Hello everyone, what a wonderful site this is.

My name is Derek Hird, and I have just completed a PhD on 'white-collar men and masculinities in contemporary China', looking at discourses and practices. I am now teaching Chinese in the Modern Languages Dept at Westminster University in London. I am interested in the application of queer theories to ethnographic research, and am increasingly interested in issues around men's sexual health.

Looking forward to some fruitful exchanges!

My name is Janet and I'm a doctoral student in sociology/gender studies at Deakin University, Melbourne.  I'm currently working on my thesis which is exploring the relationship of gender and bisexuality.  For anyone who may be interested in finding out more about this or indeed participating in my interview phase (which happening throughout 2009) please email me at jbwatson@deakin.edu.au

cheers,

Janet

Hi my name is Marisa - I am currently working as a project worker in a rural sexual diverstiy project. I am interested in youth and sexual health  and developing excellence  and inclusion in sexual education for young people. I am also interested in the development of excellence in health services particularily in rural settings

Hi - I'm currently designing a research protocol as part of my MPH in international health - in interested in using music ( in particular hip hop) as a communication tool for HIV prevention messages with young Sudanese refugee women in Melbourne, Victoria.

if anyone has any information about current or past Australian interventions that use music or other artforms as part of sexual health activities I'd love to hear from you - also anyone who is working with refugees in the area of sexual health.

I'm Kath Albury, and I'm a postdoctoral fellow at the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of NSW. 

As my alter-ego, Nurse Nancy, I do performance/education/infotainment with drag queen Vanessa Wagner for NAPWA and other groups. 

My most recent publication is 'The Porn Report', with co-authors Associate Professor Alan McKee and Professor Catharine Lumby. The book reports on the findings of the Australian Research Council-funded project 'Understanding Pornography in Australia'. My research focuses on sexuality in media and popular culture. I'm also interested in sexual ethics, sexual health education and sexual violence prevention.

Hello Paul and other members of this group,

What a great initiative this site is. I look forward to seeing how it will develop, and to connecting with others in the field.    

A few words of introduction: My name is Louise Kolff, and I am a PhD Candidate jointly supervised at the College of Fine Arts (COFA) and the National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR), University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. My background is in graphic design and visual analysis, and my current research is focused on how cultural taboos may influence the design of HIV/AIDS campaigns, mainly in Australia and the United States. 

Hi, I'm Oliver Phillips, and I am based in the School of Law at the Univ of Westminster in London. I grew up in Zimbabwe and SA and much of my research is still based in these countries. My research and publications focus on sexuality and gender in relation to criminal law, human rights, and HIV in southern Africa. You can see a list of these at www.wmin.ac.uk/law/page-584.

I am also a trustee and Vice-Chair of a charity Friends of the Treatment Action Campaign (www.fotac.org) which works here in support of TAC in South Africa.

I teach a module on 'Sexuality and the Law' on the LLM in Women and Law, at the Southern and Eastern African Resource Centre for Women and Law (SEARCWL - based in Harare but a project in which many regional universities are engaged; students and faculty also come from throughout the region). I have in the past also taught regularly at the Summer Institute on Sexuality, Culture and Society hosted by the University of Amsterdam each July.

I look forward to using this site, as it seems so well set up and I am sure it could be really productive for us all.

Oliver

A warm hello to everybody on this website from Stellenbosch.  My name is Francois Rabie and I am a lecturer in the department of psychology at Stellenbosch University.  I recently completed my MA, studying the construction of sexuality amongst a group of self-identified gay men.

My interests are in sexuality studies, gender studies, social constructionism and psychoanalysis.  I draw great inspiration from people such as Judith Butler, as well as the work of Stephen Frosh and his take on masculinity and psychoanalysis.

I am really looking forward to meeting people on this site who share similar interests.  Take care, Francois.

testing

My name is Alp Biricik - PhD student currently enrolled at the Department of Gender Studies,  Linkoping University, Sweden, and working on the intersection of gender, space, sexuality relations. i am very much interested in critical studies on men and masculinities, feminist and queer theories. 

Franco Lai

Thanks Paul for breaking the ice for us!

I'm from Hong Kong, and get known of this website from a China-HongKong-Taiwan lesbian forum group. I'm interested in lesbian studies and especially fond of studying identity and body, female masculinities and GLBT movement.

I'm looking forward to learn more from all of you!

CHEERS!