Helen Masterman-Smith

Teaching and Research Staff

Dr Helen Masterman-Smith

BA (Hons) PhD, UWS

Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Albury / Wodonga
Building 760

Helen has over 20 years’ experience as a sociologist. She teaches and researches a wide range of social issues including: labour struggles and working poverty, social class and other inequalities, political economy and democracy, revolutions, political organisations and social movements, communities, rurality, globalisation, media, health, environmental justice, and human-animal relations. She specialises in class analyses of these issues employing Marxist, Weberian, feminist and other critical theoretical frameworks.

  • SOC212 Class: Images and Reality
  • SOC102 Social Inequalities
  • SOC108 Sociology of Health

Previous teaching fields

  • Sociology: health, introductory, globalisation, culture, media, family, research methods, social inequalities, work, politics, theory, environment, social movements
  • Politics: Australian politics, international race/cultural politics, political economy, political theory
  • Health: sociology, public health, Aboriginal health

Research background/interests

Helen has conducted research on the sociologies of class and work since the 1990s. Since 2007, she has linked this work to environmental justice and animal studies. Most recently, Helen has led projects on community building and organising within working class neighbourhoods, with a focus on the links between social justice and environmental sustainability.

  • The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
  • International Sociological Association (ISA)
  • National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)

Helen welcomes enquiries from potential honours, Masters and PhD students on topics relevant to her research background.

Some recent RHD and honours students:

  • Mark Adler: sociology of creativity and the community-benefit research mission of universities
  • Marie Sheahan: neoliberalisation of community welfare organisations involved in welfare to work programs (critical discourse analysis) - completed
  • Robin Harvey: gerontology higher education in Australia (autoethnography) - completed
  • Tracey Parnell: career decision-making of mothers who are occupational therapists (phenomenology) - completed
  • Joseph Collins: Gramscian analysis of Australian neoliberalism (political economy) - completed

Current projects

2016

NSW Environmental Trust, Powering Down: an energy efficiency education project. Environmental Education Program. Team: Helen Masterman-Smith, John Rafferty.

Recently completed projects

2016

NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Action Matters for Sustainability in Albury, community engagement project. Team: Helen Masterman-Smith, John Rafferty, Marie Sheahan

2015-16

NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Our Place Program (Wave 2), community environmental engagement project. Team: Helen Masterman-Smith, John Rafferty, Marie Sheahan

2014-16

Commonwealth Government, Higher Education Pathways and Partnerships Program (HEPPP), Learning Communities: Creating Sustainable Communities Theme. Team: Helen Masterman-Smith, John Rafferty, Shelby Laird

2013-14

NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Our Place Program, community environmental engagement project (Wave 1). Team: Helen Masterman-Smith, John Rafferty, Jillian Dunphy, Shelby Laird

2009-10

Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Education for Sustainability Grant. Title: Education for Sustainability Models for Australian Healthcare Degrees. Team: Helen Masterman-Smith, Jillian Dunphy, Ruth Townsend, Robin Harvey, Marie Sheahan.