Rachel Sharples is a Senior Lecturer of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University (WSU). She is a member of the Challenging Racism Project (CRP) and the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS). She is a leading researcher and educator in the sociological fields of race and ethnic relations, the regulation of borders and migration, and belonging. Rachel’s research interests are interdisciplinary, spanning anthropology, sociology, ethnic and racial studies, cultural studies and politics. Key areas of research include displaced persons, refugees and migrants in local and global settings; statelessness, citizenship and belonging; racism and anti-racism; and spaces of solidarity and resistance. Recent publications include anti-asylum seeker sentiment in the Australian population (Geopolitics), claims of anti-white racism in Australia (Journal of Sociology) and segmenting anti-Muslim sentiment to counter Islamophobia (Ethnicities). She has co-authored a chapter on racialized citizenship for the Handbook of Migration and Global Justice (Edward Elgar Publishing) and whether Australians’ care about human rights for Contemporary perspectives on Human Rights Law in Australia (Thomas Reuters). Rachel’s manuscript, Spaces of Solidarity, was published by Berghahn Books in 2020 and her edited collection, Deter, Detain, Dehumanise: the politics of seeking asylum was published by Emerald Publishing in 2024.

Rachel is the Subject Coordinator for Understanding Society, a first year, first semester CORE subject servicing a multidisciplinary cohort of approx. 1000 students. Understanding Society introduces first year students to sociological concets, methods and theories used for the examination of individuals, social interactions, institutions and structures.