Janina Schlüsselburg, M.A.

Janina Schlüsselburg is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and an associated researcher in the MeDiMi project “Dehumanizing, Victimizing, or Universalizing? How Images of Migration Interact with Human Rights Discourse”. In her PhD project, she focuses on visual representations of migration published in the Australian media from 2015 onwards, focusing on international human rights discourse. Her research deconstructs the white gaze rooted in settler colonial structures by analysing self-produced art that challenges dominant visual narratives. Her interdisciplinary methodology combines works of critical scholars, artists, and activists to develop decolonising approaches to visual culture analysis. After completing her Master of Arts (M.A.) in British and American Cultures at the University of Hamburg and working as a project coordinator at the Center for Diversity, Media, and Law (DiML) at Justus Liebig University Giessen, she bridges academic research with human rights practice as a research assistant at a Sydney law firm. Her research spans migration studies, decolonial and postcolonial theory, visual culture, media studies, critical race theory, critical feminist studies, and Indigenous studies. Her research advocates for greater emphasis on individual agency in migration imagery and contributes to broader discussions about knowledge production, power and resistance.

Contact: j.schluesselburg@unsw.edu.au