Kate Seear
Tel: +61 3 990 53259 Fax: +61 3 990 52410
Email: Kate.Seear@monash.edu
Room W11.25 - 11th Floor
Building 11 (Menzies) Clayton Campus
Kate teaches and researches in the Centre for Women’s Studies and Gender Research. A health sociologist, Kate is currently the National Convenor of the Health Thematic Group in the Australian Sociological Association (TASA).
Kate has a unique multi-disciplinary background. As well as her expertise in Sociology, she has an Honours degree in Law and is admitted to practice as a lawyer. Her main areas of interest are health, gender and emerging technologies and the sociology of sport.
Much of Kate’s current work explores issues around drug use, addictions and hepatitis C. Some of this work, such as Kate’s research with Dr Suzanne Fraser on the ‘drug addicted’ AFL footballer Ben Cousins has attracted media interest. Kate is currently working on a book entitled Making Disease, making citizens with Dr Suzanne Fraser (CWSGR) which combines insights derived from a range of different datasets to explore the constitution of hepatitis C. Kate is also the Research Associate on a new project with Dr Suzanne Fraser and colleagues (Associate Professor Paul Dietze, Associate Professor John Fitzgerald and Associate Professor David Moore) which examines the range of addiction and dependence concepts informing alcohol and other drug (AOD) policy development and service provision in Victoria.
Together with Professor Alan Petersen (Sociology, Monash University) Kate has conducted work on new and emergent technologies, including work on nanotechnologies and questions about stem science and the phenomenon of ‘stem cell tourism’:
http://arts.monash.edu.au/sociology/research/stemcellresearch.php
Kate’s previous research has explored the history and construction of the chronic gynaecological condition endometriosis, and the experiences of women living with the condition. She teaches qualitative research methods in sociology's postgraduate program. In 2007, Kate was selected to write an essay on health and illness in an anthology of essays by emerging young Australian thinkers. She has presented her work at national and international conferences. She reviews for the international journal Critical Public Health and has written extensively in national media and in legal publications on both health and legal issues.
Publications
Peer-reviewed publications
- Seear, K., Fraser, S. and Lenton, E. (in press) 'Guilty or Angry? The politics of emotion in accounts of hepatitis C transmission', Contemporary Drug Problems (accepted 20 August 2010).
- Seear, K. and Fraser, S. (In press) ‘Ben Cousins and the “double life”: Exploring citizenship and the voluntarity/compulsivity binary through the experiences of a “drug addicted” elite athlete’. Critical Public Health (Accepted 26 January 2010)
- Seear, K. and Fraser, S. (2010) ‘The sorry addict’: Ben Cousins and the construction of drug use in elite sport. Health Sociology Review, Vol. 19, Issue 2, pp.176-191.
- Seear, K. (2009a) ‘Standing up to the beast’: Contradictory notions of control, un/certainty and risk in the endometriosis self-help literature. Critical Public Health, Vol. 19, No. 1, 45-58.
- Seear, K. (2009b) The Third Shift: Health, work and expertise among women with endometriosis. Health Sociology Review, Vol. 18, No. 2, 194-206.
- Seear, K., (2009c) The etiquette of endometriosis: Stigmatisation, menstrual concealment and the diagnostic delay, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 69, 1220-1227.
- Seear, K. (2009d) ‘Nobody really knows what it is or how to treat it’: Why women with endometriosis do not comply with healthcare advice. Health, Risk and Society, Volume 11, Issue 4, pages 367 – 385.
- Petersen, A. and Seear, K. (2009) ‘In search of immortality: the political economy of anti-aging medicine’, Medicine Studies, Vol. 1, 267-279.
- Seear, K. and McLean, K. (2008) ‘Breaking the silence: The role of emotional labour in qualitative research’ Refereed Conference Proceedings, The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Melbourne, Victoria.
- Seear, K. (2007) ‘Health Self Management amongst women with endometriosis’, Refereed Conference Proceedings, The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.
Reports
- Seear, K., Petersen, A., Munsie, M. and Skinner, R. (2010) Hopeful Journeys: Experiences of stem cell treatment offered outside Australia, Monash University: Clayton (to be released August 2010).
- Petersen, A., Seear, K. and Bowman, D. (2010) Communicating with citizens about nanotechnologies: Views of key stakeholders in Australia, Monash University Clayton (to be released August 2010).
- Seear, K., Fraser, S., Wright, J., Maher, JM. & Petersen, A. (2010). ‘Peeling away the onion’: Report on a national consultation on childhood obesity research, policy and practice in Australia, Monograph. Clayton Vic: Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, Monash University.
- Seear, K, Petersen, A. and Bowman, D. (2009) The Social and Economic Impacts of Nanotechnologies: A Literature Review, Monash University: Clayton.
Other Publications
- ‘Cricket world takes gender equity back a century or two’, The Age, March 12, 2010
- ‘A boy’s own list of true sports heroes’, The Age, January 11, 2008.
- ‘Media’s ugly obsession with women’s looks’, The Age, 1 November 2007.
- ‘The horror of child abuse is all around us’, The Age, July 2, 2007.
- ‘Losing Medicare: The Jewel in the Crown’ newmatilda.com.au, 11 April 2007.
- ‘Money Can’t Buy me Health’, (2007) Interface: Fresh Voices. New Ideas Vibewire: Sydney.
- ‘Going National: What the National Legal Profession will mean for Victorian Women Lawyers’, Portia, July 2004
- ‘The National Women’s Justice Coalition’, Portia, July 2004
- ‘Women, Violence, Poverty and the Law’, Portia, December 2003
- ‘Community Legal Centres’, Portia, September 2003
- ‘Profile of Women appointed to the Judiciary: Judge Jane Campton’, Portia, March 2003
Professional Profile
Kate is a member of the following professional organisations:
- European Association for the Study of Science and Technology
- The Australian Sociological Association
Teaching
Kate teaches:
ATS1311: Sex, Gender and Knowledge