ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4274-5951
Current Organisations
Monash University
,
Deakin University
,
University of New England
,
University of Melbourne
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Religion and Religious Traditions | Other Education | Sociology | Sociology of religion | Education not elsewhere classified | Religion and Society
Expanding Knowledge in Education | Religion and Society | Education and Training not elsewhere classified |
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 03-04-2020
DOI: 10.3390/REL11040166
Abstract: Recent scholarly and media perspectives on religion and youth have often depicted young people as being apathetic when it comes to religion. The methods used in research on religion are also typically informed by outdated, fixed idea of religious identity that are no longer applicable, especially to young people. This paper confronts these issues by applying contemporary theories of religious ersity, including lived religion and religious complexity, to the findings of the Canadian Religion, Gender and Sexuality among Youth in Canada (RGSY) study, the Australian Interaction multifaith youth movement project, and the Worldviews of Australian Generation Z (AGZ) study. These three studies revealed that young people negotiate their worldview identities in complex, critical and caring ways that are far from ambivalent, and that are characterised by hybridity and questioning. We thereby recommend that policies and curricula pertaining to young people’s and societies’ wellbeing better reflect young people’s actual lived experiences of ersity.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-05-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-12-2019
Publisher: Cantonal and University Library Fribourg
Date: 08-12-2022
DOI: 10.26034/LU.JGB.2022.1995
Abstract: Buddhism was first established in Australia through flows of migrants in the mid-nineteenth century, and is currently Australia’s fourth-largest religion. Yet Buddhists have received significantly less scholarly attention than Christians, Jews and Muslims in Australia. Previous research conducted on Buddhism in Australia has also largely centered on the southern states, and on white Buddhists. This article shares findings of archival research on Buddhism in the far north of Australia, focused on Chinese, Japanese, and Sri Lankan communities working in mining, pearling, and sugar cane industries, pre-WWII. It documents the histories of exclusion, resistance and belonging experienced by Australia’s Buddhists in the far north of Australia pre-WWII, during times of colonial oppression and Japanese internment. In so doing, this article challenges dominant narratives of a white Christian Australia, and also of white Buddhism in Australia, by rendering Asian communities in scholarship on religion in Australia more visible.
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2013
Publisher: BRILL
Date: 2015
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 20-11-2014
Publisher: Cogitatio
Date: 20-08-2014
DOI: 10.17645/SI.V2I2.166
Abstract: Issues pertaining to religion and Australian schools have generated a significant amount of controversy and scholarly attention in recent years, and much of the attention in the religion and schools debate has focused on Muslim and non-religious children’s experiences (Erebus International, 2006 Halafoff, 2013). This article, by contrast, explores the manifestations of antisemitism as experienced by Jewish children and youth in Canberra schools. It considers the characteristics of antisemitism when and why it occurs its impact on the Jewish children and young people and also the responses to it by them, the schools and the Jewish community. Based on focus groups with the Jewish students and their parents, the study reveals that antisemitism is common in Canberra schools, as almost all Jewish children and youth in this study have experienced it. The findings from this study suggest that there is a need for more anti-racism education. Specifically there is an urgent need for educational intervention about antisemitism, alongside education about religions and beliefs in general, to counter antisemitism more effectively and religious discrimination more broadly in Australian schools.
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 14-09-2017
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2011
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 20-04-2016
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 26-02-2020
DOI: 10.3390/REL11030105
Abstract: Multifaith spaces typically imply sites where people of erse faith traditions gather to participate in shared activities or practices, such as multifaith prayer rooms, multifaith art exhibitions, or multifaith festivals. Yet, there is a lack of literature that discusses online multifaith spaces. This paper focuses on the website of an Australian multifaith organisation, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), which we argue is a third space of digital activism. We begin by outlining the main aims of the multifaith movement and how it responds to global risks. We then review religion and geography literature on space, politics and poetics, and on material religion and embodiment. Next, we discuss third spaces and digital activism, and then present a thematic and aesthetic analysis on the ARRCC website drawing on these theories. We conclude with a summary of our main findings, arguing that mastery of the online realm through digital third spaces and activism, combined with a willingness to partake in “real-world”, embodied activism, can assist multifaith networks and social networks more generally to develop Netpeace and counter the risks of climate change collaboratively.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-02-2020
DOI: 10.3390/REL11020092
Abstract: This paper argues for a reconsideration of social cohesion as an analytical concept and a policy goal in response to increasing levels of religious ersity in contemporary Australia. In recent decades, Australian has seen a revitalization of religion, increasing numbers of those who do not identify with a religion (the “nones”), and the growth of religious minorities, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. These changes are often understood as problematic for social cohesion. In this paper, we review some conceptualizations of social cohesion and religious ersity in Australia, arguing that the concept of social cohesion, despite its initial promise, is ultimately problematic, particularly when it is used to defend privilege. We survey Australian policy responses to religious ersity, noting that these are varied, often piecemeal, and that the hyper erse state of Victoria generally has the most sophisticated set of public policies. We conclude with a call for more nuanced and contextualized analyses of religious ersity and social cohesion in Australia. Religious ersity presents both opportunities as well as challenges to social cohesion. Both these aspects need to be considered in the formation of policy responses.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2008
Abstract: In 2003, the International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia, produced a primary school teaching manual for UNESCO Vietnam. The finished manual included lesson plans and materials for a five year, 50 lesson peace education course. The manual is one of the first ex les of a systematic core national curriculum in peace education worldwide. Development of the Teaching Manual posed a number of challenges including differences in language, culture, government and education system. To meet these challenges, a participatory action research approach was central in the project's development and curriculum design. This case study is offered as a model for effective cross-cultural curriculum development of peace education materials. In particular, the use of games and reflective materials and the use of UNESCO's peace keys are outlined as innovative outcomes of the project.
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 31-08-2010
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-05-2015
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2010
Publisher: BRILL
Date: 2015
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 26-08-2021
DOI: 10.3390/REL12090682
Abstract: In 2020, as infections of COVID-19 began to rise, Australia, alongside many other nations, closed its international borders and implemented lockdown measures across the country. The city of Melbourne was hardest hit during the pandemic and experienced the strictest and longest lockdown worldwide. Religious and spiritual groups were especially affected, given the prohibition of gatherings of people for religious services and yoga classes with a spiritual orientation, for ex le. Fault lines in socio-economic differences were also pronounced, with low-wage and casual workers often from cultural and religious minorities being particularly vulnerable to the virus in their often precarious workplaces. In addition, some religious and spiritual in iduals and groups did not comply and actively resisted restrictions at times. By contrast, the pandemic also resulted in a positive re-engagement with religion and spirituality, as lockdown measures served to accelerate a digital push with activities shifting to online platforms. Religious and spiritual efforts were initiated online and offline to promote wellbeing and to serve those most in need. This article presents an analysis of media representations of religious, spiritual and non-religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, Australia, from January to August 2020, including two periods of lockdown. It applies a mixed-method quantitative and qualitative thematic approach, using targeted keywords identified in previous international and Australian media research. In so doing, it provides insights into Melbourne’s worldview complexity, and also of the changing place of religion, spirituality and non-religion in the Australian public sphere in COVID times.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-02-2021
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-05-2023
DOI: 10.1177/00377686231162005
Abstract: The turn of the twenty-first century was characterised by ‘spiritual revolution’, with claims that interest in New Age spirituality was eclipsing religion and would continue to do so in the future. Since then, scholars of religion have been more focused on religious ersity and the rise of the non-religious. While interest in spirituality, uptake of spiritual practices, and identification as ‘spiritual but not religious’ have continued to grow, spirituality is typically not taken as seriously as religion, at least in political spheres or by academia. This article examines the history and contemporary dynamics of spiritual complexity in Australia, drawing on the findings of two Australian Research Council–funded studies ‘The Worldviews of Australia’s Generation Z’ and ‘Religious Diversity in Australia’ and on a recent project ‘(Con)spirituality, Science and COVID-19 in Australia’. It argues that it is certainly time for spirituality to be taken more seriously in this country and globally, given spirituality’s concern with personal and planetary wellbeing, and also the potential risks spirituality can pose due to its association with dis/misinformation, neoliberalism, and violence.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-05-2015
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-10-2010
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 25-08-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2011
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 24-05-2019
Publisher: Equinox Publishing
Date: 22-07-2022
DOI: 10.1558/JASR.22810
Abstract: Conspirituality—the merger of conspiracy theories and spirituality—has attracted significant global media and scholarly attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article expands upon the ‘two core’ conspiritual convictions proposed by Ward and Voas that ‘1) a secret group covertly controls, or is trying to control, the political and social order, and 2) humanity is undergoing a “paradigm shift” in consciousness’. We identify an additional ten key convictions central to (con)spirituality, including those that result in vaccine hesitancy and/or refusal. We chose to bracket the ‘con’ to problematize the term, and to encompass a wider spectrum of spiritual beliefs and practices, including those that are non-controversial, those that may be deceptive cons, and/or those that draw on conspiracy theories. The article presents an analysis of these twelve (con)spiritual convictions, focusing on a s le of ‘Aussie Warriors’ selling (con)spirituality, and also on influencers attempting to counter the spread of dis/misinformation within wellness circles. In so doing, the article provides a more nuanced understanding of (con) spirituality and vaccine hesitancy, and a greater knowledge of the benefits and risks of spiritual practices and ideas during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Publisher: BRILL
Date: 12-06-2018
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-05-2018
DOI: 10.3390/REL9050147
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 04-10-2018
DOI: 10.3390/REL9100299
Abstract: Religious beliefs are not only profound, some of them are also pervasive, persistent and persuasive. It follows that the cultural and religious experiences of communities often play a central role in determining their worldviews and the ways in which they understand their own circumstances. These worldviews, it follows, can thereby assist in providing narratives for community development in places that have particular meaning to these communities and in iduals within them, and thereby enhance the long-term success of such initiatives. One often-overlooked aspect in research up until recently is the role that these often sacred places can play in sustainable development. This paper undertakes a study of development spaces situated in sacred places, in this case of a women’s Buddhist monastery on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, devoted to gender equity. It begins with an overview of research pertaining to religion and development, religion in contemporary societies, and sacred places, and concludes with an analysis of the case study data that recognizes the need to consider the significance of sacred places, and narratives attached to them, in sustainable community development.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 23-06-2020
DOI: 10.3390/REL11060306
Abstract: The world is currently gripped by pressing environmental, social, and economic challenges [...]
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-10-2009
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 31-08-2010
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 28-03-2022
DOI: 10.1177/00377686221079685
Abstract: Social science analysis of ersity, and religious ersity in particular, has long struggled to move beyond simple binaries of religious-secular, religious-spiritual, traditional-modern, global north-global south, and so on. Twenty-first century realities test existing terms and find them wanting. While concepts such as the postsecular, multiple modernities, multiple secularities, and non-religion point to new lines of analysis, each still refers to binary and thereby limiting terms. This article reviews research on religious ersity, delineating some of the major challenges posed. Building on useful frameworks of super ersity, multiple pluralities, and religious complexity, we argue that the more widely encompassing concept of worldview complexity might represent a better way forward. It has the advantage of acknowledging the intersecting ersity of ersities in multiple, differing contexts, and abiding similarities in what is occurring ‘beneath religion’.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 2015
Abstract: The nexus between religion and violence has been widely debated in the public sphere at the turn of the twenty-first century. Much of these discourses have centered on direct violence, and on terrorism in particular. Yet, structural violence also remains endemic within many religious traditions, including Buddhism. Buddhist women, and men, continue to challenge these gender inequalities in various ways, notably Sakyadita, the International Association of Buddhist Women founded in 1987, is committed to improving conditions for Buddhist women worldwide. This article investigates how Sakyadhita is promoting gender equity in global Buddhism. It explores Sakyadhita’s origin, and focuses on the 13 th Sakyadhita Conference, to examine the role of religious social movements in advancing gender parity. It also proposes an innovative ultramodern Buddhism framework for understanding contemporary global Buddhism, building on existing Buddhist studies, critical feminist and sociological theories. While focused on a Buddhist women’s social movement, this article provides new knowledge that may assist erse religious communities in addressing gender disparities both locally and internationally.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-11-2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Date: 2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-03-2020
Publisher: Cantonal and University Library Fribourg
Date: 08-12-2022
DOI: 10.26034/LU.JGB.2022.3414
Abstract: Introduction to the JGB Special Focus section, "Flows and Counterflows of Buddhism ‘South of the West’: Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaiʻi." In this special issue, we endeavour to explore horizontal flows and counter flows of Buddhism on ‘paths less travelled’ across the Pacific sea of islands, and ‘South of the West’ (Gibson 1992) rather than the usual ‘from Asia to Europe and the Americas’ story. As such, this special issue fits within the more recent scholarship on the globalisation of Buddhism that seeks to point to a more complex picture of historical and contemporary flows of Buddhist ideas, practices, objects and peoples across the globe.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 03-07-2020
DOI: 10.3390/REL11070332
Abstract: Despite predictions of decline, religion has featured prominently in the public sphere and the media since the events of 11 September 2001. Previous research on media and religion in Australia post-September 11 has focused largely on its negative impacts, particularly on Muslim communities. This article, in contrast, examines media representations of religion, spirituality and non-religion on an ‘ordinary day’, of 17 September, over a three-year period in the city of Melbourne. Its findings reveal that religion, in its myriad forms, permeates many aspects of Australian public life, but in ways which do not always reflect the actual religious composition and lived experiences of worldview ersity in Australia.
Publisher: STAR Scholars Network
Date: 09-09-2021
Abstract: Generations of migrants from Asia since the 1800s have endured challenges in locating their place and belonging in Australia due to systemic racism and discrimination against the cultural and religious ‘other’. These persistent issues have intensified during the pandemic, especially towards Chinese communities, including international students. This paper investigates the impact of the pandemic on Chinese, Indian and Russian international students in Australia. It reveals how, throughout the first year of the pandemic, international student, ethnic and religious community organizations implemented multiple and overlapping coping strategies to assist international students in Australia, who had been left vulnerable by a lack of government support and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. By highlighting the religious dimensions of these strategies of connectedness and belonging, it contributes new insights in an under-explored aspect in studies on international students in Australia, pointing the way for further investigation.
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 2015
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 31-08-2010
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2022
Publisher: Equinox Publishing
Date: 25-10-2017
DOI: 10.1558/JASR.34826
Publisher: BRILL
Date: 2015
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 2021
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2016
End Date: 2018
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 06-2018
End Date: 12-2022
Amount: $447,748.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 08-2016
End Date: 12-2020
Amount: $460,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 03-2023
End Date: 03-2026
Amount: $420,790.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity