Nexus

The Impact of Opportunity: Reflections of a TASA 2024 Bursary Recipient by Christie Bosworth

Attending the 2024 TASA Conference allowed me to present ‘Now More Than Ever: Musicians Perspectives on The Need For Live Music’, on the sociocultural value of live music practice. This is an emerging theme from my current PhD research, which explores the experiences of working musicians in the Illawarra region of NSW. I am currently in the data collection phase of the project and am aiming to submit my thesis by the end of 2025. Attending TASA at this phase of my PhD was invaluable for me in connecting with the wider sociological community and combating the common PhD experiences of isolation and loneliness.

Presenting within the newly formed Music Sociology thematic group enabled me to meet and connect with a small but passionate group of others in my direct field. Making these connections with other music sociologists, as well as many others at the conference, is essential for me as an ECR. In this current academic era of heightened precarity and alienation, feeling in solidarity with other researchers undergoing the same experiences is essential. It’s interesting how many of the experiences I had at TASA, in terms of the importance of place, community and belonging, are not only directly linked to the themes emerging within my own research but have now intensified my belief in the importance of these experiences amidst contemporary conditions, for my own personal practice as a PhD researcher, and beyond.

The keynote lectures and conference workshops also inspired new glimmers of hope for me about the potential future for my research, as well as for the future of research and academia more broadly. A strong narrative thread, through the workshops I selected, was around the possibilities for transformations of academic research into more creative translations. This was especially inspiring for me at this stage of my PhD journey, in envisioning future pathways for elevating, amplifying and ‘complexifying’ my project, as was discussed in the Translating Research into Fiction/Non Fiction panel. A key takeaway from these workshops was around the analytical and methodological gains of transforming research, to extend beyond conclusions and allow for further questioning.

I am so grateful to TASA for this bursary, for giving me the opportunity to foster conversations, connection and community. Especially as a new mother with a young child, much of my time recently has been spent either in the home or in my solo office at the university. Having the chance to attend TASA 2024 was invaluable to me to not only share the progress of my PhD with others, but reignite my belief in the importance of both my research topic and the academic community.