Keith Tester and Peter Beilharz, Tarrawarra, 2014 (Photo: Sian Supski)

Keith Tester had many friends in Melbourne, at La Trobe University and in and around Thesis Eleven. Join us to celebrate his life and achievements.

Greek Cultural Centre, 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne: 12 Floor.
5.30 pm, Friday 22nd February   
Please RSVP via the contact form below.

Bio:
Keith Tester was Professor of Sociology at the University of Hull since 2008, having previously been Professor of Cultural Sociology at the University of Portsmouth. In 2010-2011 he was also Professor of Sociology at Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea; Visiting Professor at the Bauman Institute in the School of Sociology & Social Policy at the University of Leeds; an Honorary Member of the Thesis Eleven Centre for Cultural Sociology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia (where he has been a Distinguished Visiting Fellow); a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; and a Research Associate of the Institute for the Study of Social Change at University College Dublin. He was a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, UK, and an Adjunct Professor in Sociology at La Trobe.

Keith studied for his Ph.D at the University of Leeds, and the ‘book of the thesis’ – Animals and Society – was awarded the British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize for Best First Sole-Authored Book in 1992. Keith was on the editorial boards of The Journal of Classical Sociology, Journal of Human Rights and Thesis Eleven. 

Keith’s main research interest was in thinking sociologically about the entwinement of culture and morality. For example, thanks to contemporary media we know about suffering in other parts of the world, but what do we do about it? What does this knowledge mean to us? Do the culture industries predetermine what we might know and do? His work raises these kinds of questions through the heritage of critical theory and, especially, the social thought of Zygmunt Bauman. His interest in culture also resulted in publications on film and art. He was a big fan of Nick Cave, Kylie and Neighbours. Keith was a strong collaborator and a close friend of Thesis Eleven.

Please RSVP by completing the contact form: