Biography summary
Dr Enqi Weng is an interdisciplinary scholar with research interests in religion, intercultural relations and decoloniality. She is a Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University. She completed her PhD from the School of Media and Communications at RMIT University in 2018 and has since published her monograph Media Perceptions of Religious Changes in Australia: Of Dominance and Diversity (Routledge, 2020). Her doctoral thesis analysed media representation of religions in Australia, and revealed that public discussions about religion were not only primarily constructed and influenced by white male perspectives, British influences also problematically continued to shape these discussions in post-colonial Australia. Broadly, she is interested in decolonial theory and methodologies, particularly media methods. She has experience teaching media and religious studies units at Deakin and RMIT.
Research interests
Decolonising 'religion'; race and religion; media and religious/social changes; religious/cultural diversity; decolonial theory and methodologies.
Affiliations
- Australian Association for the Study of Religion (AASR)
- International Society for the Sociology of Religion (SISR/ISSR)
- International Society for Media, Religion and Culture (ISMRC)
- The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
- Australian & New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA)
Units taught
ACX701 Communication Concepts
ALC215 Global Media
ASR300 - Religion, Rights and Governance
ASR200 Religion, Spirituality and Popular Culture
ASC211 Religion and Social Change
Knowledge areas
Decolonising 'religion'; race and religion; media and religious/social changes; religious/cultural diversity; religious literacy in journalism; sociological sacred; decolonising methodologies.
Professional activities
- Vice President, The Australian Association for the Study of Religion (AASR) (2022-current)
- Reviews Editor, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture (2020 to current)
- Co-Convenor, Religion Thematic Group, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) (2020-2023)
Media appearances
- ABC Religion & Ethics, 10 Nov 2022, 'In the lead up to the Victorian state election, let’s not forget about the needs of multicultural communities (again)'
- The Conversation, 29 Sep 2021, 'Australia is rich with religious diversity. So why are our newsrooms falling behind?'
- ABC Religion and Ethics, 13 Oct 2020, 'The pandemic has provided fertile conditions for conspiracy theories and “conspirituality” in Australia'
- ABC RN God Forbid, 16 May 2020, 'Does the media 'get' religion?'
- The Conversation, 1 May 2020, 'Religious groups are embracing technology during the lockdown, but can it replace human connection?'
Research groups
Asian Media, Culture and Society Network
Mobilities, Diversity and Multiculturalism Stream (ADI)
Publications
F Mansouri, M Vergani, E Weng
(2024), pp. 1-21, Journal of Sociology, London, Eng., C1
Anna Halafoff, Rosie Shorter, Enqi Weng, Yin Paradies, William Abur, Monika Winarnita
(2024), pp. 1-19, Journal of Intercultural Studies, London, Eng., C1
Decolonial Perspectives on Dominant Constructions of "Religion"
Enqi Weng, Rosie Shorter
(2023), pp. 1-15, Handbook of Critical Whiteness: Deconstructing Dominant Discourses Across Disciplines, Berlin, Germany, B1
Contesting empire religion: coloniality and sticky media discourses
E Weng
(2023), pp. 1-20, Culture and Religion, London, Eng., C1
The effectiveness of ethno-specific and mainstream health services: an evidence gap map
Matteo Vergani, Fethi Mansouri, Enqi Weng, Praveena Rajkobal
(2022), Vol. 22, pp. 1-10, BMC Health Services Research, London, Eng., C1
Anna Halafoff, Emily Marriott, Ruth Fitzpatrick, Enqi Weng
(2022), Vol. 35, pp. 141-167, Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, Sheffield, Eng., C1
Buddhism in the Far North of Australia pre-WWII: (In)visibility, Post-colonialism and Materiality
Anna Halafoff, Kim Lam, Cristina Rocha, Enqi Weng, Sue Smith
(2022), Vol. 23, pp. 105-128, Journal of Global Buddhism, Lucerne, Switzerland, C1
Christianity in contemporary Australian media: "get your rosaries off my ovaries"
Enqi Weng
(2021), pp. 219-234, Grounded in the body, in time and place, in scripture: papers by Australian women scholars in the Evangelical tradition, Eugene, Or., B1
E Weng, F Mansouri
(2021), Vol. 35, pp. 468-486, Continuum, C1
E Weng, A Wake
(2021), Vol. 43, pp. 81-97, Australian Journalism Review, Bristol, Eng., C1
A Halafoff, E Marriott, G Smith, E Weng, G Bouma
(2021), Vol. 12, Religions, C1
E Weng, A Halafoff, G Barton, G Smith
(2021), Vol. 11, pp. 38-57, Journal of International Students, C1
E Weng, A Halafoff
(2021), Vol. 10, pp. 225-249, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, Leiden, The Netherlands, C1
Introduction: Religion on an ordinary day: An international study of news reporting
E Poole, E Weng
(2021), Vol. 10, pp. 165-178, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, C1
Enqi Weng, Anna Halafoff, Danielle Campbell, William Abur, Gary Bouma, Greg Barton
(2021), Vol. 34, pp. 289-313, Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, Sheffield, Eng., C1
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of services to CALD communities in Australia
Enqi Weng, Fethi Mansouri, Matteo Vergani
(2021), Geelong, Vic., A6
Media perceptions of religious changes in Australia of dominance and diversity
Enqi Weng
(2020), Abingdon, Eng., A1
L Brennan, K Klassen, E Weng, S Chin, A Molenaar, M Reid, H Truby, T McCaffrey
(2020), Vol. 17, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, England, C1
Media representations of religion, spirituality and non-religion in Australia
E Weng, A Halafoff
(2020), Vol. 11, pp. 1-16, Religions, C1
Through a National Lens Darkly: Religion as a Spectrum
Enqi Weng
(2019), Vol. 32, pp. 3-26, Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, Sydney, N.S.W., C1
The heavens opened and cried: mediatised national mourning for Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew
Enqi Weng
(2016), Vol. 13, pp. 65-85, Asian communication research, Seoul, Korea, C1
The Trappings of Time: The Effects of Global Social Media Uprisings on Singapore's Political Scene
E Weng
(2012), pp. 151-164, Movements in Time Revolution, Social Justice and Times of Change, Newcastle upon Tyne, Eng., B1-1
Observing the impact of locative media on the public space of contemporary cities
E Weng
(2012), Vol. 2, pp. 1-10, Polymath: an interdisciplinary arts and sciences journal, Edwardsville, Ill., C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Industry and Other Funding
Conspirituality' and science in Australia: Material and Digital Practices, Activism and Risks
A/Prof Anna Halafoff, Prof Cristina Rocha, Prof Andrew Singleton, Dr Alexandra Roginski, Dr Enqi Weng
International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society Research Grant
- 2021: $26,172
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report