Rate My Professor Belinda Johnson

Dr. Belinda Johnson is a Senior Lecturer in applied sociology and human services within the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University. She earned her PhD in Sociology from the University of South Australia in 2020. As an education and research academic in applied sociology, her approaches integrate care, justice, and creativity. Belinda is passionate about developing innovative and inclusive first-year learning experiences, employing pedagogies from creative disciplines to cultivate exploratory, collaborative, and democratized environments in social sciences. Her teaching encompasses the sociology of the self, intersections between sociology and psychology, and sociological perspectives on organizations to promote effective practice. She is committed to inclusive teaching that fosters purposeful belonging, values student diversity, and links social theory with contemporary issues and personal experiences to enhance critical thinking and action. Additionally, she engages in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, exploring imaginative, experiential, and creative practice pedagogies in social science education. Her education excellence is recognized through several RMIT awards.

Belinda is a researcher in disability studies and creative practice affiliated with the Community Wellbeing group in the Social Equity Research Centre. Her research examines intersections of social change, bodies, places, emotions, and creative practice, with a specific focus on disability and Down syndrome. Further interests include carer experiences, fashion discourses, women and work, and precarity. Drawing on critical disability studies, new materialism, and posthuman feminism, she derives insights from marginalized lives, emphasizing the politics of everyday actions and creativity. Her perspective is informed by lived experiences connected to the Down syndrome community, underscoring body diversity and the role of creative work in Down syndrome cultures. Belinda is widely published internationally in scholarly books and journals. Notable publications include "Prenatal testing technologies in Australia: Unintended clinical and psychosocial consequences for families with a high chance diagnosis of Down syndrome" in Social Science & Medicine (2024), "'I hope you aren't becoming woke': New politicised contours of online ableism in response to the murder of Oliver McGowan" (2023), "Ableist contours of Down syndrome in Australia: Facebook attitudes in response to a celebrity child's life with Down syndrome" (2020), and "The psychosocial impacts on families of low-incidence, complex conditions in children: The case of Craniopharyngioma". Through her work, she contributes to greater social justice for people with disabilities.