Keynotes

OVERVIEW

Raewyn is best known internationally for studies on masculinity. She was one of the founders of this research field and her book Masculinities (1995, 2005) is the best known in the field. The concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ has been particularly influential and has attracted much debate.  As well as doing some of the pioneering empirical work in this field, Raewyn has written extensively about its applications to education, health, and the reduction of violence.

Raewyn's Website

Raewyn has a website that is intended for people who share her interests in research, social action, or poetry. It is accessible via http://www.raewynconnell.net/.

OVERVIEW

Deborah Lupton is a SHARP Professor in the Centre for Social Research in Health and the Social Policy Research Centre and Leader of the Vitalities Lab. Professor Lupton is also the UNSW Node Leader, Health Focus Area Leader and People Co-Leader of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She has a background in sociology and media and cultural studies, and her research combines qualitative and innovative social research methods with sociocultural theory. Deborah is the author/co-author of 17 books and editor/co-editor of eight book collections, as well as over 200 book chapters and articles. 

Deborah's Blog

Deborah blogs at This Sociological Life.

OVERVIEW

Lyn Craig is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy and Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. Her interests include the time impacts of children, care, and social reproduction; motherhood, fatherhood, and gender equity; the division of domestic labour, work-family balance and comparative family and social policy.

More about lyn

Prior to joining UoM, she was Scientia Professor and Director of the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney. Lyn serves on the ARC College of Experts, the Editorial Boards of the American Sociological Review and Social Problems, and is an Associate Editor of Feminist Economics. She is an Affiliate of the Centre for Time Use Research, Oxford University, a member of the Executive Council of the International Association for Time Use Research, and the ABS Gender Statistics Advisory Board. She is an elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

OVERVIEW

Bula Vinaka, I currently teach in the Sociology program and completed my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Auckland before completing my PhD at the University of British Columbia. As an emerging Pasifika researcher, I was the founding associate-director of All My Relations; an Indigenous research center at Thompson Rivers University (Canada) and co-founded the Indigenous research development program Knowledge Makers in Canada. I have been successful in applying for international research grants and publish both nationally and internationally on equity and higher education. Before beginning my research, I worked supporting Māori and Pasifika students in MAPAS and Tuākana Arts. 

more about sereana

I conduct research into equity in higher education both nationally and internationally. My current projects include data-informed approaches to equity in universities in New Zealand and indigenization efforts in Canada. I am focused on ensuring that all learners, faculty, and staff experience the education system we deserve. I use Pacific research methodologies in my research and I am excited to engage in the Pacific academy.

OVERVIEW

Henry is a sociologist of education who is currently pursuing his PhD degree at Griffith University (Mt Gravatt Campus) in Brisbane, Australia. 

At the moment, his research questions are: What is controversy? How is controversy discursively constructed in curriculum policy? How is ‘controversy’ enacted and recontextualised in different policy ‘sites’? In particular, he is using the work of Basil Bernstein and Michel Foucault to explore the politics of recontextualising Liberal Studies pedagogic discourse in Hong Kong secondary education.

henry's website

You can find out more about Henry via his website: https://henrykwok.net/

OVERVIEW

David Rowe, FAHA, FASSA, is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University; Honorary Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Bath; and Research Associate, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, SOAS University of London.

more about david

David's books include: Popular Cultures: Rock Music, Sport and the Politics of Pleasure (1995); Globalization and Sport: Playing the World (co-authored, 2001); Sport, Culture and the Media: The Unruly Trinity (second edition, 2004); Sport Beyond Television: The Internet, Digital Media and the Rise of Networked Media Sport (co-authored, 2012); Sport, Public Broadcasting, and Cultural Citizenship: Signal Lost? (co-edited, 2014), and Making Culture: Commercialisation, Transnationalism, and the State of ‘Nationing’ in Contemporary Australia (co-edited, 2018).

OVERVIEW

Alphia Possamai-Inesedy is a Professor of Sociology at the Western Sydney University. She is the current Chair of Academic Senate and the Director of Sydney City Campus. She was the recent editor in chief of the Journal of Sociology (2013- end of 2016) as well as the co-creator of the Risk Societies Thematic Group within the Australian Sociological Association.  She is also the Springer co-editor for the series ‘Religion, Spirituality and Health: A Social Scientific approach’. She has worked as an Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor of Academia and was responsible for the creation of the Master of Research at WSU (the first centralised degree of the University). She is the current Director of the Sydney City Campus of Western Sydney University and the Vice President of the Australian Sociological Association. Her recent work includes The Digital Social: Religion and Belief (2019) and an upcoming volume with Sage on Digital Methods.  Alphia is currently involved in ongoing research that focuses on risk society, religion, health, and digital methdologies.

more about alphia

Alphia is the incoming president of TASA and the main organiser behind our inaugural virtual conference. 

OVERVIEW

Catherine Robinson is a social researcher currently working in the NGO sector at the Social Action and Research Centre (SARC), Anglicare Tasmania.  Catherine returned to Tasmania and joined SARC after 13 years as an academic at University of Technology, Sydney.  She is a sociologist and has a broad interest in social suffering, compassion fatigue, and ethics in research with vulnerable populations.

more about catherine

Catherine was the leading expert on the SBS series Filthy Rich and Homeless where five wealthy Australians swapped their privileged lifestyles for 10 days and nights living on the streets of Melbourne. Into its third series, you can read about 8 surprising facts from 'Filthy Rich & Homeless'

OVERVIEW

No stranger to TASA, Dan has been the association's president for the past 4 years. Dan is TR Ashworth Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences and acting Associate Dean (Partnerships) in the Faculty of Arts. He was previously a Research Fellow in the Research School of Social Science at the Australian National University (2009-2011) and a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Youth Research Centre (2005-2009).

More about dan

Prior to his academic career Dan spent a number of years as an intellectual disability support worker and did a short stint in the Victorian Public Service. Dan’s primary research area is the sociology of youth, young adulthood, and generations and he uses this focus to also contribute to the sociology of work, and to sociological theory. His writing conceptualizing generational change and the new social conditions impacting on young adults is internationally recognized.
Dan is the current President of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS).