Professor Jill Bennett is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where she is also Director of the National Institute for Experimental Arts, and Founding Director of The Big Anxiety – festival of arts + science + people. Her Laureate Research Lab advances the study of the subjective experience of ageing, mental health, marginalisation and stigma, combining psycho-social approaches with the use of immersive environments and virtual reality to enable perspective sharing, and the development of effective methods for cultivating empathy.

Prof Bennett is a visual media theorist, curator and immersive media producer, whose research focuses on trauma, emotional experience, memory and mental health. Her research includes arts-science collaborations at the intersection of trauma studies, psychology and mental health. Her books, include Empathic Vision and Practical Aesthetics, as well as monographs on media arts, curating and its social impact. She has produced and curated many exhibitions and events, encompassing visual, media and performing arts, interactive workshops and experimental discussion forums, designed to promote new forms of engagement.