Adam Possamai

Possamai is the former President of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions. He was the 2002-2007 co-editor of the Australian Religion Studies Review and is the former President of the sociology of religion section (RC22) of the International Sociological Association (2010-2014).

Possamai's undergraduate studies in sociology were undertaken at the University of Leuven, Belgium, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons). The topic of his undergraduate thesis was the Theosophical Society. He also obtained a Graduate Diploma of Education from the University of Leuven. He obtained his PhD from La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia, with a dissertation on New Age spirituality. His dissertation won the Jean Martin Award for the best PhD. in sociology in Australia (1998–1999).

Possamai began his teaching career as a tutor at La Trobe University (1995–1998), and then in 1999 received an appointment as lecturer in sociology at the University of Western Sydney. In addition to teaching introductory courses in Sociology, he has also taught courses in the sociology of religion, sociology of migration, sociological theory, sociology of power and deviance, and the philosophy of social sciences. Perles Noires, his first book of fiction, was listed as one of the favourite books by the public libraries in Paris in 2006. He has also recently published the science fiction novel Le XXIe siècle de Dickerson et Ferra.