Dr Cassandra Loeser

My working hours are Wednesday - Friday.

Hello and welcome! I provide academic development and support for research degree supervisors through the provision of services, workshops and resources. One of the key services that I provide in collaboration with the Office of Graduate Studies is Supervising@UniSA a one day program designed for academic staff who have applied (or intend to apply) for admission to the UniSA Register of Postgraduate Research Degree Supervisors . Details of workshops run for both supervisors, and students and supervisors, can be accessed via the RESA webpage Supervisor Development. Presentations from previous supervisor development workshops can be accessed at Resources from On-Campus Programs

I bring to the position a history of tutoring, lecturing and course-coordinating undergraduate courses in:

sociology;
gender studies and masculinity studies;
communication and cultural studies;
politics, and
social inquiry methods.

I also develop resources and services for higher degree by research students through my previous role as Research Education Adviser, and ongoing experience in the supervision of HDR students. I conduct research in the field of postgraduate research education. I am currently working collaboratively with members of the Learning and Teaching Unit, the Hawke Institute, and other scholars across Australia on research projects including the social participation of people with disabilities in rural and regional Australia, the development of more inclusive pedagogic practices for HDR students with disabilities, and disability education.

I am actively involved in the conduct and publication of my own interdisciplinary research as reflected in my doctoral dissertation "Embodiment, Ethics and the Ear". The dissertation explores the ways that the men constructed their masculinities in and across the sites of everyday interaction, the arts, friendship relations, secondary school, paid work and sport. It analyses the practices and techniques used by the men which are significant for understanding the ways masculinity and disability can intersect in the construction of embodied subjectivity.

Throughout the course of my research, I have developed a strong interest in the value of an ethics of the embodied self for theorising identity and subjectivity, such as that suggested in the works of Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Judith Butler and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. I am also very interested in postmodernist, post-structuralist, post-essentialist and queer conceptualisations of gender, sexuality and disability.

I am the proud mother of 2-year-old twin daughters. A 12 month period of maternity leave was taken May 2007 - July 2008.

AWARDS AND GRANTS RECEIVED

2009
Early Career Researcher Development Program

TEACHING AWARDS
2006
University of South Australia Supported Teacher Award with $1000 for professional development
2005
University of South Australia Supported Teacher Award with $1500 for professional development
2004
High Commendation Certificate for Teaching Excellence Awards
2003
High Commendation Certificate for Teaching Excellence Awards

RESEARCH AWARDS
2006
Commendable Results - ED61 Graduate Certificate in Education (Queensland University of Technology)
2003
University of South Australia Research Degree Student of the Year for the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences
1998
Golden Key National Honour Society Scholarship
Golden Key National Honour Society Membership
Chancellor's Merit List
Dean's Merit List

RESEARCH GRANTS
2006
Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies small grant for writing of ARC Discovery proposal. Awarded to Dr. Lia Bryant and Dr. Cassandra Loeser
2005
Divisional Scholarship for the Queensland University of Technology Graduate Certificate in Education (Higher Education)
1999
Australian Postgraduate (APA)
University of South Australia Postgraduate Research Award (USAPRA) for doctoral research
1998
Recipient of one of seven $500 Golden Key National Honour Society Scholarships (University of South Australia Chapter).

Affiliate member Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies (HRISS)
Full member University of South Australia Research Centre for Gender Studies (RCGS)
Associate member University of South Australia Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures (LPLC)
International Guild of Disabled Artists and Performers (IGODAP)
Arts Access
International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
The Australian Sociological Assocation (TASA)

Doctor of Philosophy (Social Science), University of South Australia, 2005.

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Major: Sociology, University of South Australia, 1998. First-class Honours awarded.

Bachelor of Arts (Liberal Studies). Double major: Sociology and Psychology, University of South Australia, 1997.

• Men, masculinities and sexualities; disability and hearing disability (particularly in men); bodies and embodiment;Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche and Maurice Merleau-Ponty's work on ethics; post-essentialism; emotions and affect; higher degrees by research and supervision.

Chapters and Journal Articles

Loeser, C. (Under Review) 'Muscularity, Mateship and Malevolent Masculinities: Experiences of Young Men with Hearing Disabilities in Secondary Schools', Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.

Loeser, C. (Under Review)'The Rapture of the Ride: Hearing (Dis)abled Masculinities in Motorcycling', Journal of Sociology

Loeser, C. (Under Review) 'Just One of the Boys: Constructions of Masculinity by Young Men with Hearing Disabilities in Male-To-Male Friendship Relations’, in R. Shuttleworth (ed) Men and Masculinities.

Crowley, V. and Loeser, C. (2009) 'The Potentialities of Post-essentialist Pedagogy', The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 11-22.

Loeser, C. and Crowley, V. (2009) 'A Natural Ear for Music?: Hearing (Dis)abled Masculinities', Popular Music. vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 411-423.

Loeser, C. and Crowley, V. (2006) 'Audible Acts: Hearing (Dis)abled Masculinities' in J. Bollen, A. Kiernander and Bruce Parr (eds) What A Man's Gotta Do? . Centre for Australian Literature, Language, Theatre and Screen, NSW, pp. 222-240.

Loeser, C.(2003) 'The Ecstasies of Exchange: Reconfiguring Hearing Disabled Masculine Subjectivities in Rave Space' in Australian Journal of Communication vol. 30, no.3, pp. 69-82.

Loeser, C.(2003) 'Disability/postmodernity: Embodying disability theory' in Health Sociology Review 11(1&2). Click here to access review

Loeser, C. (2002) 'Bounded Bodies, Mobile Selves: The Significance of the Muscular Body in Young-Hearing Impaired Men's Constructions of Masculinity' in S. Pearce and V. Muller (eds) Manning the Next Millennium: Studies in Masculinities . Curtin University of Technology, Black Swan Press, pp. 55-68.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 2003-2010

International Conferences –
2010 April 6-8 Emotion, Space and Society: Third International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies. 'The Ecstasies of Exchange: Reconfiguring Hearing (Dis)abled Masculinities in Rave Space'. University of South Australia, Adelaide.

2009 July 11 Fourth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. 'The Potentialities of Post-essentialist Pedagogy'. Co-authored paper with Dr. Vicki Crowley, School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, University of South Australia. University of Athens, Greece.

July 8 ANZCA09: Communication, Creativity and Global Citizenship 'The Potentialities of Post-essentialist Pedagogy'. Co-authored paper with Dr. Vicki Crowley. Queensland University of Technology, QU.

2006 December 8 UnAustralia. Cultural Studies Association of Australasia (CSAA). ‘Blokes, belonging and the bass: hearing (dis)abled masculinities’. Presented as part of a University of South Australia Cultures of the Body Research Group panel session ‘How UnAustralian can a Bloke get? Abjection and the Male Body’ with Dr. Jackie Cook, Professor Trudy Rudge and Dr. Beverleigh Quested. University of Canberra, ACT.

2004 December 10: Cultural Studies Association of Australia (CSAA) annual conference - "The rapture of the ride": Making Hearing Disabled Masculinities in Motorcyling (presented as part of a panel with Vicki Crowley, Terry Evans and Katrina Jaworski. Murdoch University, WA.

2003 July 18 Sonic Synergies, Creative Cultures: Incorporating the International Association for the Study of Popular Music – “Conversation tends to flow across me”: Raving as Interconnection and Exchange for Young Men with Hearing Impairment". University of South Australia, SA.

National Conferences and Colloquiums –
2001 December 15 The Australian Sociological Association(TASA)Annual Conference: Bonding Men/Binding Men: An Exploration of how Hearing-Impairment affects the Constitution of Masculine Identification in Relations of Friendship. University of Sydney, NSW.

2000 December 6 The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference: Visible Bodies, Expressive Selves: Young Hearing Impaired Men’s Experiences of Interpersonal Communication. Flinders University, SA.

The University of South Australia Gender Seminars Series (Research Centre for Gender Studies)
2006 September 22: Blokes, belonging and the bass: music as masculinity-making

2005 August 17: Giving an Account of Oneself and Others: Reflections on the 2005 Judith Butler Public Lecture.

2002 October 25: Choreographing Masculinities in Social Dancing: The Significance of Dance as Conversational Exchange for Young Men with Hearing Impairment.

May 24: Pleasurable Bodies in ‘Manly’ Sports: Young Men with Hearing-Impairment Constructing Masculinities in Football.

2000 April 28: Constructing Identities, Writing the Self: Some Research Implications for Feminist Research in Foucault’s Ethics and Politics.

The University of South Australia Centre for Professional and Public Communication
2005 November 3: "A Natural Ear for Music"?: Hearing Disability, Music and Masculinities.

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Sociology, Sociology of the body, Disability Studies, Gender Studies

• young men (up to 35 years) with hearing disabilities
• social experiences of living with a hearing disability
• men, masculinities and sexualities
• post-essentialist theory
• disability, gender and higher degrees by research