Excelsia College

School of Social Work

Dr Shannon Said | Social Work Lecturer and Field Education Coordinator | Excelsia College

Social Work Lecturer

Dr Shannon Said

PhD (Music), MSW, Cert. IV Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care
Contact Details

Telephone Number

02 9000 9604

Email

shannon.said@excelsia.edu.au

Biographical details

Shannon Said is a social work researcher and practitioner, working with Pacific, Maori and culturally diverse people groups over the past ten years. He has held various positions as a researcher at Western Sydney University, The University of Sydney, Australian Catholic University and others in the areas of music and other cultures, support programs for disadvantaged and minority university student groups, and music therapy as an alternative for young people from trauma backgrounds. Shannon has more recently has worked as a Youth Access Practitioner at headspace and Youth Development Worker at Bridging the Gap.

Profile of Dr Shannon Said

Education

Shannon completed his PhD (Music) from Western Sydney University in 2017, then completed his Master in Social Work (Qualifying) in 2020 from the University of Wollongong. He is currently completing a Graduate Diploma of Counselling at Excelsia College.

Awards and Honours

Shannon was a recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Leadership Scholarship for his B. Music, and also a Western Sydney University / APA scholarship for the completion of his PhD, based on the completion of his first class Honours degree.

Research interests

Shannon’s thesis explored Christian-Maori diaspora identity in South West Sydney. His research interests focus on decolonising research in diaspora and minority group research contexts, and promoting Indigenous and diaspora approaches to research and community engagement. He also has an interest in his own Maltese-Australian diaspora community, and how notions of national identity are impacted by migration, dual citizenship and hyphenated cultural identities.

Current Projects

Shannon is part of a team of researchers who have recently completed a report entitled Mental Health Talanoa, exploring how Pacific peoples across Greater Western Sydney utilise and face barriers to accessing mental health supports. He is exploring the role of spirituality and religion in social work practice, and the gendered nature of manifestations of depression amongst young men, and how diagnostic descriptors do not necessarily recognize these realities.

Associations

Australian Association of Social Workers (2020-present)

Maltese-Australians’ Youth Committee, MAYC (2015-present)

Selected publications

Said, S 2018, ‘A shell and a stone: Pacific chaplaincy practice at Western Sydney University’, Pacific Dynamics: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, vol. 2, no.1, June 2018

Said, S 2018, ‘Knowing through being known: reflections on Indigenous epistemology and participatory consciousness’, Interventions, DOI: 10.1080/1369801X.2018.1558091

Ravulo, J, Said, S, Micsko, J & Purchase, G 2020, ‘Social value and its impact through widening participation: A review of four programs working with primary, secondary & higher education students’, Cogent Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 1, doi: 10.1080/23311886.2020.1722307.


Conference Papers

Said, S 2013, ‘The Line in the Sand: Negotiating the flow of composition, collaboration and local community engagement in new Maori-Christian popular music in South West Sydney’, International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) 2012 Conference Proceedings, pp.146-158.