Rate My Professor Shoshannah Kiriam

Dr Shoshannah Kiriam is an interdisciplinary academic and occupational therapist with over a decade of program and research experience in Australia, the Pacific, and South Asia. Currently serving as Lecturer in Occupational Therapy in the School of Allied Health and Human Performance within the College of Health at Adelaide University, they hold a PhD in Anthropology and International Development from the University of Adelaide (2014-2018) and a Bachelor of Health Sciences: Occupational Therapy (Honours) from the University of South Australia (2011-2014). Kiriam's work integrates research, teaching, and community development, with a strong emphasis on health equity, co-design, and participatory practice. Kiriam’s research centers on collaborating with communities to tackle challenges affecting daily lives. Key areas include developing creative, community-led supports for youth mental health and wellbeing in regional and rural settings; investigating gender and health equity, particularly how homelessness, poverty, caregiving, and social structures influence health and participation in meaningful occupations; and advancing trauma-informed and inclusive practices to create holistic service responses. Additional interests encompass design practice and methods, homelessness and housing services, poverty, inclusivity, and wellbeing.

Previously, Kiriam served as Head of Urban Programs at the SAJIDA Foundation (2020-2022), Community Development Officer in the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Cultural and Internal Affairs (2018), and Wirringka Tutor and Project Coordinator at the University of South Australia (2016-2021). They also hold a current appointment as Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at the University of South Australia (2023-ongoing). Notable publications include Kiriam, S., & Skuse, A. (2024). Honour, Survival and Protection: An Ethnographic Exploration of Homeless Women’s Livelihood Priorities in Urban Dhaka. Anthropology in Action, 31(2), 13-23; Nandonik, A. J., et al. (2024). Families adapting to COVID-19 in urban Bangladesh: 'It felt like the sky fell apart and we were in shock'. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1296083; Williams, S., & Drew, G. (2020). ‘Co-creating meeting spaces’: feminist ethnographic fieldwork in Bangladesh. Gender, Place and Culture, 27(6), 831-853; and several articles in the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal and British Journal of Occupational Therapy (2013-2017). Kiriam teaches courses such as Participatory Community Practice: Planning and Implementation, and Principles of Occupational Therapy Practice. They co-supervise Master of Philosophy and Master of Research students and lead projects like co-designing a wellbeing intervention for rural young people with the South Australian Department of Human Services (2024-2025).