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Conference calls behavioural studies honours students

11 October 2006

Behavioural studies honours student Ms Perri Campbell will present a paper at the annual 'Social change research in the 21st century' conference.

Two Monash University behavioural studies honours students have been invited to present papers at a national social studies conference being held at Queensland University of Technology this month.

The students -- Ms Perri Campbell and Ms Debra McCormick -- will participate in the annual 'Social change research in the 21st century' conference on 27 October.

The conference is a forum for social research projects covering a wide range of issues at the local, national and international level. Both students will also present refereed papers at the 2006 Australian Sociology Association conference in Perth in December.

Ms Campbell, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in anthropology and English literature from Deakin University, is undertaking honours at Monash under the supervision of Dr Peter Kelly, head of behavioural studies at Monash.

Her paper, 'Iraq's democratisation: communicating women's rights and social change in cyberspace', examines commentaries on Iraq that are located in cyberspace 'blogspots'. The data offers an insight into the everyday life of Iraqi people following the 2003 US military and political campaign to invade and democratise Iraq. Ms Campbell also analyses data presented in the blog 'Bagdad burning', which is authored by online identity Riverbend (a pseudonym), and the implications of Iraq's democratic constitution for women's rights.

"This paper sets out to outline the research potential of data from cyberspace and the 'blogosphere' in contributing to an understanding of the social ramifications of democratisation via invasion and war for the women of Iraq," Ms Campbell said. "The blog by Riverbend has developed a huge following and provides a human response to what is going on in Iraq."

Ms Campbell recently won a postgraduate conference scholarship from The Australian Sociology Association to facilitate her attendance at the Perth conference.

Ms Debra McCormick, behavioural studies honours student at Monash, will present a paper at the annual 'Social change research in the 21st century' conference.

Ms McCormick, a Bachelor of Arts graduate from Monash, is undertaking her honours under the supervision of behavioural studies lecturer Dr Francesca Collins.

Some 70,000 Australians, 390,000 Britons and 50,000 New Zealanders responded to the call, and Ms McCormick's paper explores the events that led up to this in the 2001 national census. She also examines how the introduction and establishment of new religious beliefs, once reliant on migration or trade, is now being facilitated by a global sharing of ideas through mass media and communications technology.

Ms McCormick, who hopes to undertake a PhD, said she was looking forward to presenting her paper.

"The 'census incident', as it has now become known, was something I was personally interested in," Ms McCormick said.

"I was surprised that the movement wasn't just an Australian movement. While the majority of people claiming affiliation to Jediism probably did so in a spirit of fun and/or rebellion, research suggests there are members of society who take the 'religion' quite seriously."

Dr Collins said Ms McCormick's research was interesting on a number of fronts.

"At its most basic level, it represents a commentary on the changing nature of religious affiliation in Australia over the past 50 years," Dr Collins said. "More specifically, it examines the role of technology-mediated social networks, or 'social software', in the spread of new religious movements, in particular, Jediism."

Dr Kelly said he was pleased the two honours students would have the opportunity to present their papers.

"Honours students are not usually encouraged to present at conferences like this," Dr Kelly said. "However, Behavioural Studies has made a conscious effort over the last two years to support beginning researchers in presenting their work in such spaces.

"Perri and Debbie are beginning their research careers. They may continue on into a PhD and beyond. In this context, they -- and other honours students -- should be encouraged to present the initial/preliminary findings of their research in appropriate forums to members of the academic and wider conference."

Dr Kelly said Behavioural Studies had a lively research culture.

"We are supporting a range of innovative and exciting research. At the honours level, we have other students examining such things as the policies women's refuges have in place to support the victims of domestic violence in same-sex couples, and the nature of relationships between male sports celebrities and their fans," he said.