Dr Nick Osbaldiston is a sociologist who joined JCU in 2015. He has previously worked at the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Federation University (Gippsland). 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. Along with Fabian Canizzo, he has published a new edited volume called The Social Structures of Global Academia (Roultedge, 2019).

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. He has also published a second monograph entitled Towards 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

• SS1010: Australian People: Indigeneity and Multiculturalism (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; TSV)

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 (4410)
• Education policy, sociology and philosophy (3902)

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

• Gilbert A, Busbridge R and Osbaldiston N (2022) ‘Living in crisis’: Introduction to a special section. Thesis Eleven, 170 (1). pp. 3-8
• Osbaldiston N (in press) ‘The Summers Were Getting Hotter’: exploring motivations for migration to Tasmania away from mainland Australia. Australian Geographer,
• Osbaldiston N, Denny L and Picken F (2020) Seachange in Tasmania: exploring interstate migration into the 'Apple Isle'. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, 26 (1). pp. 55-76
• Osbaldiston N, Picken F and Denny L (2020) Exploring emotional reflexivity in British lifestyle migration to Australia. Population, Space and Place, 26.
• Cannizzo F, Mauri C and Osbaldiston N (2019) Moral barriers between work/life balance policy and practice in academia. Journal of Cultural Economy, 12 (4). pp. 251-264
• Osbaldiston N (2019) Simmel’s Adventure and its relationship to the ought of life. Simmel Studies, 23 (2). pp. 71-96

Book Chapters

• Osbaldiston N (2022) Emotions and under-insurance: Exploring reflexivity and relations with the insurance industry. In: Climate, Society and Elemental Insurance: capacities and limitations. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 156-166
• Osbaldiston N (2022) The View of Lifestyle Migration: a Brief Exploration of the Ethics of Seeking a Better Way of Life. In: Rethinking Privilege and Social Mobility in Middle-Class Migration: migrants 'in between'. Studies in Migration and Diaspora. Routledge, London, UK, pp. 130-149
• Osbaldiston N, Picken F and Denny L (2021) Dynamics of Seachangers in rural and regional townships. In: Crossroads of Rural Crime: Representations and Realities of Transgression in the Australian Countryside. Emerald Publishing, Bingley, U.K., pp. 149-166
• Osbaldiston N (2020) Writing Noosa's beach: travellers' narratives and modernity. In: Writing the Australian Beach: local site, global idea. Palgrave, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 109-123
• Cannizzo F and Osbaldiston N (2019) An introduction to the Social Structures of Global Academia. In: The Social Structures of Global Academia. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 1-18
• Osbaldiston N, Cannizzo F and Mauri C (2019) Academic Service: attachment, belief and hope. In: The Social Structures of Global Academia. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 53-69

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 40+ research outputs authored by A/PROF Nick Osbaldiston from 2010 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

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

• Reflections on the natural beauty of the Daintree Rainforest (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Social Media as a zone of violence: Neoliberal ideology and violent self-presentation in online spaces (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• In Defence of the North - The Narrative of Place and the Art of Becoming. North Queensland 1971-1981 (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Rifts and Reconnection: An Examination of Reconnective Mitigative Practices under Capitalism (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Planning for Sustainability using School-based Community Gardens: Growing Food and Community for a Post-COVID World (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Migration and Liveability in Regional Australia: Back to basics in a Post-Pandemic Era (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• A sociological exploration of the digital nomad lifestyle and its implications for the future of work (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Receptivity, Affect, Endurance and Democracy: A Comparison Between Two Political Organizations, La Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina and, the Townsville Feminist Collective in North Queensland, Australia (PhD , Primary Advisor)

Completed

• Housing the homeless: housing crisis and caravan parks – a Bourdieusian perspective (2021, PhD , Primary 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.