Research Fellow
Overview
Dr Giselle Newton (she/her) is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Digital Cultures and Societies in the Faculty of Humanities Arts Social Sciences. Giselle holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Lecturer at the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW, Sydney. Giselle is a co-convenor of the Australian Sociological Association Thematic Group on Families and Relationships, and is an Associate Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. Giselle was awarded the Early Career International Visiting Fellowship, University of Sheffield for 2024-25.
Giselle is a digital health sociologist whose research focuses on understanding how digital, reproductive and genetic technologies (re)shape individuals’ relationships and everyday lives. In her work, Giselle considers processes of participation, representation and listening in the context of policy and legislative reform. Giselle is also interested in digital, qualitative and creative research methods and ethics, and has lead research training on these topics. Giselle has published in journals such as Sociology, Sociology of Health & Illness, Social Media + Society, Media International Australia, and Journal of Pragmatics.
Giselle's PhD study explored how digital technologies such as social media and direct-to-consumer DNA testing have afforded donor-conceived people new opportunities to bond, sleuth, educate and strategise. Giselle’s thesis won Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses in 2022.
Current projects:
- DNA datascapes: how individuals seek information about family via direct-to-consumer DNA testing
- How alcohol and gambling companies target people most at risk with marketing for addictive products on social media, using the Australian Mobile Ad Toolkit (contract research project commissioned by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education Limited, with A/Prof Nic Carah and Lauren Hayden)
Currently supervising:
- Lauren Hayden (PhD candidate, UQ) - Digital advertising and cultures of alcohol consumption on social media platforms (with A/Prof Nicholas Carah, Prof Daniel Angus)
- Cushla McKinney (Master of Genetic Counselling student, UTS) - The impact of direct-to-consumer DNA testing on genetic counselling practice (with Dr Lisa Dive, A/Prof Aideen McInerny-Leo, Dr Vaishnavi Nathan).
- Diya Dilip Porwal (Master of Genetic Counselling student, UTS) - Experiences of carrier screening and genetic testing in gamete donors (with Julia Mansour and Dr Lisa Dive).
Past projects:
- On target: Understanding advertising in the fertility sector with data from the Australian Ad Observatory, a winter research collaboration (with Romy Wilson Gray and Maria Proctor).
- Everyday belongings: how Australian donor-conceived adults’ use digital technologies to bond, sleuth, educate and strategise.
- Understanding care endings: Sociological and educational approaches to support pathways out of caring
Giselle has coordinated and lectured across undergraduate and postgraduate programs in courses in humanities, social sciences and health. She was course coordinator for COMU2030 Communication Research Methods in 2023 and lecturer in HHSS6000 HASS Honours Research Design.
Areas of supervision: Giselle welcomes research proposals focused on social research in digital identities and cultures; family relationships and practices; DNA and genetic testing/screening; reproductive health and donation.
Research Impacts
As a donor-conceived person herself, Giselle's research is grounded in advocacy regarding access to information about family and health for all donor-conceived people worldwide. Giselle was an invited delegate to the 30-year anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child at the United Nations with group of donor-conceived advocates. Following this monumental event, delegates devised the International Principles for Donor Conception and Surrogacy, world-first minimum standards in donor conception. At a national and state level, Giselle has contributed to several legislative reviews, inquiries and consultations on Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Donor Conception, Mitochondrial Donation, Genetic Testing, and Data Privacy.
Publications
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Journal Article: From lived experience to lived expertise: how donor-conceived witnesses claim and sustain epistemic authority
Newton, Giselle, Zappavigna, Michele, Drysdale, Kerryn and Newman, Christy (2024). From lived experience to lived expertise: how donor-conceived witnesses claim and sustain epistemic authority. Journal of Pragmatics, 221, 89-104. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2023.12.006
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Journal Article: Embodied sociotechnical imaginaries: how donor-conceived people imagine identity, family and reprodigital futures beyond regulation
Newton, Giselle, Drysdale, Kerryn and Newman, Christy E. (2024). Embodied sociotechnical imaginaries: how donor-conceived people imagine identity, family and reprodigital futures beyond regulation. Frontiers in Global Women's Health, 4 1221913, 1221913. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2023.1221913
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Book Chapter: On familial haunting: donor-conceived people’s experiences of living with anonymity and absence
Newton, Giselle (2023). On familial haunting: donor-conceived people’s experiences of living with anonymity and absence. Donor-linked families in the digital age: relatedness and regulation. (pp. 154-173) Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009008129.012
Grants
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(2024) Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education Limited
Publications
Book Chapter
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On familial haunting: donor-conceived people’s experiences of living with anonymity and absence
Newton, Giselle (2023). On familial haunting: donor-conceived people’s experiences of living with anonymity and absence. Donor-linked families in the digital age: relatedness and regulation. (pp. 154-173) Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009008129.012
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Doing reflexivity in research on donor conception: examining moments of bonding and becoming
Newton, Giselle (2022). Doing reflexivity in research on donor conception: examining moments of bonding and becoming. Reproductive citizenship: technologies, rights and relationships. (pp. 279-301) edited by Rhonda M. Shaw. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-9451-6_12
Journal Article
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Newton, Giselle, Zappavigna, Michele, Drysdale, Kerryn and Newman, Christy (2024). From lived experience to lived expertise: how donor-conceived witnesses claim and sustain epistemic authority. Journal of Pragmatics, 221, 89-104. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2023.12.006
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Newton, Giselle, Drysdale, Kerryn and Newman, Christy E. (2024). Embodied sociotechnical imaginaries: how donor-conceived people imagine identity, family and reprodigital futures beyond regulation. Frontiers in Global Women's Health, 4 1221913, 1221913. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2023.1221913
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The incurable self: Negotiating social bonds and dis/connection with metastatic breast cancer
Lewis, Sophie, Newton, Giselle, Kenny, Katherine and Boyle, Frances (2023). The incurable self: Negotiating social bonds and dis/connection with metastatic breast cancer. Sociology of Health and Illness, 46 (2), 295-314. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13704
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Situated Talk: A method for a reflexive encounter with #donorconceived on TikTok
Newton, Giselle and Southerton, Clare (2023). Situated Talk: A method for a reflexive encounter with #donorconceived on TikTok. Media International Australia, 186 (1) ARTN 1329878X211064646, 66-80. doi: 10.1177/1329878x211064646
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Newton, Giselle, Drysdale, Kerryn, Zappavigna, Michele and Newman, Christy E. (2023). Truth, proof, sleuth: trust in direct-to-consumer DNA testing and other sources of identity information among Australian donor-conceived people. Sociology, 57 (1), 36-53. doi: 10.1177/00380385221091184
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(How) Will it end? A qualitative analysis of free-text survey data on informal care endings
Kirby, Emma, Newton, Giselle, Hofstätter, Lukas, Judd-Lam, Sarah, Strnadová, Iva and Newman, Christy E. (2022). (How) Will it end? A qualitative analysis of free-text survey data on informal care endings. International Journal of Care and Caring, 6 (4), 604-620. doi: 10.1332/239788221x16357694113165
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More than humor: Memes as bonding icons for belonging in donor-conceived people
Newton, Giselle, Zappavigna, Michele, Drysdale, Kerryn and Newman, Christy E. (2022). More than humor: Memes as bonding icons for belonging in donor-conceived people. Social Media and Society, 8 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.1177/20563051211069055
Other Outputs
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Curtis, Caitlin, Hereward, James and Newton, Giselle (2023). Submission to the Australian Government: Attorney-General’s Department review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) - genetic and genomic data. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland and the Australian Government: Attorney-General’s Department.
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Newton, Giselle , Macmillan, Caitlin and Gelber, Katharine (2023, 03 08). Qld agrees to allow donor-conceived people the right to know the identity of their donor. Here’s why it’s important The Conversation
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Newton, Giselle (2022). Everyday belongings: Exploring Australian donor-conceived adults’ social, linguistic and digital practices across private and public domains. PhD Thesis, CSRH, UNSW.
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Donor-conceived adults are speaking out about their experiences, but will governments listen?
Newton, Giselle (2022, 06 14). Donor-conceived adults are speaking out about their experiences, but will governments listen? The Power to Persuade
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Australians are discovering they are donor-conceived via direct-to-consumer DNA testing
Gray, Rachel and Newton, Giselle (2020, 07 17). Australians are discovering they are donor-conceived via direct-to-consumer DNA testing UNSW Sydney Newsroom
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Donor-conceived people lobby UN for access to their genetic heritage
Gray, Rachel and Newton, Giselle (2020, 01 20). Donor-conceived people lobby UN for access to their genetic heritage UNSW Sydney Newsroom
Grants (Administered at UQ)
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(2024) Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education Limited
