Biography summary
Dr Enqi Weng is a media scholar and sociologist of religion. She completed her PhD in 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. Her research interest has since turned towards decolonial/multicultural approaches to the sociological study of religion, where her work interrogates the role that news media play in reinforcing and normalising the racialisation of religion. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University. Occasionally she teaches across media and religious studies units at Deakin.
Research interests
Religion and media; religious/cultural diversity; religious literacy in journalism; religion and social change; decolonial study of religion
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
Knowledge areas
Decolonising studies of religion; religion and media; race and religion; religious/cultural diversity; religious literacy in journalism; sociological sacred
Professional activities
- Co-Convenor, Religion, Society and Culture Network (Deakin)
- Reviews Editor, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture
- Co-Convenor, Religion Thematic Group, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
Media appearances
- 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
Religion, Society and Culture Research Network
Publications
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
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