Mrs Karen Van Lonkhuyzen

Karen van Lonkhuyzen is a sociologist currently employed in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Science as a causal academic staff member. Karen works in various teaching roles across a range of social science subjects, a pursuit she enjoys fully as someone whose first passion is for teaching.

Karen began her professional journey with a Bachelor of Arts from Griffith University in 2005. Since then, she has earned a Master of Arts in Youth and Religion from the Sydney College of Divinity before deciding to pursue a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Religion here at The University of Newcastle.  

Karen’s Ph.D. research is a culmination of her career interests in youth education and theology, with her dissertation examining youth engagement with Protestant churches in Australia. Her research is utilizing a constructivist methodology to examine the trends in youth engagement with these churches and the reasons behind it. This is a topic on which Karen has already published one paper that was presented at the International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry Conference in Atlanta in 2022. She also had a paper published and presented at the 2009 International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry Conference in Pretoria, which focused on how critical literacy education in ages 13-18 affected students’ reception of the Gospel message.

Karen has spent time working in the public, private, and non-profit sectors in Australia. While Karen has knowledge of a range of topics across the social sciences, after completing her Ph.D., she plans to continue to work in academia and to continue her research on the sociology of religion with a focus on youth.

Memberships:

International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry (IASYM)

Australian Association for the Study of Religion (AASR)

Current Positions:

Women's Caucus Representative (2024) - Australian Association for the Study of Religion

School HDR Representative (2024) - The University of Newcastle