John Germov

• PhD
• Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Higher Education) at Victoria University Melbourne Australia

Background The culture of ‘risk‐related alcohol use’ has been identified as an intrinsic part of university life for many students, especially those in residential colleges in English‐speaking countries. While the prevailing approach to managing drinking in these countries is harm minimization, little is known about students’ uptake of these practi...

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting alcohol consumption, drug use and smoking for college/university students. Participants: College/University students Methods: Studies were eligible if: (1)included students attending universities/colleges; (2)implemented in a university/college setting; (3)aimed to improve at least...

Do you remember Lindeman’s Ben Ean Moselle? This slim-bottled, white table wine was quaffed in great quantities in the 1970s. It played a leading role in democratising wine drinking in Australia as tastes began to diversify from an almost exclusively beer-drinking nation. As we discuss in the Journal of Australian Studies, Ben Ean’s fortunes were...

During an era of expanding social inclusion in the 1960s and 1970s, Australians increasingly drank more wine than at any previous time in colonial or national history. These wines were made in new styles and consumed in accordance with new habits across gender and class. The morphology of one of Australia’s most popular “introduction wines” of this...

Taking an intersectional approach to the study of health and illness, Second Opinion introduces students to the field through an accessible yet authoritative overview of key theories, debates, and research findings. Written in a clear, straightforward style, with contributions from both Canadian and international scholars, this comprehensive volume...

This fourth edition has been completely revised with new chapters and substantially updated material throughout in response to user feedback and the latest research findings, to ensure that it is completely up to date with current developments in the field. The previous five- part structure of the book has been reorganised into three parts— the soc...

Issue addressed Universities represent important settings for the implementation of public health initiatives such as smoke‐free policies. The study aimed to assess staff and student attitudes towards policy enforcement and compliance as well as the acceptability of the provision of cessation support in this setting. Methods A cross‐sectional stud...

Terroir, technology and tradition have been identified as the key factors in determining contemporary wine production practices, quality and price point. The prevalent premium wine culture holds that grape wine growing and processing in its most valued forms exemplify a traditional rusticity that is linked to a fixed and timeless relationship with...

Casual and sessional academic staff have traditionally been on the margins of institutional life despite the expansion of this cohort across the university sector. This paper details a project to address this lack of recognition through a workforce strategy to engage, support and effectively manage this often neglected cohort of the academic workfo...

Issues surrounding increasingly constrained resources and reducing levels of sector-based funding require consideration of a different Academic Work Allocation Model (AWAM) approach. Evidence from the literature indicates that an effective work allocation model is founded on the principles of equity and transparency in the distribution and allocati...

Previous research into young people’s drinking behaviour has studied how social practices influence their actions and how they negotiate drinking-related identities. Here, adopting the perspective of discursive psychology we examine how, for young people, social influences are bound up with issues of drinking and of identity. We conducted 19 focus...

The literature on alcohol consumption among university and residential college students in Australia and comparable countries shows a high incidence of heavy and/or frequent drinking. In this article, we report the findings from a study on alcohol consumption among undergraduate university students living in residential colleges in Australia. The a...

Objective Evaluate the literature on interventions targeting tertiary education staff within colleges and universities for improvements in health behaviors such as physical activity, dietary intake, and weight loss. Data Source One online database, Medline, was searched for literature published between January 1970 and February 2013. Study Inclus...

Objective. Evaluate the literature on interventions targeting tertiary education staff within colleges and universities for improvements in health behaviors such as physical activity, dietary intake, and weight loss. Data Source. One online database, Medline, was searched for literature published between January 1970 and February 2013. Study Incl...

This paper examines the motives and experiences of attendees at a Slow Food festival to gain an understanding of how people engage with ethical consumer projects. Slow Food is a global social movement aimed at promoting food that is regionally, ethically, and sustainably produced, and convivially consumed. The movement uses culinary tourist events,...

To examine the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving physical activity, diet, and/or weight-related behaviors amongst university/college students. Five online databases were searched (January 1970 to April 2014). Experimental study designs were eligible for inclusion. Data extraction was performed by one reviewer using a standardized fo...

For more about the book, see: http://www.allenandunwin.com/publicsociology/#.VS7nJZSUfiQ

The literature on alcohol consumption among university and residential college students in Australiaand comparable countries shows a high incidence of heavy and/or frequent drinking. In this article, wereport the findings from a study on alcohol consumption among undergraduate university studentsliving in residential colleges in Australia. The aim...

What do you do? What we do for a living is an important part of our identity. Many people, when asked about their lives, will immediately talk about work they do. When introduced to someone for the first time, we often ask, 'What do you do?' Our responses are tied to the connotations we have of certain professions: we often have an image of the ste...

If you are new to sociology, and trying to get your head around exactly what it entails, you probably do not realise that you have encountered it many times already. Sociological analyses feature regularly in media commentary and public debate, and concepts such as globalisation, economic rationalism, socialisation, class, social status, deviance,...

This chapter introduces you to the foundational theorists and theories that represent the birth of sociology as an academic discipline. We cover only a selection of key theorists; we acknowledge that this is not an exhaustive list. In providing this overview, rather than offering an in-depth evaluation, we highlight some of the key ideas of each th...

The ‘classical’ thinkers in sociology — the modernists of their day, particularly Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber—were ‘engaged in an analysis and critique of modern society’ (Ritzer 2000, p. 422). All were interested in the changes brought about by the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. All of them saw that modernity was a resul...

This chapter covers some of the key resources that are available to enable you to expand and enhance your sociological imagination. You will discover information-search shortcuts and sociology-specific websites that will allow you to find relevant and credible sociological material quickly. We provide a list of key websites, including major sociolo...

We often think of drugs as illegal and dangerous substances, such as heroin and cocaine, yet the drug that causes the greatest harm is legal - alcohol. Many illicit drugs were once legal, such as heroin, which was prescribed in Australia as a cough suppressant until 1953, and many so-called 'designer drugs' initially escape the law because of their...

What is considered work, attitudes and motivations towards work, and the ways in which work is experienced are inherently outcomes of social organisation. Economic and technological developments, along with cultural values, public policies, and wider social structures, all set the social context of work. This chapter introduces you to a brief histo...

The essay is a well-established format of communicating knowledge and understanding about a topic in a logical, credible, and persuasive way, within a given timeframe and word limit. That said, there is often very little time in university courses allocated to teaching effective essay-writing skills. While there is no single best way to write a hig...

The way the notion of risk permeates society on a global scale has arguably been forever altered after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York were brought down by hijacked planes. Today, the threat of terrorism is constantly present, to the extent that terrorism becomes a cause that must be explici...

In November 2012, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) published "Sociology: Threshold Learning Outcomes", a document outlining the minimum outcomes of Bachelor graduates majoring in sociology. TASA is the professional body representing Australian sociologists and aims to: further sociology in Australia; provide a network for sociologists...

We often think of health and illness as an intensely individual experience - we have all suffered from a common cold, and we can all explain what it means to feel well. Yet sociologists point out that health and illness are also a social experience, such as exposure to unsafe workplaces or access to affordable health services. Just like Dr John Sno...

Invited panel discussant

This article explores male perceptions and attitudes toward violence against women in Indonesia. It analyzes interview data from Indonesian men collected as part of a large multimethod Australian government-funded project on masculinities and violence in two Asian countries. Reluctance to talk about violence against women was evident, and the accou...

This paper reports on data from a 2009–2010 project on masculinity and violence, part of which was conducted in Indonesia. The data here come from semi-structured interviews with 86 men in five cities, with minor reference to survey findings. Using a Foucauldian interpretive framework, we focus primarily on how these Indonesian men view police inte...

Second Opinion introduces students to the theories, concepts, issues, and contexts of health sociology. New to this 5th edition are chapters on drug use and abuse in Australia; well-being and wellness; updated statistics; more on cyber-bullying and mental health and more content on the National Health Reform, key health policy developments, and int...

Overview: What is class and how can it help to explain health inequality? What is the social gradient of health? What can be done to address class-based health inequality?

How can sociology help us understand drug use and abuse? What is the range of social responses to drug use and abuse? Are we witnessing the pharmaceuticalisation of society?

Overview What gender differences exist in the experience of health and illness? What have been the origins and main activities of the women's health movement and the men's health movement? What are intersectionality and gender mainstreaming, and how can they be used to improve our understanding of gendered health?

Overview What role does food production, distribution, and consumption play in determining health and illness? Why is the food supply subject to medicalisation and McDonaldization, and how do these social trends impact on population health? Why is the developed world worried about an obesity epidemic and what are the consequences of this concern?

Overview: What are the major health problems experienced by people on the poorest countries? Why do global health inequalities persist despite the availability of effective interventions? What can be done to address global health inequality?

Overview: What is medical dominance? How did medicine become the dominant health care profession? In what ways are challenges to medical dominance affecting the medical profession and the organisation, delivery,and use of health services?

Overview: What role does the mass media play in influencing our understanding of health and illness, and our perception of health risks? What role does the internet play in shaping beliefs and practices about health and illness? How influential is the media in shaping public views on health and illness?

Overview: What dilemmas arise in relation to programs that give information about health to individuals and groups? What are the differences between individualist and structuralist health promotion programs? Can the new public health approach bridge the divide between individualist and structuralist health promotion programs?

Overview: What is sociological theory? Why is sociological theory necessary? What are the main theoretical approaches in health sociology?

Overview: What is sociology and how can it be used to understand health and illness? What social patterns of health and illness exist? What is the social model of health and how does it differ from the medical model?

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Australia's national drinking taste is undergoing a dramatic change. Not only are we drinking less overall, but beer no longer dominates the contents of the national glass. Consumption trends now show that wine may soon be our drink of choice.

Dieters can now have their wine and drink it, guilt-free and minus the hangover. That’s the promise of so-called “light” or low-alcohol, low-calorie wines. But these wines are not considerably lighter (between a quarter and a third fewer calories compared to regular wines) and may actually push people toward drinking more... Available online at: h...

Available online at: https://theconversation.com/forget-fast-food-slow-down-for-better-well-being-11750

Invited paper: Time and Food Symposium

A qualitative comparative case study was conducted to compare and contrast food taboos and avoidance practices during pregnancy among Orang Asli or indigenous Temiar women in four distinct locations that represent different lifestyle experiences and cultural practices. Through snowballing sampling, a total of 38 participants took part in five focus...

Panel session: ‘Australian Wine – A National Vision’

This research examines the procedural and substantive legitimacy of the Australian capital city wine show system as a cultural consecration project. The analysis is based on the ratings of 5654 wines by judges at four capital city wine shows in 2007. Large wineries are more likely to enter wines into these competitions than small wineries. In gener...

Please contact the author if you would like a copy of the published version of this paper. ____________________________________________________________________ The Slow Food movement promotes itself as supporting ethical modes of food production and consumption. This article reports on research that investigated the representations of the movement...

The best selling student guide to writing at university, updated to include extensive coverage of online research strategies, computer tools and different types of writing tasks. Description Not sure how to begin writing? Four assignments and only four weeks to go before the deadline? Then this book is for you. Find out the rules of the essay-writ...

The prevalence of obesity and weight gain is higher in the working class, but we know little about class differences in practices used to control weight. This study examined associations between self-reported measures of social class (upper, middle, or working class), weight control practices, and weight among a cohort of 11,589 mid-aged women (age...

Public Sociology highlights the utility and application of sociology in professional and community life using real-world examples from Australia and across the globe. The first-ediiton of Public Sociology established itself as a highly regarded and accessible student text. This second edition has been thoroughly updated to maintain a fresh approach...

This chapter introduces a brief history of work, outlining continuities and changes. It discusses the notion of the 'work ethic' and whether this is changing, given the rise of consumerism and the 24/7 economy.

This chapter explores the birth of sociology as an academic discipline through key theorists such as Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Georg Simmel. The early sociologists wanted to know why social change occurred, and how it impacted on social life. They too were struggling with a period of massive social uph...

This chapter aims to provide a basic understanding of some of the key theorists, theories and concepts in contemporary sociology. The chapter begins by discussing the earlier but influential soci9ological contributions of symbolic interactionists George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, and then focuses on the more contemporary work of Erving...

See: www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-November-2011/williams&germov.html

The curriculum policy debate over educational inequality has moved in two directions: toward a common curriculum for all students or to a community based, class specific approach. Using critical theory, the thesis of this paper is that both approaches are flawed because they fail to address the ideological hegemony of the dominant culture in school...

This paper presents an analysis of all articles published in the Journal of Sociology (formerly the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology) between 1965 and 2008 (excluding book reviews). The aim is to empirically identify trends in paper characteristics in terms of what is being published (country of focus, subject area, and methodologica...

Refereed poster

This paper presents the author characteristics of papers published in The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) journal, the Journal of Sociology (formerly the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology) between 1965 and 2008. The aim of the paper is empirically to identify trends in authorship. The review examines all articles published...

Refereed poster

This article reports the findings of focus group research on Australian women who have engaged in dieting practices to lose weight. There have been few qualitative sociological studies on dieting, despite it being a common practice among western women. From the empirical data in this study three distinct themes emerged: women participate in the per...

Invited paper

Older men have poorer cooking skills than older women, yet there is little evidence about why men don’t cook. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore attitudes and beliefs about cooking held by older Australian men, and their motivations behind participating in a cooking intervention. Participants were sourced from the 2007 Cooking for One...

Overview: What are the public health implications of marketing foods with health claims (known as 'functional foods')? What controversies surround the regulation of functional foods and health claims? What are the implications of functional foods for individuals, food manufacturers and public health nutrition?

A Sociology of Food and Nutrition examines the social context of food and nutrition by exploring the socio-cultural, political, economic, and philosophical factors that influence food production, distribution and consumption. Leading authors in the field provide a contemporary analysis of the social factors that underlie food choice.