Associate Professor Adam Possamai

Associate Professor Adam Possamai

Lecturer, Sociology

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• Biography
• Qualifications
• Areas of expertise
• Awards / Honours
• Selected publications
• In the media
• Professional activities

Biography

Associate Professor in Sociology (UWS) 2007 - current
Senior Lecturer in Sociology (UWS) 2004 - 2007
Lecturer in Sociology (UWS) 1999 - 2004
Tutor in Sociology (La Trobe University) 1996 - 1998

Adam Possamai is Associate Professor in sociology at the University of Western Sydney (UWS). He is the author of Sociology of Religion for Generations X and Y, Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament and In Search of New Age Spiritualities. He is a former President of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions, the current Secretary/Treasurer of the Executive Board of RC22 (Sociology of Religion) from the International Sociological Association, and was the 2002-2007 co-editor of the Australian Religion Studies Review. He is the current programme co-coordinator for the Sociology of religion section for the next World Congress of Sociology in 2010 in Sweden. He was one of the Associate Heads of School from the School of Social Sciences, UWS, specialising in research and he is currently the acting director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies. His work has been published in English, French, Spanish, Romanian and Slovakian.

Qualifications

PhD LaTrobe, GDipEd, BSocSc(Hons) Leuven

Areas of Expertise

Learning and teaching interests
Sociology of Religion; Sociology of Power and Deviance; Philosophies of Social Science

Research interests
Religion; Deviance; Social Theory; Popular Culture;
Consumer Culture

Awards / Honours

The 1999 Jean Martin Award

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Selected Publications

Books

Possamai, A 2009 Sociology of Religion for Generations X and Y, Equinox, London.

Possamai, A 2007 Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament, P.I.E.-Peter Lang, Bruxelles, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Wien [Second Printing]

Possamai, A 2006 Perles Noires, Nuit d'Avril, France [Second Printing].

Possamai, A 2005 In Search of New Age Spiritualities, Ashgate, UK.

Chapters in Books

Possamai, A and Possamai-Inesedy A 2009 ‘Scientology Down Under’ in J. Lewis ed., Scientology, Oxford University Press: 345-364.

Possamai, A 2008 ‘Popular Religion’ in P. Clarke and P. Beyer eds., The World’s Religions: Continuities and Transformations, Routledge, London and New York: 479-492.

Possamai, A 2008 ‘Australia ‘Shy’ De-secularisation Process’ in A. Imtoual and B. Spaler eds., Religion, Spirituality & Social Science, Polity Press, UK : 23-35.

Possamai, A 2007 ‘Les Spiritualités Alternatives De La Phase Du Capitalisme Tardif : Logique Culturelle, Colonisation Du Monde Vécu Et Agir Communicationnel’ in Geoffroy, Martin, Vaillancourt, Jean-Guy et Michel Gardaz (dirs), La mondialisation du phénomène religieux (Approches empiriques et phénoménologiques), MédiasPaul, Montréal : 137-158

Possamai, A 2007 ‘Producing and Consuming New Age Spirituality: The Cultic Milieu and the Network Paradigm’ in D. Kemp and J. Lewis (ed.) A Network of Seekers: Understanding the New Age, Brill, Netherlands: 151-165

Possamai A and Possamai-Inesedy, A 2007 'Risk Society, Sustainable Development and Religion', in Roberto Blancarte Pimentel and Vassilis Saroglou (eds) Religion, Culture and Sustainable Development in Encyclopaedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford ,UK.

Possamai, A 2006 ‘Superheroes and the Development of Latent Abilities: A Hyper-Real Re-enchantment?’ in K. McPhillips and L. Hume (eds.) Popular Spiritualities: The Politics of Contemporary Enchantment, Ashgate, UK: 53-62.

Possamai, A 2005 ‘New Age V AustrálII: Spoloĉenské A Duchovné Aspekty’ [New Age in Australia: Social and Spiritual Aspects] in Michaela Moravčiková (ed.) New Age, Ūstav pre vzt’ahy štátu a cirkvi, Bratislava: 450-496.

Possamai, A 2004 ‘Diversity in Alternative Spiritualities: Keeping New Age at Bay’ in J. Lewis (ed.) The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of the New Age, Prometheus Books, New York, 425-438.

Possamai, A 2004 ‘Nature Religions’ in P. Hughes (ed.) Australia’s Religious Communities. A Multimedia Exploration (Second Edition), Christian Research Association, Melbourne.

Possamai, A 2001 ‘A Revisionist Perspective on Secularisation: Alternative Spiritualities, Globalised Consumer Culture, and Public Spheres’ in C. Cusack and P. Oldmeadow (eds) The End of Religions? Religion in an Age of Globalization, Sydney Studies in Religion (4), 200-215.

Possamai, A 1999 ‘Une réflexion sur des ‘téléinégalités’ en devenir: une autre image de l’Australie’ [‘An account of inequalities to come in the use of information technologies: another image of Australia’] in B. Fusulier and P. Lannoy (ed.), Les Techniques de la Distance: Regards sociologiques sur le télétravail et la téléformation L’Harmattan, Paris, 69-85.

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Articles in refereed journals

Possamai, A and Brackenreg, E 2009 “Religious and Spiritual Diversity in a Multi-Campus Suburban University: What Type of Need for Chaplaincy?” Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 31 (4): 355-366.

Possamai, A 2007 ‘‘Secularisation’ and ‘Religion’ as Zombie Categories?’ The Australian Religion Studies Review 20 (2): 233-242.

Possamai, A and Possamai-Inesedy, A 2007 ‘The Baha’i faith and Caodaism: Migration, Change and De-secularisation(s) in Australia’ Journal of sociology 43 (3): 301-318.

Possamai, A, Bellamy, J and Castle K 2007 ‘The Diffusion of New Age Beliefs and Practices among Australian Church Attenders’ Fieldwork in Religion 2 (1), 9-26.

Possamai, A 2006 ‘AASR Presidential Address. Ways and Means for the Third Millennium: National Associations for the Study of Religions’ Australian Religion Studies Review 19 (1): 3-17.

Possamai, A 2004 'AASR Presidential Address 2004: Intellectuals of the Other in Religion: Fear and Fascination' Australian Religion Studies Review 17 (2): 10-19.

Possamai, A and Lee, M 2004 ‘New Religious Movements and the Fear of Crime’ The Journal of Contemporary Religion 19 (3): 337-352.

Possamai, A 2003 ‘Alternative Spiritualities and the Logic of Late Capitalism’ Culture and Religion 4 (1): 31-45.

Possamai, A 2003 ‘The Social Construction of Comic Books as a (Non) Recognised Form of Art in Australia’ Form/Work 6: 109-121.

Possamai, A 2003 ‘Alternative Spiritualities, New Religious Movements and Jediism in Australia’ Australian Religion Studies Review 16 (2): 69-8

Possamai, A 2002 ‘Secrecy and Consumer Culture: An Exploration of Esotericism in Contemporary Western Society Using the Work of Simmel and Baudrillard’ Australian Religion Studies Review 15 (1): 44-56.

Possamai, A 2002 ‘Cultural Consumption of History and Popular Culture in Alternative Spiritualities’ Journal of Consumer Culture (2) 2: 197-218.

Possamai, A 2001 ‘Not the New Age: Perennism and Spiritual Knowledges’ Australian Religion Studies Review 14 (1), 82-96.

Possamai, A 2000 ‘A Profile of New Agers: Social and Spiritual Aspects’, Journal of Sociology 36 (3), 345-358.

Possamai A 1999 ‘The Aquarian Utopia of New Age’, Beyond the Divide (3), 68-79.

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Conference Proceedings

Possamai, A 2007 ‘2007 Charles Strong Lecture: Yoda Goes to the Vatican: Religion and Youth Spiritualities’ The 2007 Australian Association for the Study of Religions Conference. The end of the World as we know it? New Directions in Australian Spirituality

Possamai, A 2000 ‘A New Look at the Cultic Milieu’ in Oakley et al. (ed.) Sociological Sites/Sights TASA 2000 Conference Proceedings, Adelaide, CD-Rom.

In the media

Morris, L 2005 'They’re all god movies, in mysterious ways' Sydney Morning Herald May 19, 2005 (online)

Price, S 2006 ‘Net now a fisher of men as faithful tune in for ‘godcasts’’ Sydney Morning Herald January 8, 2006 (online)

Morris, L 2006 ‘Devil in the detail: Vatican exorcises Harry Potter’ Sydney Morning Herald September 6, 2006 (online)

Edwards, H 2007 ‘Skater boys’ gospel hour’ Sydney Morning Herald August 19, 2007 (online)

Kohn, R (Presenter) 2006 'Virgins, Vampires and Superheroes' The Spirit of Things, ABC Radio National August 20, 2006

Professional Activities

Community interests
2006-2010 Secretary/Treasurer of the Executive Board of RC22 (Research Committee for the Sociology of Religion) International Sociological Association

2006 Programme Coordinator for the Research Committee for the Sociology of Religion at the XVI World Congress of Sociology, South Africa

2003-2005 President of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions

2002-2007 Co-editor of the Australian Religion Studies Review