Dr Nick Osbaldiston ~ Senior Lecturer

Dr Nick Osbaldiston is a cultural sociologist who joined JCU in 2015. He has previously worked at the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Federation University (Gippsland). As a cultural sociologist, Nick has many interests in sociological and social theory but three main themes have been the focus of his research.

Theme One: Lifestyle Migration

Along with colleagues Dr Michaela Benson (Goldsmiths University of London) and Dr Felicity Picken (Western Sydney University), Nick has published widely in the area of lifestyle migration. He presently is investigating the upcoming relationship of migration for the purposes of 'finding a better way of life' and environmental risks that may deter or hinder this in the future. Nick is also interested in theoretically unpacking the concept of lifestyle migration and is using a Weberian framework to understand what it entails and how scholars can ground this further.

Theme Two: Critical Engagements with Higher Education

Along with colleagues Fabian Cannizzo (Monash University) and Christian Mauri (Murdoch University), Nick has led three major projects focussed on examining the relationship of work/life balance to present day Australian academics. He has co-published papers on how academics negotiate their time in the Journal of Sociology and Time and Society. Nick is now working with his colleagues on understanding the relationship between academics and service to disciplines and what this will entail for the future.

Theme Three: Cultural Sociological understandings of Place and Self

In 2012, Nick published his first monograph Seeking Authenticity in Place, Culture and Self with Palgrave Macmillan. The publication empirically and theoretically explored the creation of place and how lifestyle migrants or seachangers negotiated these. Nick is presently preparing his second monograph on a Sociology of the Coast which seeks to utilise the classical sociological thought of Weber amongst others to unpack how coasts were encountered and how they have developed through the modern process. He was recently asked to discuss this project on the London School of Economics blog which can be found here.

 

Teaching

• BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place (Level 1; CNS)
• SY1001: Australian Society: An Introduction to Sociology (Level 1; CNS)
• SY2100: Migration, Ethnicity and Belonging (Level 2; CNS)
• SY3012: Social Analysis of Contemporary Australian Issues (Level 3; CNS & TSV)
• SY4017: Classical Social Theory (Level 4; CNS)

Interests

Research

• Cultural Sociology; Classical Sociology; Social Theory; Lifestyle Migration; Climate Change and Society;

Experience

• 2014 - Lecturer in Sociology, Federation University (Victoria)
• 2014 - Visiting Scholar, Goldsmiths University of London (London)
• 2012 to 2014 - Lecturer in Sociology, Monash University (Victoria)
• 2010 to 2012 - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Melbourne (Victoria)

Research Disciplines

• Sociology (1608)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Cultural Understanding (9599)

Awards

• 2017 - JCU Rising Star Award
• 2010 - Executive Dean's Commendation for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis (QUT)

Fellowships

• 2014 - Visiting Fellow - Goldsmiths University of London (London)

Memberships

• 2007 - Member of The Australian Sociological Association
• 2010 to 2014 - Executive Committee Member of the Australian Sociological Association
• 2010 to 2012 - Co-convener of the Cultural Sociology Thematic Group (TASA)

Other

• 2010 to 2013 - Co-Editor of Nexus (TASA)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Osbaldiston N, Cannizo F and Mauri C (in press) 'I love my work but I hate my job' – early career academic perspective on academic times in Australia. Time and Society,
• Benson M and Osbaldiston N (2016) Toward a critical sociology of lifestyle migration: reconceptualising migration and the search for a better way of life. The Sociological Review, 64 (3). pp. 407-423
• Cannizzo F and Osbaldiston N (2016) Academic work/life balance: a brief quantitative analysis of the Australian experience. Journal of Sociology, 52 (4). pp. 890-906
• Osbaldiston N (2015) A cultural sociological reading of lifestyle migration. Two Homelands, 42. pp. 25-36
• Osbaldiston N, Picken F and Duffy M (2015) Characteristics and future intentions of second homeowners: a case study from Eastern Victoria, Australia. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 7 (1). pp. 62-76
• Hurlimann A, Barnett J, Fincher R, Osbaldiston N, Mortreux C and Graham S (2014) Urban planning and sustainable adaptation to sea-level rise. Landscape and Urban Planning, 126. pp. 84-93
• O'Brien P, Osbaldiston N and Kendall G (2014) ePortfolios and eGovernment: from technology to the entrepreneurial self. Educational Philosophy and Theory , 46 (3). pp. 284-295

Books

• Osbaldiston N (2017) Towards a Sociology of the Coast: Our Past, Present and Future Relationship to the Shore. Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK

Book Chapters

• Holley K, Kuzhabekova A, Osbaldiston N, Cannizzo F, Mauri C, Simmonds S, Teelken C and van der Weijden I (2018) Global perspectives on the postdoctoral scholar experience. In: The Postdoc Landscape: the invisible scholars. Elsevier, London, UK, pp. 203-226
• Benson M and Osbaldiston N (2014) New horizons in lifestyle migration research: theorising movement, settlement and the search for a better life. In: Understanding Lifestyle Migration: theoretical approaches to migration and the quest for a better life. Palgrave Macmillan, Bassingstoke, UK, pp. 1-23
• Osbaldiston N (2014) Beyond ahistoricity and mobilities in lifestyle migration research. In: Understanding Lifestyle Migration: theoretical approaches to migration and the quest for a better life. Palgrave Macmillan, Bassingstoke, UK, pp. 163-187
• Osbaldiston N and Picken F (2014) Negotiating the value of "slow" in amenity migration. In: Global Amenity Migration: transforming rural culture, economy & landscape. New Ecology Press, Kaslo, Canada, pp. 83-98

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 25+ research outputs authored by Dr Nick Osbaldiston from 2010 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Imagining Northern Australia (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The Drivers of Sustainability in Small Communities in Northern Australia (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• In Defence of the North - The Narrative of Place and the Art of Becoming. North Queensland 1971-1981 (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Housing the Homeless: An Ethnography of Caravan Park Dwelling in Rural North Queensland. (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Medical Pluralism in Public Health in Australia (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• A Sociological Exploration of the Digital Nomad Lifestyle and its Influence on how we will Work in Future (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• An Indigenous Interpretive Research Inquiry into Torres Strait Regional Autonomy (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.