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Associate Professor Jeremy Smith

Associate Dean Research and Professor, Sociology

Contact

Campus

Mt Helen Campus

Biography

Jeremy CA Smith is a professor in Sociology whose work explores the historical development of states, cities, capitalism and inter-civilisational engagement over very periods long time. He aims to promote awareness of the impact of historical patterns on contemporary societies.  

Jeremy’s work also examines contexts of learning, particularly patterns of lifelong learning. As part of research teams, he has engaged in research in different educational settings. These include the Clemente program, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Pizzicato Effect program and cross-university research collaborations. 

Jeremy has published widely in high-ranking journals and is author of three books and co-editor of six others. He is also Managing Editor of the International Journal of Social Imaginaries (De Gruyter-Brill) and the Social Imaginaries book series (State University of New York Press).  

He is available to supervise or examine PhDs in historical sociology, social theory and urban sociology. 

Fields of research

  • Social theory
  • Urban sociology and community studies
  • Sociology of migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism

Available for

HDR Supervision

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More about Jeremy

Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Melbourne
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Monash University

Areas of interest

  • Civilisational analysis (with particular focus on the Americas) 
  • Social imaginaries 
  • Urban sociology of metropolitan and regional cities 
  • Historical sociology  
  • Social theory 

Areas of expertise

Jeremy has expertise the historical development of states, cities, capitalism and inter-civilisational engagement in the Americas since 1492. More recent topics include politics, regions and cities in the Americas. Jeremy has engaged in research into learning in different educational settings and in cross-university research collaborations. 

Grants

  • 2026 – Department of Education, VCFA Negotiation and Program Funding (Victorian Department of Education) ($547,933) 
  • Smith JCA and Wight L 2021 – New Colombo Plan, Mobility Project Grant for South Korea ($33,000) 
  • Burke, J, Chew, R, Echter, A Mehena, M, and Smith JCA .2019 Evaluation of the Pizzicato Effect program in the City of Hume, 2019. Category 3 grant ($18,200)  
  • 2019 Catholic Care Melbourne, for the Clemente program ($100,000)
  • 2018–2019 Latrobe Valley Health Assembly for the Clemente program, Learn to Move Latrobe ($9,894)

Current

  • PhD student, ‘The Victoria Police member engagement and interactions with mental health consumers in Western Victoria’, associate supervisor.
  • Master’s student, ‘Jeremy Bentham’s Lunatic Machine’, associate supervisor.
  • Master’s student, ‘Bridging Borders: diplomacy, policy, and the migrant workers’ journey’, principal supervisor.

Past

  • PhD student, ‘Turned off tap: how rejection of town water is a metaphor for community identity in Maryborough, Victoria’, principal supervisor.
  • PhD student, ‘Beyond limit events: an analysis of civilisation and the sea’, principal supervisor.
  • PhD student, ‘Human rights for and by the people? Securing economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in a post conflict/post war situation’, principal supervisor.
  • PhD student, ‘History of the Ballarat Trades and Labour Council 1854–2010’, principal supervisor.
  • PhD student, ‘Why winning a war is no longer necessary: modern warfare and the United States of America through the prism of the wars of Vietnam and Iraq’, principal supervisor.
  • PhD student, ‘Charting cyberspace: self identity, community and nationalism in the virtual realm’, principal supervisor.
  • PhD student, ‘Sign of the witch: neo paganism and the romantic episteme’, principal supervisor.

  • Sociology 

Specialist roles

  • Associate Dean Research 

Professional association memberships

  • Australian Sociological Association (TASA) 
  • International Sociological Association (ISA) 
  • International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations (ISSOC) 
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Departamento de Sociología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM-Azcapotzalco), Mexico City (until December 2028) 

Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC)

Jeremy is part of the Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC), which aims to develop new knowledge and innovative solutions to the grand challenges facing our natural environments.
  • Publications

Castoriadis in the City: Placing Metropolitan and Urban Imaginaries