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SupervisorsStaff of the Globalism Research Centre supervise a number of postgraduate students in various academic programs. Staff and their research interests and expertise are listed below.
Damian GrenfellResearch Program Manager (Sources of Insecurity) Recent research: social conflict in East Timor, Aceh and Thailand; violence; nationalism; social movements; globalization; global protest movements. The common basis of Damian Grenfell's research is driven by an interest in insurrection, resistance and dissent. In my PhD—'The State and Protest in Contemporary Australia: From Vietnam to S11'—he examined a series of major campaigns over the last forty years in Australia and argued that, notwithstanding both significant continuities and changes, expressions of dissent in Australia have continuously been unable to transform broader social structures despite an often implicit ambition to do so. In recent years, the national focus of this research has been extended so as to consider formations of global resistance, from anti-corporate politics to the development of the World Social Forum. The interest in social movements and resistance politics has provided an impetus for research into forms of nationalist insurrection and post-conflict reconstruction, especially in terms of how we understand the nation-state in a period of intense globalisation. The RMIT-based project Sources of Insecurity provides the basis for this research, with East Timor the major research focus.
Kim HumpheryAssociate Dean (Research and Innovation), Design and Social Context Portfolio Recent research: histories, practices and theories of consumption, particularly in Australia; the history and ethics of 'Western' and cross-cultural research practices in Australia; the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and health interventions. Kim Humphery has studied politics, social theory and history at the Universities of Melbourne, Cambridge and Essex. He has taught social and cultural theory at Melbourne and Monash Universities and Australian politics and society at La Trobe University. He has also worked as a qualitative social researcher at King's College London and at La Trobe University in the areas of ageing and HIV/AIDS respectively. Between 1996 and 2002 he worked as a senior researcher on the socio-cultural aspects of Indigenous health in both the Northern Territory and Victoria, and this work culminated in the publication of Forgetting Compliance: Aboriginal Health and Medical Culture (NTU Press 2001). Over the last five years he has also consolidated his historical and theoretical work on consumption, particularly through the publication of his book Shelf Life: Supermarkets and the Changing Cultures of Consumption (CUP 1998). Associate Professor is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of History and an Honorary Senior Fellow with the Centre for the Study of Health and Society, at the University of Melbourne. In 1998 his book Shelf Life was awarded a 'Special Mention' in the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies National Awards and in 2000 received a 'High Commendation' in the Australian Historical Society W.K.Hancock Award.
Paul JamesAcademic Director, Globalism Research Centre Recent research: theories of nationalism and globalism; political violence in places of upheaval; transnational movement and cultural identity; theories of social formation including tribalism, traditionalism, modernism and postmodernism. Paul James is Director of the Globalism Research Centre (RMIT), an editor of Arena Journal, and on the Council of the Institute of Postcolonial Studies. He has received a number of awards including the Japan-Australia Foundation Fellowship, an Australian Research Council Fellowship, and the Crisp Medal by the Australasian Political Studies Association for the best book in the field of political studies. Invitations have been received to deliver addresses in twenty different countries including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel-Palestine, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Taiwan and the United States. He is author or editor of fourteen books, including Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community (Sage, 1996). His book with Tom Nairn, Global Matrix: Nationalism, Globalism and State-Terror, has just been published by Pluto Press, and Globalism, Nationalism Tribalism: Bringing Theory Back In was published by Sage Publications in 2006.
Martin MulliganDeputy Director, Globalism Research Centre Recent research: sense of place and community well-being in particular Victorian communities; community development strategies in Papua New Guinea; the recovery of local communities in post-tsunami Sri Lanka; strategies for nature conservation in the post-colonial era; rethinking attitudes to water in Australia and internationally; social history of ecological thought and action. Before joining the Globalism Research Centre in 2004, Martin Mulligan worked for ten years in the innovative Social Ecology program at the University of Western Sydney where he developed new courses in areas related to ecological thinking and environmental education. During this time he conducted the research for a book titled Ecological Pioneers: A Social History of Australian Ecological Thought and Action co-authored with Prof. Stuart Hill and published by Cambridge University Press (2001). This book was nominated for both the NSW Premier's Prize for history writing and the Queensland Premier's Prize for history writing. With Professor William Adams of Cambridge University, he collected and edited a volume of writings published under the title Decolonizing Nature: Strategies for Conservation in a Post-Colonial Era by Earthscan (London, 2003). Dr Mulligan is interested in ways of deepening discourses on sustainability through the promotion of 'ecological literacy' and in exploring how a deeper 'sense of place' can bring together concerns for the environmental and social sustainability of local communities. In particular, he is interested in how Australians might rethink their attitudes to water, by 're-immersing' themselves in the hydrological cycle. Ecological Pioneers was dedicated to the memory of the great Australian poet and conservationist Judith Wright, who died just before it was published, and Dr Mulligan subsequently worked for more than three years to organize a festival that would celebrate and extend her legacy. Held in March 2005, the Two Fires Festival of Arts and Activism attracted around 1,000 participants and it featured an impressive list of leading Australian writers, musicians, film-makers, activists and scholars. More than 20 of these prominent people are contributing to a book that will explore Judith Wright's legacy on the interplay between art and activism (currently under consideration by Cambridge University Press). Dr Mulligan also has a long-term association with Sri Lanka and he is working on a proposal for a collaboration with researchers at Ruhuna University in southern Sri Lanka on how local communities are recovering from the devastating impacts of the tsunami.
Yaso NadarajahSenior Research Fellow Recent research: practices that mediate between the two phenomena of 'globalization' and 'localization'; community well-being; practices of engagement and differences, particularly as this relates to modes of knowledge and learning and identity formation; social justice and citizenship. Yaso Nadarajah was born in Malaysia and educated at Madras University, India and Melbourne University, Australia. Her work has been in conceptualizing and establishing educational and intercultural training programs in Malaysia and Australia since 1996. This work has focused on establishing cultural programs that engage different communities with RMIT with a particular focus on local global partnerships and cross-cultural learning. Dr Nadarajah's research has extended on her work, focusing now on the complex interactions between issues of identity, processes of globalization and community sustainability particularly across the Asia Pacific region. She is now currently working on the Local-Global research program, and project managing research sites situated through the cities of Chennai (including tribal Kolli Hills and indigenous Namakkal district) Kuala Lumpur (including Penang) and rural Hamilton city, as well as the Helen & Geoff Handbury Fellowship program. Her work is situated to understand more thoroughly the processes of community sustainability, especially through reciprocal connections with communities regionally and globally, with a particular focus on community engaged research, and the nature and impetus of creative transformative community spaces. Dr Nadarajah is also an editor of the Local-Global:Identity, Security, Community journal, on the Board of Governors, Centurion School of Rural Enterprise Management, Parlakhemundi, Orissa, India; co-ordinator of the Helen & Geoff Handbury Community Fellowships Trust; and a member of the Committee for Melbourne Future Focus Group Alumnus.
Tom NairnInnovation Professor of Nationalism and Cultural Diversity Recent research: nationalism and internationalism; genocide and national violence; the break-up of Britain and the Scottish parliament; and the United Kingdom under Tony Blair. His books include Faces of Nationalism: Janus Revisited (1997); After Britain: New Labour and the Return of Scotland (2000); Pariah: Misfortunes of the British Kingdom (2002); and Global Matrix: Nationalism, Globalization and State-Terrorism (2005 with Paul James). Tom Nairn 's contribution to studies of nationalism is difficult to overstate. Writing in the London Review of Books, Neal Ascherson stated that Nairn has been 'for twenty years the dominant political philosopher of his country, and an influence on the ideas of the post-1968 generation all over Western Europe'. Professor Nairn is widely known for developing in the early 1960s what would later be named the Nairn-Anderson thesis on British decline, which is much-cited and commented upon, and has had a definitive influence upon studies of nationalism and politics in Britain and beyond. He is one of the four most widely cited authorities on nationalism in the world today, along with Benedict Anderson, Anthony Smith and the late Ernest Gellner. His influential book The Break-up of Britain (1977) gained much attention for its prediction of the unsustainability of the United Kingdom state and its probable fragmentation into a number of different republics. This text has been central reference for the growing field of nationalism studies and is used in hundreds of university courses across the world. Where The Break-up of Britain refocused studies of nationalism and uneven development, Faces of Nationalism: Janus Revisited (1998) established the field of argument that civic and secular nationalism is a key feature of modernity and not an archaic reaction against it. It is part of his general contribution to fundamentally rethinking the place of 'nationalism from below'. His much acclaimed book After Britain (2000) continued the argument of The Break-up of Britain, concentrating especially on Scotland and devolutionary politics, along with the structural tensions within Blairism. Through his analytical and translating work, he is credited, together with Perry Anderson, with introducing Antonio Gramsci's work to Anglophone culture, especially the notion of 'hegemony', which has had a major influence on the field of political and cultural studies since.
Heikki PatomakiInnovation Professor of Globalization and Global Institutions Recent research: critical realism as a philosophy of social sciences; overcoming theories of International Relations; theories and issues of peace research and global political economy; and global democratization. Heikki Patomäki is also a Professor of International Relations at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Until 2003, he was a Professor of World Politics and Economy at the Nottingham Trent University, UK. In addition, he is the Research Director of NIGD, the Network Institute for Global Democratisation and the Vice Director of the Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research at the University of Helsinki His publications comprise nine monographs, many edited volumes, more than 100 academic papers, and numerous popular articles. His recent books include DemocratisingGlobalisation: The Leverage of the Tobin Tax (Zed Books, 2001); After International Relations: Critical Realism and the (Re)Construction of World Politics (Routledge, 2002); and with T.Teivainen, A Possible World: Democratic Transformation of Global Institutions (Zed Books, 2004). He is also the co-author of the Draft Treaty on Global Currency Transaction Tax. His most recent book in English is Political Economy of Global Security. Future Crises and Changes of Global Governance (Routledge, 2007).
Peter PhippsResearcher Recent research: currently completing a PhD on the cultural politics of postcolonial theory and engaged in research on questions of community sustainability. Other research interests include: the history of theory in anthropology; tourism; transnational religious movements; Indigenous-settler relations in Australia. Peter Phipps is a key member of the research team that established the Institute. He is the Honours Program Co-ordinator and a lecturer in the BA International Studies Program, responsible for co-ordination and delivery of four courses and supervision of a number of honours theses. He is currently completing a PhD on the cultural politics of postcolonial theory and is engaged in research on questions of community sustainability. Other research interests include the history of theory in anthropology, global tourism, transnational religious movements and Indigenous-settler relations in Australia. He has co-ordinated twelve local and international conferences and forums, including the annual Garma Forum of Indigenous Knowledge in Arnhem Land (Northern Territory, Australia). His essay 'Tourism and Terrorism: An Intimate Equivalence' was updated as a 'classic essay in the anthropology of tourism' in Sharon Gmelch, ed., Tourists and Tourism: A Reader, Waveland Press, Illinois, 2004, pp. 71-90.
Helen SmithSenior Research Fellow Recent research: Helen Smith joined the Globalism Research Centre in 2005. She was previously Associate Dean, Planning & Innovation in the former Faculty of Education, Language and Community Services, RMIT University, having joined RMIT after a period in senior management in the Victorian government. She recently completed her PhD 'From Technical Education to Workplace Training: Emergence of the Australian National Training Package'.
Manfred B. StegerDirector, Globalism Research Centre Recent research: globalization; ideology and non-violence in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Manfred B. Steger is Director of the Globalism Research Centre and Professor of Global Studies at RMIT University. In addition, he is Senior Research Fellow at the Globalization Research Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and an affiliated faculty member with the Department of Political Science at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. He has delivered many lectures on globalization, ideology, and non-violence in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. Comprised of fourteen books, dozens of articles and book chapters, and numerous reviews, Professor Steger's academic work has been cited widely in the pertinent literature. His study Globalism: The New Market Ideology (Rowman & Littelfield, 2002) won the 2003 Michael Harrington Award of the New Political Science Section of the American Political Science Association. He has been a consultant on globalization for the U.S. State Department and an advisor on a U.S. Public Television series on the rise and fall of socialism. Favorable reviews of his work have appeared in numerous academic journals including the American Political Science Review and International Affairs. Professor Steger serves on several editorial boards of academic journals as well as on the advisory boards of several globalization research centers around the world. He has been a recipient of research grants from many institutions, including the U.S. National Endowment of the Humanities. His latest book project (forthcoming 2008) is Ideology in the Global Age: Transforming the National Imaginary (under contract with Oxford University Press).
Christopher ZigurasSenior Research Fellow Recent research: globalization and higher education; regulation of international education; teaching and learning in international education; World Trade Organization and services; the internationalization of publishing; sociology of health. Since joining RMIT in 2001, Christopher Ziguras has had a range of roles including Deputy Director of the Globalism Research Centre (2002-03), Head of the School of International and Community Studies (2004-05) and Higher Degrees by Research Coordinator (2003-06). His current research focuses on globalization and higher education policy and in particular the growth of transnational programs and campuses. His writings include Self-Care: Embodiment, Personal Autonomy and the Shaping of Health Consciousness (2004) and Transnational Education: Issues and Trends in Offshore Higher Education (with Grant McBurnie). |
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