Section: Overview
Overview
Key publications
Research funding
Supervising & teaching
Career

Key details

Areas of expertise

  • Community & liberation psychologies
  • Qualitative and post-qualitative research
  • Racism and whiteness studies
  • Migration and Settlement

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

About Christopher Sonn

Christopher is research fellow and Deputy Director Research and Research Training with the Institute for Health and Sport. 

He is research leader for the Community Identity and Displacement research group.

His internationally recognised research involves understanding and elevating the voices of individuals and groups who are marginalised or excluded through forms of violence such as racism and sexism.

Christopher has expertise in community and liberation psychology and qualitative and creative methodologies.

He has over 100 publications in high-ranking journals and edited books.

Christopher's recent publications include the coedited volume Decoloniality and Epistemic Justice in Contemporary Community Psychology (2021) and a special issue of the American Journal Community Psychology on Fostering and Sustaining Solidarities. He co-author of Social Psychology of Everyday Life (1st & 2nd ed.) 

He has supervised and co-supervised 15 PhD and DPsych students and is currently supervising six Higher Degree by Research students.

Christopher is currently working on projects with community partners to explore how participatory, creative, and arts based methodologies can promote decoloniality, empowerment, and inclusion.

He is visiting professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and a fellow of the Society for Community Research and Action.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Victoria University, Australia, 1996
  • Grad Dip Applied Psychology (Community), Victoria University, Australia
  • Grad Dip Education, Deakin University, Australia
  • BA, Monash University, Australia

Key publications

Year Citation
2024 Sonn, C., Agung-Igusti, R., Jayawardana, R., Quayle, A., & Keast, S. (240425). Community arts, decoloniality, and epistemic justice In Christens, B. (Ed.) (pp. 480-503). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

doi: 10.1017/9781009153737

2022 Quayle, A., & Sonn, C. (221213). Critical narrative inquiry as psychosocial accompaniment with Aboriginal communities (pp. 160-179).

Year Citation
2023 Keast, S., & Sonn, C. (231001). Opening Doors and Conversations: Culture, self-determination & mental health.

Year Citation
2024 Sonn, C. C., Agung-Igusti, R. P., Komba, G., Ruach, R. N., & Deng, E. E. (240701). Freedom dreaming from the university-community nexus: Relational praxis as counterspace. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(7),

doi: 10.1111/spc3.12990

2024 Miller, K., Morda, R., & Sonn, C. C. (240101). Tokenistic or transformative? An exploration of culturally safe care in Australian mental health nursing. International Journal of Mental Health,

doi: 10.1080/00207411.2024.2304379

2023 Perkins, D. D., Sonn, C. C., Lenzi, M., Xu, Q., Carolissen, R., Portillo, N., & Serrano-Garcia, I. (231201). The global development of community psychology as reflected in the American Journal of Community Psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 72(3-4), (302-316).

doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12696

2023 Tacey, A., Behne, J., Patten, R. K., Ngo, M. T., Thomas, R., Ancilleri, J., Bone, C., Castro, A. P., McCarthy, H., & Harkin, K. (230101). Development of a Digital Health Intervention to Support Patients on a Waitlist for Orthopedic Specialist Care: Co-Design Study. JMIR Formative Research, 7(1),

doi: 10.2196/41974

2023 Balla, P., Jackson, K., Price, R., Quayle, A. F., & Sonn, C. C. (230101). Blak Women s Healing: Cocreating Decolonial Praxis Through Research Yarns. Peace and Conflict, 29(1), (21-30).

doi: 10.1037/pac0000637

2022 Zarate, D., Sonn, C., Fisher, A., & Stavropoulos, V. (221201). Suicidal behaviors in the entertainment industry: a preliminary exploration of the interplay between work scheduling, social support, and wellbeing in Australia. BMC Psychiatry, 22(1),

doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04376-2

2022 Balla, P., Jackson, K., Quayle, A. F., Sonn, C. C., & Price, R. K. (221201). Don't let anybody ever put you down culturally. it's not good : Creating spaces for Blak women's healing. American Journal of Community Psychology, 70(3-4), (352-364).

doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12607

Research funding for the past 5 years

Please note:

  • Funding is ordered by the year the project commenced and may continue over several years.
  • Funding amounts for contact research are not disclosed to maintain commercial confidentiality.
  • The order of investigators is not indicative of the role they played in the research project.

Vingrys - VicHealth Impact Research Grant: Aboriginal Australian dietary practices and place-making in public health equity
From: Vic Health Impact Research Grants, Victoria University
Other investigators: Aspr Alison Baker, Ms Karen Jackson, Dr Megan O'shea, Dr Kristina Vingrys
For period: 2023-2025
$296,943
Strengthening Creatives Capacity for Research Accompaniment
From: VicHealth, Victoria University
Other investigators: Dr Samuel Keast, Aspr Matthew Klugman
For period: 2023-2025
Not disclosed

Its Bigger Than This:  
From: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
Other investigators: Dr Samuel Keast
For period: 2022-2023
Not disclosed
VicHealth - Mental Health Literacy Project Evaluation
From: Victoria University, VicHealth
Other investigators: Dr Samuel Keast
For period: 2022-2023
Not disclosed
Co-creating Social Change: Documenting Community-Based and Arts Approaches to Foster Social Connectedness
From: VicHealth
Other investigators: Aspr Matthew Klugman
For period: 2022-2022
Not disclosed

Moving critical voices to the forefront: Building global solidarities with Community Psychology scholars to increase Scholarly Impact and Inform Everyday Praxis
From: Wilfred Laurier University
For period: 2021-2022
$7,698
Blak Women's Healing
From: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Other investigators: Ms Karen Jackson, Ms Paola Balla, Ms Rowena Price, Dr Amy Quayle
For period: 2021-2023
$164,610

Evaluation of the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation's GOAL Mentoring Program 2020
From: Western Bulldogs Community Foundation
For period: 2020-2020
Not disclosed

Evaluation of the gender equality through the Arts Grants Program
From: VicHealth, VU Internal Funding
Other investigators: Dr Kim Shearson, Aspr Gavin Ivey, Prof Jenny Sharples
For period: 2019-2020
Not disclosed
Capacity Building Grant -  Participation in the Collaborative Centre of Excellence for Resilient Communities and Inclusive Societies (CERCIS) Think Tank
From: Dept of Premier and Cabinet (Vic)
Other investigators: Prof Debra Smith, Prof Ramon Spaaij
For period: 2019-2023
Not disclosed

CBTL (Colour between the line): Creating Solidarities Across Communities of Difference through Arts and Activism
From: CoHealth
Other investigators: Dr Amy Quayle
For period: 2018-2020
Not disclosed

An evaluation of the Horace Petty Education Engagement Initiative.
From: College of Health and Biomedicine, Stonnington City Council, College of Arts and Education
Other investigators: Aspr Alison Baker
For period: 2017-2020
Not disclosed

Supervision of research students at VU

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

Currently supervised research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
1 PhD Integrated Acting Principal supervisor
2 PhD Integrated Associate supervisor
2 PhD Integrated Principal supervisor
6 PhD Associate supervisor
2 PhD Principal supervisor

Currently supervised research students at VU

Students & level Role
PhD Integrated (1) Acting Principal supervisor
PhD Integrated (2) Associate supervisor
PhD Integrated (2) Principal supervisor
PhD (6) Associate supervisor
PhD (2) Principal supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
1 PhD Acting supervisor
11 PhD Principal supervisor
3 PhD Associate supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

Students & level Role
PhD (1) Acting supervisor
PhD (11) Principal supervisor
PhD (3) Associate supervisor

Other supervision of research students

Christopher has co-supervised 2 PhD students at Curtin University, and 1 PhD at Edith Cowan University. He was on the PhD dissertation committee at the University of Miami and is currently co-supervising a PhD candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Teaching activities & experience

Christopher is Professor and Fellow with the Institute for Health and Sport. He is currently Deputy Director Research and Research Training and seconded to Moondani Balluk. 

He was the course chair of the Master Applied Psychology (Community Psychology). He coordinated and taught the following units in this program:

  • APM6010, Foundations of Community Psychology
  • APM7004, Intercultural Approaches to Community Pscyhology
  • APC6089, Research Methods.

He also supervises research thesis in the thesis units for this course.

Christopher also:

  • taught APH4018, Social Research Methods, in the fourth year program in Psychology
  • supervises research thesis 
  • taught in into the undergraduate research methods course, APS2030, Qualitative Social Research.

 

 

Professional memberships

  • Fellow, Australian Psychological Society
  • Fellow, Society for Community Research and Action