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HomeTASA 2024: Workshops
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TASA 2024: In-Person Workshops

Please Note:The following In-Person Workshops are available to all delegates who purchase an 'In-person' conference registration. Attendees must register  in advance as some session have limited capacities.

  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

WORKSHOP 1: Grant Writing

Part A & C: Essential Elements of a Research Grant Proposal 
Part A: Tuesday 26th  November 2024        13:45pm - 15:15pm  - Room 202.177
Part C: Thursday 28th November 2024       9:00am - 10:30am - Room 202.177

Presented by Kristen Bartlet, Grant Ed.

There are a bunch of common parts to a research grant proposal, no matter the funder. This session will demystify those parts, enabling researchers to develop a skeleton draft of a research grant proposal, and help them develop an understanding of how to write about:

  • the significant drivers and need for their research
  • how their research innovatively addresses an important problem in their discipline
  • how past outcomes of the applicant or applicant team make the new project feasible
  • the planned significant new knowledge, outcomes, products and/or services their project plans to deliver
  • engagements required prior to, during and after the project is executed to enable benefit and research impact.

Researchers will bring a project idea they are planning to develop into a grant application to the session.


Kirsten Bartlett, Managing Director, The Grant Ed Group
Kirsten has worked in strategic development roles in the research, non-profit, professional and financial services sectors for over 30 years. An astute business leader, she is best known for her ability to understand complex topics quickly and her strategic approach to planning major initiatives and projects. She has outstanding writing and presenting skills and strong experience in business development coaching, career coaching and diversity advocacy. Kirsten has worked with 100s of researchers from a multitude of different discipline areas to help them achieve funding success across a range of ARC schemes, prizes and awards, and tenders.



Part B: In Conversation - How to manage ARC hype, headaches and hope as an EMCR
Tuesday 26th November 2024  15:45pm - 17:00pm

The Australian Research Council is a central – if sometimes mysterious – pillar of the Australian academic funding landscape. Drawing on their diverse experiences of applying for ARC schemes, receiving (and not receiving) ARC funds, assessing ARC applications and more, the panellists will try to debunk some common myths about the ARC, demystify the processes involved and share their tips for navigating the systems and avoiding overwhelm. The session will be informal, frank, and interactive, leaving plenty of time for your questions. So, if you’ve ever wondered -- What is the difference is between a DECRA and a Discovery Project, a Linkage and an Industry Fellowship? What should I apply for and when? What happens to an application once I’ve pressed the ‘submit’ button? How do I even begin to navigate this as an ECR? Is there any point if I’m an interdisciplinary researcher? What makes an application stand out to an assessor? -- then this session is for you.

Panelists Include:
Professor Alex Broom, University of Sydney, ARC College of Experts
Professor Kay Cook, Swinburne University of Technology, Associate Dean of Research and ARC Future Fellow (2017)
A/Prof Myra Hamilton, University of Sydney, ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow (2023)
Professor Farida Fozdar, Curtin University, ARC Future Fellow (2011)
Dr Katherine Kenny, University of Sydney, ARC DECRA Fellow (2022)
Dr Michelle Peterie, University of Sydney, ARC DECRA Fellow (2023)
Dr Leah Williams Veazey, University of Sydney, ARC DECRA Fellow (2024)

Key Topics Covered:
Debunking and Demystifying: 
   - Is there any point to applying for ARC funding as an emerging sociologist?
   - At what point should I apply, and for what, and with whom?
   - How can I best position myself for success, and reduce the cost of participating in a very competitive program?
Navigating ARC funding as a (very) early researcher
   - What does it mean if you’re a CI v a postdoc/RF on a project?
   - How can you build the skills, capacity and track record so you’re in a position to apply?
   - Deciding which institution to apply through – what implications does this have?
Understanding the different types of ARC schemes
   - Fellowships v DP v LP v Industry schemes
   - How do you know which one is right for you/your research?
   - What implications does that choice have for (e.g.) how you present your proposal, what you can apply for etc?
  - Re-purposing a ‘failed’ proposal for a different scheme
 What is the journey of an ARC application (from application to assessors to…)
 What makes an application stand out to an assessor? Thinking through the eyes of a detailed assessor / College member etc
 How can you navigate the ARC as an interdisciplinary researcher? (Also, what are FOR codes and why do they matter?)
 Taking your first steps as an ARC assessor
 How to navigate ARC funding alongside teaching – which schemes will allow you to do what?

WORKSHOP 2: Translating Research into Fiction / Non Fiction

PART A:  Translating Research into Fiction and Memoir
15:45pm - 17:00pm  - Tuesday 26th  November 2024 - Room 202.177
Presented by Khin Myint

Author Khin Myint will run a 90-minute interactive workshop on translating research from the social sciences into fiction and creative non-fiction.

Myint’s memoir Fragile Creatures was applauded for its ability to spur conversations about social and cultural issues, as well as philosophical concepts and paradoxes, through personal storytelling. He will discuss how social science research can add depth to the creative process. Participants will be encouraged to identify and discuss narratives within research, as well as ways to convey research through character, setting, voice and plot.

With an emphasis on drawing from real life, participants will be given prompts to consider how their work relates to this session’s insights. It will be an inspiring and interactive workshop for storytellers energised by research and ideas that come from the social sciences.

 
Khin Myint, Author

Khin Myint is author of the critically acclaimed memoir Fragile Creatures, about a family grappling with its racial identity, a mysterious illness, and the decision to die. His writing has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, Slate Magazine and The West Australian. The Age described Fragile Creatures as “A memoir written with the clear-eyed perspective and emotional complexity of a well-wrought novel.” Helen Garner hailed it “a miracle”. Tony Birch calls it “a vital read”. Khin holds a PhD in creative writing and currently teaches at Curtin University.

Books: Fragile Creatures



PART B:  Panel Discussion: Translating Research into Fiction / Non fiction
9:00am - 10:30am  - Thursday 28th  November 2024 - 
Facilitated by: Prof. Adam Possamai, Western Sydney University

This innovative workshop aims to provide sociologists with creative and practical guidance on how to transform their research into compelling works of fiction. By thinking outside the box, participants will explore new ways to give their research a fresh, engaging life beyond academic journals and reports.

The session will feature a panel of academics who have ventured into fiction writing, each sharing their unique journey from research to publication. The panel discussion will be followed by an interactive Q&A session, allowing attendees to engage directly with the speakers and gain further insights.

Key Topics Covered:
• Identifying the Narrative: Finding the story within your research and determining its potential as fiction.
• Character Development: Transforming real-life subjects and data into compelling characters.
• Plotting and Structure: Crafting a narrative arc that retains the essence of your research while engaging readers.
• Writing Techniques: Utilizing literary devices and styles to enhance your storytelling.
• Publishing Journey: Insights into the process of getting your book published, from manuscript to market.


 
Dr Ash Watson
Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW

Dr Ash Watson is a sociologist and Scientia Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney. Her research examines how digital technologies impact people's sense of belonging, wellbeing and inclusion in society.

Ash has an international profile for her innovative methodological scholarship which unites qualitative, creative and digital sociological methods. She is an Editorial Board Member of Qualitative Research and Fiction Editor of The Sociological Review. She leads the creative project So Fi Zine, an open-access publication for experiments in social inquiry as flash fiction, poetry and visual art. Her debut novel Into the Sea was published by Brill in 2020. She makes zines at Frances St Press.

Books: Into the Sea, Ash Watson

The Face Mask In COVID Time: A Sociomaterial Analysis
Deborah Lupton , Clare Southerton , Marianne Clark and Ash Watson



Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves
Inaugural Senior Horizon Fellow, The University of Sydney

Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves (PhD, FRSA, FHEA) is an award-winning sociologist of technology and ageing, based at the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies. She holds a prestigious Sydney Horizon Fellowship in AI social science. Dr Neves is an internationally recognised expert on loneliness, social isolation, and digital inequalities in later life. Barbara has secured more than $6 million dollars in competitive funding from scientific and industry bodies in Australia, the European Union, and Canada. She currently holds an ARC Discovery Project on loneliness and technology and two MRFFs on dementia. Additionally, she is leading a national evaluation for the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care. Her co-designed, mixed-methods research focuses on how technologies like AI, VR, and robotics can benefit rather than exclude older people (65+). This research has received 28 esteemed awards in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia – and it has been used to refine technology design and inform social policy and care practices (Canada, Australia, Europe). Dr Neves has a background in sociology and human-computer interaction. Prior to moving to Australia, she was an Associate Director at the Technologies for Aging Gracefully Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Canada.

Books Chapter: Conversation on Method: Merging Sociology and Art to capture loneliness in later life
Barbara Barbosa Neves and Josephine Wilson

Barbara Barbosa Neves and Josephine Wilson (see speaker insert further down) et al.  published two articles in relation to their collaborative project on loneliness:

Neves, B. B., Wilson, J., Sanders, A., Kokanović, R., & Burns, K. (2023). “Live Gerontology”: Understanding and Representing Aging, Loneliness, and Long-Term Care Through Science and Art. The Gerontologist, 63(10), 1581-1590. Open Access: https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/63/10/1581/7206794

Neves, B. B., Wilson, J., Sanders, A., & Kokanović, R. (2023). Using crystallization to understand loneliness in later life: Integrating social science and creative narratives in sensitive qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 23(1), 38-54. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14687941211005943


Josephine Wilson
Australian award-winning author

Josephine Wilson is a Perth-based writer. Her writing career began in the area of performance. Her early works included The Geography of Haunted Places, with Erin Hefferon, and Customs. Her first novel was Cusp, (UWA Publishing, 2005). Josephine has lectured and taught in the tertiary sector. She is the busy parent of two children and works as a sessional staff member at Curtin University, where she teaches in the Humanities Honours Program, in Creative Writing and in Art and Design history. She completed her Masters of Philosophy at Queensland University and her PhD at UWA. Extinctions (UWA Publishing, 2016) was the winner of the inaugural Dorothy Hewett Prize and won the 2017 Miles Franklin Award.

Books: Extinctions
Josephine won the Miles Franklin Award for Extinctions.


 
Prof. Adam Possamai
Western Sydney University

Adam Possamai is the Deputy Dean of the School of Social Sciences, and Professor in the Sociology of Religion. He is renowned internationally for his work on popular religion, social theory, contemporary religion and Australian Aboriginal Peoples, and Muslim laws and society. He is a former President of the International Sociological Association’s Committee 22 on the Sociology of Religion, and of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions. He was the 2002–2007 co-chief editor of the Australian Religion Studies Review and an editor of the Journal of Sociology 2012-2016. His work has been published in English, French, Spanish, Romanian and Slovakian. He was a visiting Professor at the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and the Summer Institute of Hokkaido University, Japan. He gave the 2007 Charles Strong Lecture and the 2021 keynote address at the International Society for the Sociology of Religion. He has successfully supervised more than 15 PhD students, and has chaired in 2011, 2013, and 2017 the Australian Sociological Association’s Jean Martin Award Panel for the best sociology thesis in Australia.

Books: Religion and Change in Australia
Adam Possamai and David Tittensor

Fiction Books: 
Possamai’s fictions deal with the macabre, the weird, and the surreal, always with a sociological lens. His 2005 collection of short stories in French, Perles Noires, was voted a favourite by the public libraries of Paris, and its third edition was published by Black Coat Press in 2021. His second book (a collection of interrelated short stories) was listed as a 2012 favourite by La Maison d’Ailleurs, the Museum of Science Fiction and Utopia in Switzerland.
Noire 75. Le Crépuscule de Torquemada
Noire 101. L'Histoire extraordinaire de Baudelaire


 

WORKSHOP 3: PITCHING FOR PUBLICATION

Part A: The Conversation: Pitching for Publication
 13:45pm - 15:15pm  - Tuesday 26th  November 2024     
Presented by Liz Minchin, Executive Editor, The Conversation

In this talk – 40 min presentation + 35 min Q&A – The Conversation's Executive Editor Liz Minchin will cover:
 - the benefits of writing for The Conversation
 - what sort of ideas the editors are seeking
 - how to pitch an idea
 - how editors decide what pitches to accept
 - what happens if you get accepted / rejected
 - how to write for The Conversation's non-academic readership
 - an extended Q&A session. 
Liz Minchin

Liz Minchin is a Walkley award-winning journalist and co-author of 'Screw Light Bulbs': a book explaining bigger-picture climate solutions. She joined The Conversation in 2012 and has been Executive Editor since 2016.

Liz works with The Conversation's teams of editors in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Indonesia. She also regularly teaches our online Pitching and Writing Masterclass: https://theconversation.com/au/pitching-and-writing-masterclass

Liz previously worked for a decade as a news reporter at Melbourne's Age newspaper, including as news editor of The Saturday Age. She's also worked as a media trainer and online & radio producer for ABC Radio.

Books: Screw Light Bulbs: Smarter ways to save Australians time and money
Liz Minchin and Donna Green

Part B: Panel Discussion: Pitching for publication
15:45pm - 17:00pm  - Tuesday 26th  November 2024        

Unlock the secrets to transforming your research into compelling editorial content and getting it published in leading media outlets. The "Pitching for Publication" workshop brings together a distinguished panel of sociologists and communications experts who will share their personal experiences, journeys, and invaluable tips on crafting impactful editorial based on academic research. They will provide a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical advice, drawing from their own successful publication journeys.

Panelists Include:

Rosie Shorter

Michelle Peterie

Shiva Chandra


Part C:  Getting your research to publication
 9:00am - 10:30am -  Thursday 28th November 2024    

Facilitated by Julia Cook & Benjamin Hanckel

This session will equip delegates with the knowledge and tools needed to shepherd their work through the life cycle of the publication process. Delegates will be invited to imagine publications in a way that does not begin and end with traditional academic journal articles, but also includes media and public engagement.

The workshop aims to:
- Provide insights into the process of getting a journal article published.
- Support delegates to imagine ‘what’s next’ once a journal article is published
- Teach practical strategies for pitching effectively to media outlets and working with your university media team.

Join us for this transformative session to learn about how to get the most impact out of your publications and take a significant step towards becoming a published voice in the media landscape.
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