilizing a social-ecological framework to promote water and energy conservation: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35, 1281-1300.

Kurz, T. (2002). The psychology of environmentally sustainable behaviour: Fitting together pieces of the puzzle. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2, 257-278.

Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Woodland and Forest Health
School of Psychology,
Murdoch University
Western Australia 6150
Australia

Ph: +61 (8) 9360 2986
Fax: +61 8 9360 6303
[ Email Tim ]

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