Nexus

The Impact of Opportunity: Reflections of a TASA 2024 Bursary Recipient by Ollie Cook

I feel very fortunate to have received a Postgraduate Bursary to attend TASA24 at Curtin University on the land of the Whadjuk Nyungar people. I presented one paper at this conference entitled "You Can Be Self-Defined": Defining Transgender Over Time, from research from my PhD thesis, which explores how transgender and gender diverse people in Australia define the category of trans and the negotiation of this definition within trans communities. In the session with Xavier Mills and Dr Anthony K J Smith, the crossover of themes within our presentations meant that we were able to have a dynamic Q&A moving between each of the presentations discussing the future of queer data and the implications for how we define LGBTQIA+ identities in academia as well as in the community.

My favourite presentation from TASA24 was, by far, the opening keynote by Claire G. Coleman, author of Enclave and Terra Nullius. At the start of her presentation, Clare claimed this was not an academic presentation. Still, it made me reflect on what sociologists can learn from others outside traditional academia and remembering the importance of knowledge from lived experience. Not to mention, it was hilarious! A close runner up was the second keynote on day one from Professor Shakuntala Banaji entitled Legitimate Targets: Historiscing hate, technologised disinformation and political violence, who woke up early in London for the presentation. This could be described as the opposite of Coleman's presentation that morning, being highly theoretical with particularly challenging content. I found it incredibly important in the current climate with my work in trans studies and trans sociology, as transgender and gender diverse people continue to be a target from the far-right. Professor Banaji's presentation outlined some of the history of this hate speech, and I left with a greater understanding of the hate speech and disinformation we are currently facing.

Overall, my experience at TASA24 was one of networking and friendship; while it is a conference cliché, much of the important work done at conferences is between sessions, over lunch and dinner after a long day of presentations. This bursary allowed me to catch up with new and old colleagues across sociology, and I look forward to a new phase post-PhD and where I would like my career to go. I am incredibly grateful to have received this postgraduate bursary from TASA, which allowed me to continue to make these ongoing connections with other sociologists.