 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
As we come to the end of 2025, we are pleased to share our final newsletter for the year on behalf of the Executive and staff. This issue reflects the richness of our community and the many ways members continue to contribute to, and shape, the life of the Association.
At the top of this newsletter, you’ll see our “Save the Date” for our TASA 2026 conference. We hope it excites you as much as it excites us to have another opportunity to come together, share research, and celebrate our community.
In this newsletter, we are delighted to share the recording of our recent inaugural Yarning Circle keynote, a significant and meaningful moment for TASA. We also highlight a sessional teaching opportunity, welcome new members to the Association, and introduce the incoming conveners of the Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism Thematic Group.
We remind you that nominations for TASA’s two book awards close on 2 March, and we are pleased to showcase recent publications by our members. This issue also includes reflections from three recipients of TASA’s 2025 postgraduate bursary program, alongside reports from the conveners of two Thematic Groups following their recent TASA-funded events.
Please note that Sally (final day today) and Penny (final day yesterday) are on annual leave and will return on 2 February. During this period, Ali Smith, TASA’s Membership Director, will be available from 5 January to assist with membership-related enquiries and any urgent matters that cannot wait until February.
The next TASA newsletter will be published on 5 February. You are warmly invited to submit items for inclusion, which can be emailed to Sally in TASA Admin. To help manage submissions efficiently, please include “NEWSLETTER” in the subject line.
Thank you for being part of TASA's community this year. We hope you enjoy reading this final newsletter for 2025 and look forward to staying connected in the year ahead.
TASA's Executive and Staff
| Presented by Joanne Schmider, Davina Woods, Kim Humphery & Shaun Wilson
The Indigenisation of sociology curricula in higher education within Australia is an important step in the recognition and appreciation of First Nations people’s perspectives and culture within colonial structured institutions. To move forward within this space, we first need to understand where we are at currently across Australia. Many universities are individually working to Indigenise sociology curricula, but how do we unite these institutions to collectively drive this work? How do we ensure that curriculum is inclusive of First Nations people and ensures they feel represented within once repressive systems? Incorporating broad, varying views and perspectives of First Nations people, communities, and nations into the wide-ranging, often dis-jointed discipline of sociology will require dedication, commitment, and investment from a range of people and organisations alike. But how is this achieved? What are the barriers preventing a nationwide strategic approach to Indigenising sociology curricula? What role can you play in helping achieve this vital step forward in reconciliation within the higher education system. | This graphic scribe below was created by Gessamy Gee, Creative Director of Think in Colour.
Gessamy scribed TASA's inaugural Yarning Circle, which was presented by Joanne Schmider, Davina Woods, Kim Humphery & Shaun Wilson on the Indigenisation of sociology curricula in higher education within Australia, which is an important step in the recognition and appreciation of First Nations people’s perspectives and culture within colonial structured institutions.
| After the conference, Gessamy Gee interviewed Joann Schmider, TASA's Indigenous Portfolio Leader, on community radio 3RRRFM about the yarning topic and Indigenising sociology:
Indigenising Sociology
Resource 1: The University of Queensland (UQ) has a comprehensive initiative and resource called "Indigenising Curriculum at The University of Queensland: A Handbook," an open textbook (Pressbook) detailing how UQ integrates Aboriginal and Torres Torres Strait Islander knowledges, perspectives, and pedagogies across disciplines, guided by UQ's Indigenising Curriculum Design Principles, offering practical examples, challenges, and benefits for educators to embed Indigenous content and foster cultural capability. It's supported by resources from the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation and features case studies and podcasts, such as "Indigenising Curriculum in Practice".
Resource 2: Indigenising Curriculum in Practice - A podcast series that focuses on Indigenising the university curriculum. Each episode is an interview with Indigenous and/or non-Indigenous staff across the faculties at the University of Queensland.
| Bursary Recipients' Reflections
| This year, TASA funded a record number of conference bursaries with the bulk going to postgraduate students. This week's newsletter includes reflections from three of our recipients:
- Joelle Moore (2025) Reflections on TASA 2025. TASA Nexus, December 18th.
- Jay Caldwell (2025) Reflecting on TASA 2025: Universities, Security, and the Space for Critical Inquiry. TASA Nexus, December 18th.
- Diwakar Khanal (2025) Reflections on TASA 2025. TASA Nexus, December 18th.
| Although there is still a slither of 2025 to experience, we would like to draw your attention to two of TASA's 2026 Awards that have a nomination deadline of March 2nd, 2026:
- Stephen Crook Memorial Prize: Awarded for the best authored book in Australian Sociology.
- Raewyn Connell Prize: Awarded for the best first book by an author in Australian Sociology.
Note, if a book is eligible for the Raewyn Connell Prize it may also be nominated for the Stephen Crook Memorial Prize (i.e. can nominate one book for both prizes but would need to supply 12 copies of the book - 6 for each book prize panel).
We will include details about TASA's other 2026 Award opportunities in a 2026 newsletter.
| A very warm welcome to our new members Miriam Burgess, & Elsie Foeken. We’re delighted you’ve joined the Association and look forward to your ideas, energy, and participation. Whether you’re here to connect, contribute, or simply explore, we hope you find TASA a supportive and stimulating professional home.
| Health Sociology Review: Call for new editorial team
| As a reminder, applications are invited for the editorship of Health Sociology Review (HSR) for the three-year term 2027 - 2029. Note, the original call listed a four-year term, but for a variety of reasons TASA's Executive decided at their most recent meeting to reduce the term to three years.
Transition arrangements will begin later in 2026, although the content for the first issue of 2027, and possibly the second, will be finalised by the out-going editors.
The application deadline is Monday 22nd June, 2026.
The full details of the call are available on TASAweb here.
| Shakuto, Shiori. After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2025. ISBN 9781512827088 | | Based on fifteen months of fieldwork in Kuala Lumpur and employing a transnational feminist framework, After Work investigates moments of difference in the experiences of older women and men to examine patriarchal conversations that dominate ideas about contemporary retirement. The book argues that anxiety around self and belonging in retirement are instigated by the capitalist labor regime and the discourse of successful aging, both of which devalue nonremunerated activities conducted at home. What is needed instead, the book contends, is a re-valuation of key domestic activities—from caring for children to pursuing individual hobbies—so that “life” can be appreciated in its entirety. Read on... | | | |
Yasmeen, F., Petersen, A., & Forbes-Mewett, H. (2025). Intersectional disadvantages? Labor market integration of skilled Pakistani migrant women in Australia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01171968251399227
| If you are a thematic group (TG) convener, or a member of a TG, note that the next TG funding deadline is March 1, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact our TG Portfolio Leader, Naomi Smith (from the middle of January) or Sally Daly in TASA Admin from February 2nd.
| Knowing the City – Movements, Epistemologies and Visions
A Housing & Urban Sociology Thematic Group conference
At the University of Sydney, 9 October 2025
You can access their report on our Nexus blog here.
Non-religion, Spirituality & Secularism in Public
At the University of Sydney, 3 October 2025
You can access their report our Nexus blog here.
| We extend our sincere thanks to the outgoing conveners of the Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism Thematic Group, Cat Stevens, Cathy Martin, Leah Williams Veazy and Nelgyn Tennyson (postgrad rep) for their dedication and hard work over their term, which I believe may have been 4 years! . Their contribution has been greatly valued. We are delighted to welcome the new conveners and look forward to the ideas and energy they will bring to the group.
The new conveners are Jenna Harb, Andy Zhao, Raisa, and Siwen |  | | Dr Jenna Imad Harb is a Research Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, which is at the Australian National University (ANU). Her research examines how inequality and regulatory governance interface in 'Tech for Good,' referring to digital applications that aim to alleviate social and environmental harms. She has published on issues of digitalised humanitarian aid for refugees, the racialisation of humanitarian labour, anti-violence technologies, policing technologies, data protection, digital platforms, the financialization of welfare, and the regulation and social implications of AI.
|  | Dr Andy (Xinyu) Zhao is a sociologist studying and researching everyday digital media practices and cultures, especially in migration and family contexts. He is a Research Fellow at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, Deakin University. He is author of Social Media in the Lives of Young Connected Migrants, published by Routledge in 2023, and co-editor of Children, Media, and Pandemic Parenting, published Open Access by Routledge in 2024. He is particularly interested in expanding scholarly and public knowledge of cultural and platform diversity in Australian digital childhoods.
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 | | Dr Raisa Akifeva is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the SAGE Futures Lab at Edith Cowan University and a Senior Lecturer in the Bachelor of Community Services program at Acknowledge Education. Her research focuses on migration studies, particularly migrant parenting, Othering and belonging, and state–diaspora relations. She has published regularly in these fields, contributing to reputed journals including Sociology, Ethnicities, and the Journal of Intercultural Studies.
|  | Siwen Liu is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, at The University of Sydney. Her PhD research examines the mobility experiences of international students pursuing healthcare degrees in Australia within the broader international higher education and migration policy context. She previously received TASA's Honours Student Award for her honours thesis on the labour market inclusion of migrant workers in China.
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Fellow member Safia Iftikhar is also a postgraduate representative for the MEM thematic group.
| New: Sessional teaching opportunity in Sydney at UTAS Rozelle campus
Sessional teaching opportunity at UTAS Rozelle campus in Sydney, Semester One 2026.
Facilitate workshops (in person, on campus) and mark assessments for first-year Nursing students as they learn about working with intersectional, diverse patient groups and explore the links between culturally responsive health care and health equity.
For further information please contact fellow member: Dr Kim McLeod, kim.mcleod@utas.edu.au, +61 3 6324 5045
If you are interested in being considered for an interview please forward a brief EOI and your CV to: kim.mcleod@utas.edu.au
Research Fellow
Australian National University
Part time (0.8FTE), Fixed Term (up to 33 months)
Research Fellow, Social and Ethical Dimensions of Applied Cryobiology
Australian National University
The funding that supports this project has an expected duration of 3.5 years.
Research Fellow, Ethnography and Sociology of the Artificial Cryosphere
Australian National University
The funding that supports this project has an expected duration of 5 years.
| Introducing Special Sections
Following the recent launch of a new paper type for Journal of Sociology, Teaching Notes, the JoS team are launching a new feature called Special Sections. They invite proposals at any time for thematic sections that consist of three or four standard 8,000 word papers, framed with a 4,000 word introduction. This will be an ideal format for developing and publishing outcomes from, for instance, a conference panel, a smaller research network, or papers in conversation around a hot topic. Special Sections are designed to be a smaller, more manageable version of a special issue and will feature in standard issues along with regular papers.
If you would like to pitch a special section, please write firstly to our Managing Editor, Dr Amy Vanderharst.
| The latest special issue of the Journal of Sociology explores ‘Equity in the creative industries’ in the context of a changing employment landscape in Australia. Inequality is central to understanding the social consequences and distribution of cultural work. The COVID-19 pandemic, rise of digital cultural production, growth of media sharing platforms, and instability of changes in government (and policy) have both disrupted and re-organised cultural work. The collection of articles aims to develop debate on competing imaginaries of the lived experiences of workers, and to shed light on the struggle and complexities of contemporary creative labour.
All articles have been published on open access and are available here.
| Other Events, News & Opportunities
| New: HDR/ECR Workshop with Journal Editors: Demystifying the Journal Publishing Process
Deakin University (Deakin Downtown Campus, Central Melbourne)
Monday 2 March, 2026, 3pm-4.30pm
In-person only
Are you a PhD student or early-career scholar in the social sciences looking for insights into the international journal publication process? On Monday 2 March, Deakin University’s School of Humanities & Social Sciences will be hosting a 1.5hr interactive workshop on this theme with three journal editors: Prof Sam Friedman (Editor, The British Journal of Sociology), A/Prof Kiran Pienaar (Editor, Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience), and A/Prof Timothy Neale (Editor, Science, Technology & Human Values).
Workshop participation is open to PhD students and early-career scholars who are up to five years post-PhD. The workshop will include short presentations from the journal editors followed by small group sessions in which attendees will workshop their abstracts with peers and support from a journal editor. Information-sharing and discussions during the workshop will be designed to help demystify the publishing process.
To join, please email A/Prof Rose Butler (rose.butler@deakin.edu.au) and register your interest by 20 February, 2026. Come along with an abstract to be shared and any questions. This is an in-person only event.
| Cross-Class Friendship: Call for Research Participants
| Fellow member Rose Butler (Deakin) has recently commenced a research project on cross-class friendship with Sam Friedman (LSE) and is currently recruiting participants. Rose is looking for interviewees who have a close friendship with someone whose class background differs to their own and are willing to talk about this friendship. All interviews are treated as confidential and last between 60-90 minutes. They can take place over Zoom or in person and participants receive a fifty-dollar gift card as a token of appreciation.
| International Center for the Sociology of Religion (ICSOR)
The grants provide residence in Rome for the duration of a week or more to a maximum of two months. The ICSOR apartment (all-inclusive, except for food and insurance) and library will be available to awardees free of charge.
Application deadline: March 30th, 2026. Read on...
| Newcastle Youth Studies Centre (NYSC) 2026 Online Seminar Series
The full 2026 program for the Newcastle Youth Studies Centre’s online seminar series is now out (see below), you can check out each seminar, and register for them, at the NYSC Eventbrite page here.
Note, you can watch the full 2025 recordings at the NYSC's YouTube playlist here.
| The Sorrento Creative Writing Prize
The Prize celebrates the annual Sorrento Writers Festival and its mission to bring writers and readers together.
The winner will receive $5,000 and their writing featured at the 2026 Sorrento Writers Festival and at www.writing.org.au
| Edited Volume - call for contributions
| Constructive Alcohol: production, consumption, everything else (working title)
The book will be a response to Mary Douglas’ ground-breaking work Constructive Drinking (1987). Published nearly 40 years ago, Constructive Drinking continues to be a touchstone for research that foundationally acknowledges that ‘drinking’ is always socio-culturally constructed, historically contingent and morally relativistic. Douglas and her contributors firmly rejected approaches that assumptively problematized or pathologized alcohol and instead critically analysed benefits ascribed to alcohol in different social settings. Moreover, our proposed book comes at a time when alcohol is subject to multiple criticisms and challenges, not least of which are the World Health Organisation’s repeated declarations that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption; the impacts of climate change; and declining consumption globally.
| Religion as a Weapon of War: in the past, present and future
World Conference for Religious Dialogue and Cooperation
June 22-26. 2026, Skopje, North Macedonia
Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2026. Read on...
BSA Annual Conference 2026: 75 Years of Sociology
University of Edinburgh, UK
8-10 April 2026
Predoctoral Preconference
Work and Family Researchers Network Conference
The Predoctoral Preconference will provide workshops intended to help graduate students form meaningful connections with diverse scholars, learn about publication strategies, as well as how to engage with stakeholders such as organisational leaders or policy advocates.
| | Reimagining Boyhood: Addressing the wellbeing of boys and young men through education
21 January, 2026
The University of Queensland
Key Speakers include fellow member Garth Stahl.
This event brings together leading international voices, cutting-edge research, and the shared commitment of schools and educators to shape the future of boys’ education, exploring identity, wellbeing, belonging, and learning in boyhood. With keynote speakers, expert panels, and interactive workshops, this full-day program offers evidence-based insights and practical strategies that educators can apply directly.
| | | Special Issues - call for submissions
| Serendipities. Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sciences
If you would like to propose a special issue for their collection, please feel free to discuss this with the Managing Editors. If your ideas are further advanced, you are welcome to send them a one-to-two page proposal.
Managing Editors:
- Fran Collyer, University of Wollongong Australia, Fran@francollyer.com
- Kristoffer Kropp, Roskilde University, Denmark, kkropp@ruc.dk
You can find more information about our journal here.
Professionalism beyond the Global North: A Space for New Theoretical Developments
Current Sociology Monographs
This issue invites contributions that advance sociological research on professions, professionalism, and expertise in the Global South—broadly defined to include Africa, Asia, Latin America, Southern and Eastern Europe, and Oceania
The Normative Turn in Sociology. Opening the Black Box
Sociology’s special issue hopes to lay the groundwork for a sociology of normativity; that is, a form of sociology (be it “critical” or otherwise) which is expressly normative. Editors are looking for contributions, theoretical and/or empirical, that engage with the question of normativity in sociology.
Paper submission deadline: 22 January. Read on...
Earning while Learning: Experiences, patterns and the political economy of working students
Work, Employment and Society’s new special issue aims to interrogate and fundamentally reconceptualize the relationship between earning and learning, bringing together different disciplinary approaches to interrogate student work and the global political economy that shapes it.
Paper submission deadline: 27 February. Read on...
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
The guest editors of this journal are seeking submissions for the forthcoming edition ‘Reframing artificial intelligence: Critical perspectives from AI social science’
In an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), public and academic discourse is often dominated by polarised narratives—either heralding AI as a solution to complex problems or warning of its dangers … this Collection invites social science perspectives to advance the study of AI’s sociotechnical, cultural and political dimensions.
Submission deadline: 30 April. Read on...
|  | The Jobs & Scholarships Board allows you to view opportunities that TASA Admin and fellow members have posted.
In 4 easy steps, you can upload job & scholarship opportunities from your member's profile screen. For instructions, visit here.
The Jobs & Scholarships Board is a public facing searchable feature of TASAweb.
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 | TASA’s Executive Committee (EC) governs the Association and manages its daily business as outlined in the Constitution and by established policies. A call for nominations for the 2027 – 2028 Executive term will be disseminated on July 1, 2026.
The November 2024 - November 2026 Executive Team can be viewed on TASAweb here.
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 | TASA was officially established under the name of the Sociological Association of Australia and New Zealand (SAANZ) in 1963, crystallising what was a long, and perhaps delayed process of the discipline’s development in Australia.
For the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2013, pages on TASA's history were added to TASAweb.
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 | The more members TASA has, the stronger our association can be.
To help spread the word about TASA, you can quickly and easily gift a TASA membership to someone from within your TASA membership profile.
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 | | TASA members have free access to over 90 peer-reviewed Sage Sociology full-text collection online journals encompassing over 63,000 articles. The image on the left shows you where to access those journals, as well as the Sage Research Methods Collection & the Taylor and Francis Full Text Collection, when logged in to TASAweb. If needed, here is a short instructive video on how to access the online resources. |
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 | TASA currently has 27 thematic groups in operation and members can join up to 4 groups. This can be done quickly, and easily via your membership profile.
Watch the very short video (1:30) to learn how to join a thematic group/s.
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 | TASA's Membership Directory allows you to search for members by country and state. It also has search functions for members of a particular thematic group, and members who are available for supervision and/or mentoring.
To learn how to search the Membership Directory, watch this very short video (1 min).
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 | Via your membership profile, you can update many options including adding a secondary email address, and indicating if you are available for mentoring, supervising, consulting, and/or talking to the media, for example. If you are in a Tier 2, Tier 3 & Tier 4 membership category, you can also opt in or out of receiving a hard copy of the Journal of Sociology.
All of these changes can be done quickly and easily. To learn how, watch this video (1 min). |
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Personal pronoun preferences can be added to your profile. There are 9 combination options to choose from. Please let Sally in TASA Admin know if your preference/s is not on the list and we will have them added.
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 | We encourage you to support your colleagues by sharing details of your latest publications, including impact & outreach content, with them via this newsletter. No publication is too big or too small.
Any mention of sociology is of value to our association, and to the discipline, so please do email through details of your latest publication/s (fully referenced & with a link, where possible), impact & outreach content, events, job adverts etc. for the next newsletter, to TASA Admin (right click to retrieve the email address). Usually, the newsletter is disseminated every Thursday morning. |
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 | As part of the agreement with Taylor & Francis, TASA members are entitled to a 30% books discount. This discount is valid on any full priced CRC Press or Routledge book.
To access the book discount, click on the following link and then log in to TASAweb: book discount link. |
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Admin (Sally): admin@tasa.org.au
Events (Penny): events@tasa.org.au
Membership (Ali): membership@tasa.org.au
Digital Publications Editor (Roger): digitalpe@tasa.org.au
Thematic Groups (Naomi): thematicgroups@tasa.org.au
Postgraduates (Molly): postgraduates@tasa.org.au | |