Nexus

Agustina Marianacci

University of Auckland

Attending TASA 2025 was a new experience for me, as a translator, community interpreter and researcher from Argentina based in Aotearoa. While my research sits primarily within the field of translation and interpreting, its social justice and transdisciplinary aspects made it possible for me to present at TASA and contribute a different angle to some of the conversations. It was my first time attending a sociology conference, and I was surprised in more ways than one! I am really grateful for the warm and open welcome we all experienced as soon as we arrived. The social events were relaxed and open to everyone, conversations during breaks and over lunch were both fun and engaging, and the venue was gorgeous.

I found similarities and differences between the Australia and Aotearoa contexts, which I believe are important to acknowledge, as the two countries are often conflated as facing the same challenges. In particular, I felt that there were some topics missing in the conversation about Indigenous peoples in Australia, with few to no references to the landmark legislation which had been so recently passed in Victoria to formalise the first ever treaty with Indigenous peoples in the country. Given that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is such a crucial cornerstone of research, politics and everyday life in Aotearoa, the contrast was striking.



It was also rewarding to be able to share how my colleagues in Aotearoa and I have been conducting research in culturally and identity affirming ways, developing methodologies and adapting methods to suit the people with whom we are researching. I learnt so much from my sisters throughout the conference. While we regularly discuss different aspects of PhD life, I had not seen them present their research before. I also returned home with new knowledge drawn from local Australian and international research, spanning topics such as ethics and AI, error detection in published research as an emerging field, research publishing beyond scientific journals, and even Love Island, just to illustrate the breadth of conversations. Importantly, none of this would have been possible without the generous bursary that I received, which made the trip across the ditch possible. Thank you!