TASA Postgraduate Conference Scholarships

The recipients of the prize will receive:

• Registration for the annual conference
• Registration for the pre-conference TASA Annual Postgraduate Workshop
• A certificate for receipt of scholarship

Those eligible to apply for the scholarships will meet the following criteria:

• Current enrolment in an Honours, Masters or PhD program
• Acceptance of sole authored paper as part of the refereed proceedings of TASA Conference
• Not previously a recipient of the award
• Current financial member of TASA
• Agree to submit a brief report to be published in Nexus

The following Selection Criteria will be taken into consideration:

• Quality of paper submitted
• Sociological relevance of paper
• Financial hardship
• Remote location
• Family circumstances (where this impacts on capacity to pay for conference attendance)
• Special reasons (other than paper presentation) for attending TASA conference

Selection panel will normally consist of the Vice President (convenor), Postgraduate member and Conference Convenor .

• Nominations must be made on the official nomination form (see below)
• Papers must be submitted to the refereed proceedings by the deadlines set by the Conference Local Organising Committee (LOC). Please make sure you double check this date on the TASA Conference website in case the deadline is brought forward.
• Applications will be reviewed by TASA Executive sub-committee and decision will be made taking into consideration the ranking provided by the LOC
• Up to five scholarships may be awarded each year
• Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by early October. This will allow enough time for those nominees who were not successful to still register for the conference at the 'Early Bird' rate.
• The decision of the review panel is final and no further discussions will be entered into.
• Successful applicants will have the payment of their conference and workshop registrations made by the TASA Office.

Please contact the TASA office for a copy of the application form (admin@tasa.org.au)

A photo of the following recipients can be viewed on the Postgraduate Page

Julia Coffey (University of Melbourne)
Jaleh McCormack (University of Otago, New Zealand)
Edwin Sayes (University of Melbourne)
Theresa Sauter (Queensland University of Technology)
Shawna Tang (University of Sydney)

Melissa Phillips – University of Melbourne

Jamilla Rosdahl – University of Sunshine Coast

Justin Iu – Australian National University

Nicole Stirling – University of Queensland

Trevor Lovett – University of South Australia

Melissa Phillips, University of Melbourne (m.phillips@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au) I was honoured to have been awarded a 2010 TASA Postgraduate Conference Scholarship and my thanks go to the TASA Executive for their support. As a postgraduate co-convenor for the Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (MEM) thematic group, most of my time at the conference was spent at MEM sessions. However, the relevance of the work presented in many other thematic groups for migration, ethnicity and multicultural scholarship was observed by MEM members, and a recommendation coming from our thematic group AGM was to arrange joint-thematic group session or panel discussion at the 2011 Conference. The full article is available in Nexus 23:1, February 2011

Jamilla Rosdahl – University of Sunshine Coast (jrosdah2@usc.edu.au) Poststructuralist feminist theorists in particular, have focused on how the female body is tied to complex networks of practices and institutions that sustain positions of dominance and subordination (Butler 1999; McNay 2000). Studies of female athletes in general and the body of muscular female bodybuilders in particular have generated a number of controversial discussions about the ‘nature’ of femininity, its complex relationship to muscularity and masculinity, and what it means to be a physically muscular and strong woman (Heywood 1998). The physicality of the female bodybuilder conflicts and challenges the assumption that men are strong and powerful and that women are weak, passive and dependent. It questions the inherent naturalness of men as masculine and women as feminine. In asking the question, ‘what is the relationship of femininity to the female muscular body?’ my research investigates the subject of embodied femininity and why femininity as a gender ‘identity’ has been considered central and unproblematic to the formation of the natural ‘woman’ (Bordo 1993). The full article is available in Nexus 23:1, February 2011

Nicole Stirling, University of Queensland (nicole.stirling@uqconnect.edu.au) My thesis examines the outworking of religious identity and practice among women from two Muslim majority countries, Iran and Turkey, who have migrated to Brisbane, Australia. The research is based on in-depth interviews with 37 Iranian and 25 Turkish migrant women and follow-up interviews with nine of these women, seven years later. In the first round of interviews, women were asked about their religious and cultural attitudes: (a) before migration; (b) after migration; and (c) following significant political events such as 9/11, the Bali bombings and the Iraq war. After the first interviews it was found that many women had undergone changes in their religious and cultural identity and practice. Words such as ‘sifting’, ‘negotiating’ and ‘remaking’ described the process of meaning making which underlined the changes to their identities. From the initial interviews, it was revealed that many of the migrant Muslim women, now living in a multicultural Western society, were re-evaluating their lives on a number of different levels. The women described in several diverse ways the process of ‘sifting’ that was taking place in their religious and cultural lives. The full article is available in Nexus 23:1, February 2011

Trevor Lovett, University of South Australia (lovtw001@mymail.unisa.edu.au) My personal experience of educational policies and practices suggested that certain individuals and groups in society are intent on maintaining political, social and educational orthodoxy. On the periphery of the educational decision-making process are individuals, like me, who feel they have limited influence on shaping education policy and practice. As a learner, I was cynical about many aspects of education that I believed did not really represent the interests of marginalised groups. I was curious to find out if working-class students, from my generation, were disaffected by the cultural practices of the schools they attended. The full article is available in Nexus 23:1, February 2011

Fiona Brookes - Monash University

Paula Wright - La Trobe University

Nicola Pitt - Monash University

Andrea North-Samardzic - University of New South Wales

Anna Makrenoglou - Monash University

"I was awarded the TASA Postgraduate Scholarship for my research on Oprah Winfrey and Discourses of Intensive Mothering. As a first year PhD candidate, attending the conference at ANU in Canberra - with the funding from TASA - was not only a great surprise and satisfying achievement, it was also rewarding to discover the number of well-established academics in this prominent sociological field who are both interested in, and supportive of my (as well as other postgraduates') work. An absolute highlight at the conference this year was the postgraduate writing workshop with Professor Raewyn Connell who gave all of us in attendance a wide variety of amazing, insightful, encouraging, and practical advice on how to improve our techniques in effective communication. I look forward to next year's conference and building on the networks that this event has initiated for me. And I would definitely recommend TASA to all postgraduate students who are interested in social studies and the social world!" Nicola Pitt, PhD Candidate - Monash University.

"I attended the TASA conference for the first time in 2009, as I am in a business faculty, and I now strongly encourage anyone from other disciplines to expand their horizons by attending. If I didn't receive the TASA conference scholarship in 2009, to put it simply, I wouldn't have been able to attend nor present my paper (thereby basically wasting the time I spent on it). I had used up all my research funding so the financial support of TASA was tremendously helpful; even if you have funding, every cent helps. As a PhD student, presenting by oneself is an intimidating process but everyone in attendance was extremely supportive and encouraging. I received great feedback on my paper (despite a few gaffs) and attending my first TASA conference provided a new perspective for my research. Write something (anything), apply for the scholarship, hone your conference confidence and get your research out there." Andrea North-Samardzic - University of New South Wales.

"I was both honoured and surprised to receive a TASA Postgraduate Scholarship for my paper analysing the initial findings of my ethnographic study of Grade 6 girls in a Melbourne Primary School. To receive the acknowledgement and encouragement of academics in the Sociological field in this manner is a valuable way to understand that others are both interested and supportive of Post Grad research. While I was unable to attend the TASA 2009 conference due to illness the preparation of this paper and the Scholarship selection process was a valuable and rewarding experience." Fiona Brookes, PhD Candidate - Monash University.

Marilyn Anderson

Sue Kentlyn

Kylie Sait

Maria del Pilar

Puerta Francos

Theresa Petray

Christopher Baker - Swinburne University of Technology

Karina Butera - Deakin University

Jane Chesher - University of Sydney

Rebecca Coates - University of Queensland

Riki Lane - La Trobe University

Sapura Mohamad - Adelaide University

Ruth Nicholls - University of Western Sydney

Elizabeth Povey - University of Western Australia

Arundina Pratiwi - Flinders University

Karen Soldatic - University of Western Australia

"Last year I was honoured to receive a Postgraduate Scholarship, which reduced the financial pressure of attending the TASA/SAANZ conference. The scholarship, along with presenting my paper, gave me a sense of confidence about my place in the sociological community. If you're considering submitting a paper and/or applying for a scholarship, GO FOR IT! It might seem overwhelming, but be assured that the TASA delegates are a wonderful bunch, they are incredibly generous to 'newbies' and the advice and encouragement you will receive will astound you. Go on, have a go!!"Karina J. Butera, PhD Candidate/Tutor: Sociology & Gender Studies, Deakin University, Melbourne

"In the first year of my research I attended the TASA conference in Perth and presented work-in-progress. For me as a PhD candidate in my second year the process of writing a paper, having it peer reviewed and then presenting it to fellow researchers at the TASA/AASR Conference in Auckland was as an important part of the learning process and it was as constructive as it was affirming. Writing the paper for the conference helped me to hone my thinking and advance my thesis. Presenting my contribution, testing it in a scholarly context and receiving peer feedback on the progress and quality of my work were each of particular and practical value to me. The Postgraduate Conference Scholarship provided welcome financial assistance and a fillip to both my confidence and my enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend to postgraduate workshop, though the feedback I received from colleagues who did attend is that I missed out!" Christopher Baker, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of Technology

"In 2007, I was one of the recipients of the TASA post-graduate conference award for a solo authored paper within Critical Disability Theory. Receiving the conference scholarship was a great confidence boost, particularly as I was in the depths of my thesis, which at times felt intimidating and isolating. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and meet some really inspiring women academics, who provided rich critical feedback and in turn, encouraged me to continue with the directions of my work. As a result of their encouragement and with the support of others, I have gathered a small group of Critical Disability Scholars from across Australia together to form a Critical Disability Studies Thematic Group under the TASA umbrella, which will meet at the Melbourne conference for their first meeting."Karen Soldatic, Phd Student, University of Western Australia

"As a postgraduate student, the preparation of a referred paper for the 2007 TASA Conference was an excellent way of developing a particular aspect of my thesis. I also benefited from the experience of delivering my paper and was encouraged by the feedback that I received from my spoken presentation. Writing for publication is a necessary part of the postgraduate experience and I would encourage all postgraduates to participate in the conference this year."Elizabeth Povey, PhD Student, University of Western Australia

"I would encourage all post grads working in Sociology to participate in the TASA conference and to submit papers to be refereed and judged for the Postgraduate Scholarship. Writing a thesis is a long journey with many diversions. Often the eventual goal is so distant that the day to day words seem only like drafts - never a final product. Writing is different when you know it will be judged by experienced referees as with the TASA postgrad scholarship - it motivated me to make my paper as tightly argued as possible, with no wasted or irrelevant words."Riki Lane, PhD Student, La Trobe University

"The highlight of attending the TASA/SAANZ conference last year was the opportunity to hear and meet Linda Tuhiwai Smith, the author of Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Her work has had a huge impact on my thinking and praxis as a researcher, and her plenary gave us all insights into the labelling of Maori iwi as terrorists, and the contentions around the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.I was really pleased to have the opportunity to present to well known scholars (and receive feedback on my ideas). And of course, the social aspect of meeting other post-grads and academics made all the theory of 'networking' seem less trite.Many thanks to TASA and SAANZ for the award, Ruth"Ruth Nicholls, PhD Candidate, University of Western Sydney

"The TASA postgraduate scholarship provided an excellent opportunity for me as a first-year PhD student to present a refereed paper in professional, yet encouraging environment. The whole conference experience was very positive, especially the postgraduate workshop where essential advice was passed from recently finished PhD students to current students. Presenting my paper at the conference gave me a great beginning to my postgraduate student career." Rebecca Coates, PhD Candidate, University of Queensland

"By accepting TASA scholarship, I had the opportunity to attend TASA Conference and present my refereed paper, meet sociological scholars, and learn a few writing techniques from the postgraduate workshop. It certainly became a very rewarding experience for me to broaden my knowledge and expertise regarding the application of sociological theory in my research project." Arundina Pratiwi, PhD Student, Flinders

Ruth Bohill, Southern Cross

Dina Bowman, PhD, Swinburne

Perri Campbell, Honours, Monash

Rebecca Conning, Master of Public Health, La Trobe

Kate Sheeren, PhD, ANU

Lyndal Sleep, PhD Griffith

Angela Dwyer - Queensland University of Technology

Louise Holdsworth - Southern Cross University

Umaporn Muneenam - Griffith University

Kirsten Harley - University of Sydney

Rachael Kitchens - Murdoch University

Jessica Gunson - University of Adelaide

Wendy Hillman - James Cook University

Shahadat Hossain - The University of New South Wales

Kate Huppatz - The University of Sydney

David Webb - Victoria University

Jan Backhouse - Southern Cross University

Meg Carter - Swinburne University of Technology

Thomas Sinclair - Monash University

Donna Turner - Murdoch University

Katie Wright - La Trobe University

Zuleyka Zevallos - Swinburne University of Technology