Associate Professor Grazyna Zajdow teaches at all levels of sociology from first year to honours. Her research interests include the experience of living with drug and alcohol affected people and public policy related to drugs and alcohol. She also researches the experiences of older women and the paid workforce. Grazyna is also a co-editor of Arena Magazine. Grazyna has been a TASA member for over 25 years.
Associate Professor Andrew Singleton‘s research interests include spirituality, youth religion, new religious movements, global Christianity, non-religion, religious change and religious movements in the Global South. Andrew has presented and published extensively in these areas both nationally and internationally. He is a skilled quantitative and qualitative researcher and specialises in mixed-method projects. Andrew is a multi award-winning educator and supervised to completion 17 Masters and PhD theses in the sociology of religion, gender studies, health and media.
Associate Professor Vince Marotta’s research interests focus on multiculturalism, interculturalism, ethnic and racial studies, theories of identities, relational social theory, and theories of intersubjectivity from a hermeneutical and phenomenological perspective. He is Co-managing Editor of the Journal of Intercultural Studies (Routledge) and his latest article is Relational Theories of Encounters and the Relational Subject (with Rebecca Buys). His latest book is Theories of the stranger: Debates on Cosmopolitanism, Identity and Cross-Cultural Encounters (2017, Routledge).
Dr Kim Toffoletti is an Associate Professor and a leading figure in the study of women, sport and physical activity. Kim is internationally recognised for her interdisciplinary research on women, sport and media. Her research has advanced novel theoretical and conceptual frameworks for addressing new challenges arising from the increased attention on women’s sport and leisure activities. She has pioneered the development of critical postfeminist, transnational feminist and social media analysis in the fields of sport sociology and feminist media theory. Kim’s research has been published in top-ranking academic journals, including The International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Feminism & Psychology, Gender Work & Organization. Her latest books are Women Sport Fans: Identification, Representation, Participation (2017, Routledge) and she is co-editor of New Sporting Femininities: Embodied Politics in Postfeminist Times (2018, Palgrave, with H.Thorpe & J.Francombe-Webb). Her latest article with Olive, R., Thorpe, H. & Pavlidis, A. (2021). Doing feminist physical cultural research in digital spaces: Reflections, learnings and ways forward. Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health, 31(1): 11-25.
Dr. Bernie East a keen interest in both contemporary and historical Sociology as it relates to the knowledge areas of Media, Crime and Sport. In particular, he is fascinated with how information is linked to a narrative in order to create the ‘truth’ about an issue. He is currently interested in matters pertaining to youth and culture. His latest book is A Dramaturgical Approach to Understanding the Serial Homicides of Ted Bundy (2021, Rowman and Littlefield)
Dr. Anna Halafoff is an Associate Professor in Sociology and a member of the Alfred Deakin Research Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University. She is also an Associate of the UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations Asia Pacific, at Monash University. Dr Halafoff¹s current and recent research projects/interests include: religious diversity; education about religions and beliefs; and Buddhism in Australia. Anna was named a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ Global Expert in the fields of multifaith relations, and religion and peacebuilding in 2011.
Dr Kiran Pienaar is a lecturer in Sociology, with expertise in gender, sexuality, and science and technology studies. Kiran’s research explores connections between health, gender, sexuality and the body, with a particular interest in drug consumption and sexual cultures, and the sociopolitical dimensions of health. Her research has appeared in international journals including Social Science and Medicine; The International Journal of Drug Policy; Health; Addiction Research and Theory; and Social Theory and Health. She has published on topics related to drugs, addiction and the self; the biopolitics of disease; public health and drug policy; and drug experiences in LGBTQ cultures. Her first book Politics in the Making of HIV/AIDS in South Africa was published with Palgrave Macmillan. Kiran is an international editorial board member of the journals International Journal of Drug Policy, Contemporary Drug Problems and Health Sociology Review.