Dear ~~first_name~~,
Following on from our email earlier this week, this is a friendly reminder that nominations have reopened for the Vice-president and Secretary portfolios, and voting is now open for the Public Sociology and Postgraduate portfolios. The full details of the election outcome, to date, is included below.
This edition also includes a call for proposals to guest edit Issue 1 (2028) of Health Sociology Review. And, as always, we're pleased to share members' latest publications and to welcome new members to our TASA community.
We hope you enjoy this week's edition, and thank you for being part of TASA.
Warm regards,
TASA Team
| TASA Key Dates at a glance
|
- 27 July - Sociology of Youth 'Catch up and Write' session
- 6 August - midday (AEST) - nominations for the Vice President and Secretary portfolios
- 6 August - EoI for the Digital Publications Editor
- 12 August - midday (AEST) - votes for the Public Sociology and Postgraduate portfolios
- 13 August - update on 2026 TASA Executive Election
- 18 August - Postgraduates 'Sociology of What' event
- 20/21 August - TASA Executive Meeting
- 28 August - Social Stratification one-day symposium: Perceptions and Indicators of Social Class in Australia
- 31 August - Sociology of Youth 'Catch up and Write' session
- 28 September - Sociology of Youth 'Catch up and Write' session
- 16 October - Housing & Urban Sociology symposium 'Ready or Not?: Improving adoptability of regional, rural & remote preparedness research'
- 23 October - Sociology of Religion symposium 'Leaving Religion and the Politics of Nonreligion'
- 26 October - Sociology of Youth 'Catch up and Write' session
- 23 November - Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism symposium 'Theorising migration, settlement and diversity in unsettled times'
- 23 -27 November - TASA 2026
| TASA 2026 Executive Election
| Below is an update on where the 2026 Executive Election is at:
At the close of nominations, midday Monday 20th July, for TASA's Executive Committee two-year term November 2026 – November 2028, the following members were elected unopposed:
- President: Kim Humphery, Charles Darwin University
- Treasurer: Catriona Turnbull (Stevens) Edith Cowan University
- Indigenous: Joann Schmider, Central Queensland University
- Equity, Inclusion & Advocacy: Catherine Martin, Curtin University
- TASA Groups (Thematic & Careers): Molly Saunders, University of New South Wales
Votes required
More than one nomination was received for the Public Sociology and Postgraduate Portfolios. This means that an election will be held to determine who will fill these important roles. Your participation in this voting process is crucial, as it helps shape the future direction of our association. Voting is now open, via the orange link below, and will close at midday (AEST) August 12th, 2026. We extend our thanks to you, if you have already voted.
CLICK HERE TO VOTE
Nominations re-opened
Please be advised that no nominations were received for the Vice-President and Secretary portfolios. The Executive have re-opened nominations for those positions. If you are interested in nominating for either role, and you would like more information, we encourage you to contact Naomi Smith, the current holder of the Vice-President Portfolio, and Kay Cook who is the current Secretary. You can also reach out to Kim Humphery, TASA President and/or Sally Daly in TASA Admin about both positions. To nominate, please ensure your Candidate and Nominator forms are submitted to TASA Admin by midday, Thursday 6th August, 2026.
Note, as we didn't receive expressions of interest for our Digital Publications Editor(s) position, we are also extending that call. The position description can be viewed here. Please email your expression of interest to Sally in TASA Admin by Thursday 6th August, 2026.
Position descriptions for each portfolio are available below. If you are interested in a particular Executive position, and you would like more information, we encourage you to contact the member currently in that role for a confidential chat. The current Executive are listed on TASAweb here.
We encourage all members to consider standing for the Vice President and Secretary Executive positions. To assist your thinking about this opportunity, please access a copy of TASA’s 2025/26 Executive Organisational Chart here and the Executive Committee position descriptions.
| Call for proposals for Special Issue by Guest Editors: Issue 1, 2028
Proposals for guest edited issues of Health Sociology Review should address the following:
- Contact details and brief biography for each guest editor;
- Sociological theme. This should be a 300-word summary of major ideas and themes;
- Identification of publication strategy. This should outline international contacts, and key researchers in the field that you will contact requesting they advertise the Special issue/and or submit papers;
- Division of labour of guest editorial team: outline of lead editor, who will write editorial, handling of papers and referee process; and
- If your proposal for a guest edited issue is accepted a one-page ‘call for papers’ flyer will be required.
Please submit expressions of interest to guest edit the February 2028 Special Issue to Associate Professor Katherine Kenny, Editor in Chief, by 31 August 2026 to hsr@tasa.org.au.
If you have any questions or you would like to discuss your ideas, please contact Associate Professor Katherine Kenny via hsr@tasa.org.au.
You can access the full call for proposals here.
| Health Sociology Review, Volume 35, Number 1 (March 2026).
A special issue on, ‘Healthy’ Food Practices: Moving Beyond Healthy Choices and Food Systems, is guest edited by Natalie Jovanovski and Bhavna Middha.
All articles in this special issue are available here.
| A very warm welcome to Shelley Stokes and Pedro Riquelme, new TASA members this week. We are currently planning our second online New Members Onboarding Session, so now is a good time to invite your colleagues and students who are not yet TASA members to join. The New Members Onboarding is an opportunity to learn how to use the members' services on the website, hear a little bit about what's coming up at TASA, and to connect with one another. If you know someone who would benefit from TASA membership, please do invite them to get in touch on membership@tasa.org.au, so they can access all TASA's services, and most importantly the connections and support that come with membership.
If you've had a renewal notice, but need to let us know there'll be a delay with your payment, please do email Ali on membership@tasa.org.au so we can make sure we don't lose touch.
| |
Journals
Atkinson, L., Thomas, N. J., Tran, N. L., Wolff, L. P., Payne, C., & Sultan, A. J. M. (2026). Marking Times: Assembling Feminist Reciprocity and Response-ability in and Against Generative AI. Australian Feminist Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2026.2675957 [open access].
Swain, D. (2026). Negotiating the urban margins: ‘committees’ and in situ slum titling in Odisha’s Basti settlements. Contemporary South Asia, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2026.2686779 [open access].
Swain, D., Abraham, S. Basti mediators: Building narrative land histories and incremental archives to challenge state categories of land and resist eviction. Dialect Anthropol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-026-09826-x [open access].
Op-ed / Commentary
| TASA Gift Membership and your workplace | Are your colleagues yet to join TASA? Are you teaching or supervising students who would benefit from connecting with sociologists working in diverse settings?
Your institution, research centre or workplace may wish to use TASA's Gift Membership program to kickstart someone's TASA membership. Gift memberships are a great option for smaller amounts of unspent funds in your budget as we approach the end of the financial year.
TASA members can log into TASAweb and purchase gift memberships via their profile screen. Alternatively, email membership@tasa.org.au to learn more about membership fees and categories, and payment by invoice.
If you are having issues with your login, please do email Ali - membership@tasa.org.au - she can fix log in problems for you!
| | POSTGRAD EVENTS | THE SOCIOLOGY OF WHAT | 18TH AUGUST
Join the next TASA Postgraduates Sociology of What? interactive online masterclass on Tuesday 18 August, led by fellow member Amanda Wise. Focusing on the sociology of migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism, this participatory session gives postgraduate members the opportunity to apply theory to their own research in small-group discussions.
Places are strictly limited to maintain an interactive format, so register early. A short research outline is required as part of the registration process.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER | | | 2026 Monthly ‘Catch Up & Write’ Sessions
Hosted by the Sociology of Youth Thematic Group
The Sociology of Youth thematic group are excited to continue hosting virtual ‘Catch Up & Write’ sessions on the last Monday of every month from 1:00pm to 3:30pm to ensure you all have a dedicated space to write and connect.
If you are interested in joining them, please refer to the below 2026 schedule to register for the sessions you would like to attend. While the writing group is hosted by the Sociology of Youth thematic group, they welcome other TASA members whose research engages with youth in interesting ways. The more the merrier!
2026 SCHEDULE: ‘CATCH UP & WRITE’ SESSIONS
Register to receive Zoom links + save the dates in your calendar!
ONLINE 1:00PM TO 3:30PM AEST
MONDAY 27 JULY | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 31 AUGUST | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 26 OCTOBER | REGISTER HERE*
* Please note each month’s ‘Catch Up and Write’ session requires a separate registration as each session has a different Zoom link *
The Sociology of Youth team look forward to seeing you at an upcoming session!
If possible, please give the new TASA Sociology of Youth LinkedIn page a follow and share amongst your networks.
| Ready or Not?: Improving adoptability of regional, rural & remote preparedness research | 16 October 2026 | 9:30am - 1:30pm
Join the Housing & Urban Sociology thematic groups, along with academics, professionals, students and community members for Ready or Not?: Improving adoptability of regional, rural & remote preparedness research, a half-day hybrid event exploring how research can better support regional, rural and remote Australia through challenging and disruptive futures. Hear from leading voices, take part in thoughtful discussions and build valuable connections across sectors. Attend online for free or In person
REGISTER HERE
| | | Join the Social Stratification Thematic Group in Melbourne, on 28 August, for a free one-day symposium exploring perceptions and indicators of social class in Australia.
Hear from leading speakers Mark Western, Steven Threadgold and Andrew Leigh, and engage with discussions about inequality, family background, housing, education and healthcare.
The event also offers graduate and early career researchers a supportive space to share work, receive feedback and build collaborations.
REGISTER HERE | | | Leaving Religion and the Politics of Nonreligion
This symposium, hosted by the Sociology of Religion thematic group & held alongside the 50th anniversary of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, invites researchers to explore nonreligion as a subject in its own right. Papers are invited on themes including deconversion, religious trauma and recovery, ex-member communities, post-religious life, the politics of nonreligion, the “Mark No Religion” campaign, and the complexities of measuring nonreligion.
University of Sydney, Friday 23 October, hybrid.
| | | | Theorising migration, settlement and diversity in unsettled times
Symposium Keynote: Amanda Wise
TASA’s Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism and Social Theory Thematic Groups invite submissions for a half-day symposium exploring the theoretical foundations, current developments and future directions of migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism research.
23 November, University of the Sunshine Coast.
Some TASA member bursaries are available.
| | | Journal of Sociology, 62 (2)
Issue 62:2 includes a Special Issue on 'Platform Labour in the Global South and Global North', curated by guest editors Lutfun Nahar Lata, Andrew Copolov, and Aditya Ray. This issue includes an Introduction article, six research articles and three book reviews, all centred on digital platform work as this has developed across different geographical locations. In addition to the Special Issue articles, this issue also features four standard articles that all focus on migrants and migration. As usual, in this newsletter you find the abstracts for all articles and a link to each article.
All articles are available here.
| Scholarship Opportunities
| Empowering households as active agents of change in resource-efficient sustainability transitions
RMIT
This doctoral scholarship is part of a multidisciplinary research project funded by the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Project “Empowering households as active agents of change in resource-efficient sustainability transitions “. The project is a collaboration between RMIT University, Monash University and the University of Manchester.
With fellow member Bhavna Middha.
School Can’t: Developing Parent and Child Knowledge into Transformational Change
Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
This PhD scholarship explores what we can learn from the lived experiences of children and families affected by School Can’t (also known as school refusal) to inform policy and practice. The project aims to identify how parent and child knowledge can contribute to creating safer, more affirming educational environments for neurodivergent children and young people.
For enquiries about eligibility, project requirements or the application process, contact fellow member Cris Townley.
Application deadline: 31 July.
Cultures of the Cryosphere: Infrastructures, Politics and Futures of Artificial Cooling
Australian National University
Two PhD Scholarships available
The project investigates the cultural preconditions and consequences of the use of artificial cooling and freezing technologies in nutrition, health and reproduction, air conditioning, data processing, laboratory research and other everyday practices. This interdisciplinary research project aims to investigate the far-reaching socio-ecological effects of this energy-intensive planetary "cryosphere" and aims to identify possible alternatives for a more sustainable future of dealing with artificial cold.
Legal needs, access to justice and intersecting inequalities
ICS, Western Sydney University
Part of an ARC DECRA project and in partnership with the Law & Justice Foundation of NSW, this PhD scholarship will research inequalities in people’s experiences of legal problems and identify opportunities for meaningful reforms that address intersectional disadvantages. The precise focus of the PhD is negotiable.
Application deadline: 31 July. Read on...
Violence and Social Repair
Victoria University
The are especially interested in projects geographically focused on Asia and the Pacific, and settler-colonial Australia.
Beyond Participation: Operationalising Theory of Change for Valid & Sustainable Impact Measurement in Community Sport for Development
This PhD looks at how community organisations can turn their Theory of Change (a map of how their work leads to specific outcomes) into a practical, trustworthy way of measuring impact that they can keep using over time.
Supervisors: Professor Camilla Brockett, and fellow member Professor Ramon Spaaij
Media Representation & Public Perception of RNA Vaccines and Therapeutics in Australia
PhD Scholarship
University of Newcastle
Working with fellow member Caragh Brosnan
Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia
This is part of an ARC Discovery project Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia
The PhD will be housed within Griffith University’s Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Arts, Education and Law group and the Department of Tourism and Marketing, Griffith Business School.
| Lecturer in Geography, Sociology and Political Science
Hong Kong Baptist University
The role includes teaching courses in human geography, physical geography, public administration, general sociology, statistics, research methods, and advanced topics in quantitative analysis across these disciplines.
| Other Events, News & Opportunities
| Distinctive Work in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
$2000
This prize is for a distinctive work with public impact in any Humanities, Arts or Social Sciences field. Examples of entries might include, but are not limited to: an exhibition, performance, podcast, digital project, documentary, policy report, public program or educational resource.
Future Leaders Writing Prize
Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences & Future Leaders
$2000
This prize is awarded to a future leader for a piece of written work (e.g., essay, scholarly article, media article, book chapter) from the perspective of the Humanities, Arts or Social Sciences.
People Places Prize
Future Leaders
Prize $10,000
The People Places Prize 2026 is about creative and innovative ideas for living places. The Prize is open to Australian citizens and residents aged 18 and over. The winner will receive $10,000 and their ideas featured on www.peopleplaces.org.au.
Creative and innovative ideas for the Prize can be in any (or combination) of four areas.
– The Arts
– Green spaces
– Building design
– Disability access
Entry deadline: 1 November. Read on... |  | Award for Excellence in Research
The ISA Award for Excellence in Research and Practice is granted by the International Sociological Association to a sociologist whose outstanding contributions advance and promote sociological knowledge and practice, while strengthening the discipline, the profession, and the ISA.
| | New: Exploring the health impacts of the purity culture movement on cisgender women.
Two sets of interviews will be conducted:
- interviews with cisgender women above the age of 18, exploring their embodied and health experiences of purity culture
- interviews with support providers who have experience supporting those healing from purity culture, may include: sexologists, psychologists, pelvic pain specialists, coaches, counsellors, MFTs, therapists, somatic body workers etc.
For more information, please scan the QR code in the image on the left or email the research directly, fellow member Noelle Simpson at s225141315@deakin.edu.au
| | | | The Poverty and Inequality Partnership, led by ACOSS and UNSW, is running a research project called ‘Always, usually, sometimes: Poverty over time in Australia’. The study aims to understand the day-to-day and long-term impacts of poverty in Australia, and how experiences of poverty might change over time. The researchers are looking for people who have experienced poverty within the past 5 years to take part in paid research activities for several years (until 2031).
The below orange button links to a set of recruitment materials that the researchers, including TASA member Yuvisthi Naidoo, would appreciate TASA members sharing.
| | | Workshops Program Funding
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy Workshops Program offers Australian social scientists financial assistance to host multidisciplinary workshops which aim to advance research and policy agendas on nationally important issues.
Up to AU$9,000.00 per workshop.
| Summits
New: Australian Social Cohesion
5-6 November, Melbourne
The summit will explore the forces shaping Australia’s social fabric through the theme: Understanding Australia’s Social Fabric: Diversity, Connections, and the Future of Social Cohesion.
Seminars
ANU School of Sociology Seminar Series
The program for the ANU School of Sociology Seminar Series is now online. All seminars are hybrid, with options to join via Zoom. Please visit the School’s Humanitix page, here, to view and register for upcoming seminars.
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
|  | Conferences
Global Sociology in Turbulent Times
International Sociological Association
XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology
4 to 10 July 2027, Gwangju, Korea
The deadline for Integrative Sessions is 28 September. Integrative Sessions are semi-plenaries that engage a debate on the Congress theme. Read on...
| Call for the next Editor of International Sociology Reviews
The International Sociological Association currently has open a call for the next editor of International Sociology Reviews, one of ISA publications. Please consider the call yourself and share it, using link below, among your networks, and if you know people who would be good at the role, do encourage them to apply. It would be terrific to have a TASA member as the editor!
Expression of interest deadline: 10 September. Read on...
Call for Submissions
Social Conditions, Clinical Logics: Rethinking Young People’s Engagement with Drug Treatment
International Journal of Drug Policy
This special issue invites submissions that explore or examine how the social conditions of young people’s substance use shape their engagement in drug treatment. Editors are looking for papers that critically explore, among other things, biomedical and psychologised approaches to AOD care, how contexts of crisis and social inequity shape treatment experience, and how treatment might be experienced differently by First Nations, LGBTQ+, refugee, migrant and racialized youth.
| For membership information, processes, and frequently used resources, visit the Members' Navigator. To contact a member of the team directly, see our TASA Staff page.
| Admin (Sally): admin@tasa.org.au
Events (Penny): events@tasa.org.au
Membership (Ali): membership@tasa.org.au
Indigenous (Morgan): indigenoussociology@tasa.org.au
Digital Publications Editor (Roger): digitalpe@tasa.org.au
Thematic Groups (Molly): thematicgroups@tasa.org.au
Postgraduates (Brooklyn): postgraduates@tasa.org.au | |