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Assoc Prof Melissa Forbes

Assoc Prof Melissa Forbes
Name Melissa Forbes
Position Centre Director (Heritage and Culture)
Section School of Education and Creative Arts
Office A242
Location Toowoomba Campus
Phone +61 7 4631 1153
Extension 1153
Email
Qualifications BA Qld , BMusic Griffith , BA(Hons) Qld , LLB(Hons) Qld , PhD QldConservatorium
Homepage https://research.usq.edu.au/researcher/81155/a-pr-melissa-forbes
The views expressed on staff homepages may not reflect the views of the University.

Associate Professor Melissa Forbes is a Churchill Fellow championing music as essential health and cultural infrastructure for thriving communities. With nearly one in six people globally experiencing loneliness—a crisis set to intensify as AI reshapes work and connection—Melissa's research demonstrates how music and singing serve as embodied practices of care. Melissa's current projects pioneer workplace musical care programs to support workplace wellbeing. Melissa is the Director of UniSQ's Centre for Heritage + Culture, a vibrant interdisciplinary group that partners with communities to research, interpret and share the stories that shape regional Australia.


  • Curriculum and Pedagogy not elsewhere classified ( 130299 )
  • Performing Arts and Creative Writing not elsewhere classified ( 190499 )
  • Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified ( 179999 )
  • Music not elsewhere classified ( 360399 )
  • Other Psychology not elsewhere classified ( 529999 )
  • Other Psychology ( 529900 )
  • Music ( 360300 )
  • Music Cognition ( 360301 )
  • Music Performance ( 360304 )
  • Music Education ( 360303 )
  • Music Composition And Improvisation ( 360302 )

singing, health and wellbeing
jazz singing and improvisation
contemporary commercial music singing voice pedagogy
collaborative learning
higher music education
music leadership


Australian National Association for Teachers of Singing (ANATS)
Australian Music and Psychology Society (AMPS)
International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
Society for Education and Music Psychology Research (SEMPRE)
European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM)
Somatic Voicework ™ The LoVetri Method Teachers’ Association
Churchill Fellows Association of Queensland Inc (Committee member)


  • Institute for Communities and Regional Development (ICRD)
  • Centre for Heritage and Culture (CHC)

MUI1013, MUI3013, MUI3014, MUI3016, MUI3012, MUI3015, MUI1006, MUI3017


15 Years


  • Curriculum and Pedagogy not elsewhere classified ( 130299 )
  • Performing Arts and Creative Writing not elsewhere classified ( 190499 )
  • Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified ( 179999 )
  • Music not elsewhere classified ( 360399 )
  • Other Psychology not elsewhere classified ( 529999 )
  • Other Psychology ( 529900 )
  • Music ( 360300 )
  • Music Cognition ( 360301 )
  • Music Performance ( 360304 )
  • Music Education ( 360303 )
  • Music Composition And Improvisation ( 360302 )