Our Alumni (old and new)

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A PhD from the Department of Political and Social Change at the ANU can provide the basis for a career in academe, public service, diplomatic service, development assistance, and other fields. Here is a sample of some of our alumni:

Edward Aspinall

Before completing his PhD, Edward Aspinall was in 1997 employed as a lecturer in Indonesian language and studies at the University of New South Wales. After completing his PhD in 2000 he returned briefly to the Department of Political and Social Change as a Research Fellow, where he revised his dissertation as a book manuscript. It was published by Stanford University Press in 2005 as Opposing Suharto: Compromise Resistance and Regime Change in Indonesia. A period as a lecturer in Southeast Asian studies and history at the University of Sydney followed. In 2005 he returned, for a third time, to the Department of Political and Social Change where he is now a Senior Fellow. Over recent years his research has focused on the separatist conflict and peace process in Aceh. Coordinating the editing ofInside Indonesia magazine also keeps him busy. Additionally he has plans to conduct more comparative research across Southeast Asia. Edward may be contacted via email: edward.aspinall@anu.edu.au

Beverley Blaskett

In the late 1980s Beverley undertook research in the Department of Political and Social Change on the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia relationship, culminating in her thesis 'Papua New Guinea-Indonesia relations: a new perspective on the border conflict'. After completing her PhD (conferred in 1991), she worked in some NGOs and went on to complete a Bachelor of Social Work at University of Melbourne. She taught at University of Melbourne for a while, worked at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, taught at Victoria University of Technology, worked as a social worker at SIDSvictoria and then moved on to the University of Ballarat in 2000. At Ballarat, Beverley has been employed as a lecturer in the School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities where she teaches in the fields of social inquiry, indigenous history, rural social welfare, social science research methods and insurgency in the Pacific and South East Asia. She also co-ordinates a bridging program for disadvantaged and mature aged students seeking to gain entry to higher education. Beverley's email is: b.blaskett@ballarat.edu.au

Nankyung Choi

After completing her PhD in 2004, Nankyung Choi returned briefly to Korea and spent 8 months as a research fellow at the Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University, in Seoul. In early 2005, she moved to Singapore and took a research fellow position at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (now known as S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies), Nanyang Technological University. In late 2007, she moved to Hong Kong, where she is now a research fellow at the Southeast Asia Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong. Her research has focused on political parties, decentralisation and local elections in Indonesia. She is now writing a book on direct elections for local government heads and plans to do more comparative research across the region. Nankyung may be contacted via email: nan.choi@cityu.edu.hk

Trung Dinh Dang

Before undertaking his PhD in the Department of Political and Social Change on 'Agrarian reform in Southern Vietnam from 1975 to the late 1980s: from small to large scale farming and back again' in 2004 (conferred in 2007), Trung Dinh Dang was a lecturer in Development Economics at the Department of Economics and Business Administration, Tay Nguyen University in Vietnam. He is currently working with Dr Sango Mahanty in the Resource Management in Asia and the Pacific Program, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University in the Australian Development Research Award project of Crafting sustainability: addressing water pollution in Vietnam's craft villages. Over recent years, his research has focused on poverty and environmental issues, land reform and politics. Trung may be contacted via email: trungnus2002@yahoo.co.uk

Anne Dickson-Waiko

Anne Dickson-Waiko is a senior lecturer in History and Gender Studies at the University of Papua New Guinea. She teaches a selection of courses on Southeast and East Asian History as well Gender Studies and Papua New Guinean Political History. She identifies herself as a gender specialist and a political historian. After completing her doctoral thesis on the women's movement in the Philippines with the Department of Political and Social Change she now concentrates on academic applied research on women, gender and HIV in Papua New Guinea. She contributes regularly to public policy development workshops in all three areas whenever she can. Anne can be contacted on: Anne.D.Waiko@upng.ac.pg

Rory Ewins

Rory Ewins began his PhD studies in the Department of Political and Social Change in 1991 and graduated in 1996. The following year he was a Research Scholar at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, where he turned his doctoral thesis into the book Changing Their Minds: Tradition and Politics in Contemporary Fiji and Tonga (1998). Through the late 1990s Rory worked in various teaching and research capacities for the Political Science department at The Australian National University, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the former School of Politics at Australian Defence Force Academy, and the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee. In the latter roles he was involved in the nascent area of online course delivery and IT policy in higher education. In 2001 he moved to the United Kingdom to further these interests, leading eventually to his current role as Lecturer in E-learning and Managing Information at the University of Edinburgh. Among the courses he teaches is a masters course on E-learning, Politics and Society. Whether in relation to the Pacific or the Internet, he remains keenly interested in political and social change. Email: r.ewins@ed.ac.uk

Kumiko Hamayotsu

From July 2003-June 2006 Kumiko worked at the Embassy of Japan in Jakarta as a researcher/advisor. Following her assignment at the Embassy of Japan, from July 2006 to September 2007, she took up a position as advisor for Gwinnett Investments Ltd. (an Indonesian oil company). Her next assignment was from October 2007-March 2008, with PT. Sunrise Solution (Japanese management consulting company). In July 2008, she moved to Shinseikomu Co.Ltd. (Construction company, overseas operations division), Nagoya. In May 2009 she moved to a director's position in PT. Syntec Globe (a new company set up by Shinesikomu) based in Jakarta. Kumiko can be contacted on email: kumiko@attglobal.net

Russell Heng

After achieving his PhD in the Department of Political and Social Change in 2000, Russell Heng Hiang Khng returned to his work at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) where he was Senior Fellow and coordinated the Institute's Regional Social and Cultural Studies programme. At the end of 2007, he left ISEAS to pursue his own research interest in the development of civil society in Singapore. Outside academe, Heng is an activist in the areas of gay rights and migrant workers' welfare. He can be contacted at russell@iseas.edu.sg or hhkhng@yahoo.com.sg

Natalie Hicks

Since 2005 Natalie has continued working in the field of development in Asia. Her most recent posts include Country Director of a Conflict Transformation INGO in Nepal. Currently she is based in Bangkok and is the Deputy Regional Director of Asia for CARE which is a global humanitarian and development INGO. Natalie's email address is nataliehicks@fastmail.fm

Jun Honna

Jun Honna graduated from the Department of Political and Social Change in 1999. He is now Associate Professor in the Faculty of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University, Japan. His research focuses on politics in Indonesia and non-traditional security issues in Southeast Asia. His recent publications include Military Politics and Democratization in Indonesia, London/New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003; and 'The Dilemma of Transnational Crime and Human Insecurity in Southeast Asia,' in Giorgio Shani et al eds, Protecting Human Security in a Post-9/11 World: Critical and Global Insights, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Jun's email is: jht20016@ir.ritsumei.ac.jp

Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka

In 2001 Tarcisius completed his thesis 'Paths in the Jungle: Landowners and the struggle for control of Solomon Islands' logging industry'. After finishing his PhD he worked as a fellow at the East-West Center's Pacific Islands Development Program. In January 2009, he joined the Center for Pacific Island Studies as an Associate Professor in Pacific Island studies. Tarcisius's research interests focus on governance, development, natural resources development, conflict, post-conflict development, international intervention, peace-making, Australian foreign policy, and political developments in Melanesia in general, and Solomon Islands in particular. He has written extensively on Solomon Islands civil unrest and the Australian-led regional intervention. He is the co-editor (with Greg Fry) of Intervention and State-building in the Pacific: the Legitimacy of 'Cooperative Intervention' (Manchester University Press, 2008). Tarcisius's email: tkabutau@hawaii.edu

Andrew MacIntyre

Andrew MacIntyre undertook his PhD on 'Politics, Policy and Participation: business-government relations in Indonesia' in 1985 and had it conferred in 1989. Since then he has served as a consultant to government institutions and companies in Australia, the United States and China as well as international agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the ASEAN Secretariat. He was professor of politics, University of California, San Diego, prior to his appointment at The Australian National University. He is currently Professor of Political Science, Director Crawford School of Economics and Governance, and Dean, College of Asia and the Pacific. Email: Andrew.Macintyre@anu.edu.au

Marzuki Mohamad

Marzuki completed his PhD in December 2007; the title of his thesis is 'Communalism, Law and State Power: The limits of political change in Malaysia'. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, International Islamic University Malaysia. Marzuki teaches undergraduate courses on law and government and Southeast Asian politics. His main research interests are electoral politics, ethnic politics and political Islam. Marzuki also serves as a research consultant at Merdeka Center for Opinion Research, a Kuala Lumpur-based independent pollster. Apart from his academic work, Marzuki is an active member of Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM). He currently sits on ABIM's Central Executive Committee as Head of Research. Marzuki occasionally writes commentaries on politics and current issues in his blog http://marzukimohamad.blogspot.com. He can be contacted via email: marzukimohd@yahoo.com

Nielson Mersat

Nielson has been head of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University Malaysia Sarawak since July 2007. Dr Mersat teaches several faculty courses which are related to his area of specialisation: politics and international relations. Also he has conducted extensive research on democracy and electoral politics in Malaysia. His current research is on democratisation among the longhouse communities at the grassroots whereby he looks at how the local people approach politics. He is currently doing research on indigenous knowledge in Sarawak. He is also a consultant for a study on the appointment of community leaders for Sarawak State government. Dr Mersat's recent publications are, 'Sarawak Politics 2006: A wake-up call and withering Dayakism' and 'Sarawak State Election 2006' were published in Asian Analysis Newsletter in November 2006 and March 2006 respectively. To contact Dr Mersat, email: mnilan@fss.unimas.my

Marcus Mietzner

After completing his PhD in the Department of Political and Social Change in 2005, Marcus continued working full-time on a USAID-funded project in Jakarta until early 2007. In order to return to academia, he accepted research fellowships at the Indonesian Institute in Jakarta and KITLV in Leiden/Netherlands in 2007 and 2008 respectively. A number of publications resulted from these fellowships, which allowed him to apply for a vacant teaching position at The Australian National University's Faculty of Asian Studies. Marcus was selected for that position, and began teaching in July 2008. His current position at the Faculty is Lecturer in Indonesian Studies. Marcus's most recent publications are a monograph with Edward Aspinall 'From Silkworms to Bungled Bailout: International Influences on the 1998 Regime Change in Indonesia', CDDRL Working Paper, Stanford University, 2008; and his book Military Politics, Islam, and the State in Indonesia: From Turbulent Transition to Democratic Consolidation, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. He can be reached at Marcus.Mietzner@anu.edu.au

John Nation

After finishing PhD studies in 1982 (graduating in 1984) John Nation worked for ten years with AusAID. This included three years on posting in Indonesia and three years on LWOP as Senior Adviser to the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. From 1993 until its abolition in 1995 John was CEO of the Latrobe Regional Commission in Victoria. In 1995 he moved to the Roads Corporation of Victoria (VICROADS) where he was General Manager of Registration and Licensing. In 1996, he moved back to Canberra as Chief of Staff to Senator Amanda Vanstone, the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. This was followed by the portfolios of Justice and Customs, Family and Community Services and then Immigration and Indigenous Affairs. Since 2007 he has enjoyed retirement, worked as a consultant and renewed his interest in the Pacific. He may be contacted on +61419217913 and johnnation@grapevine.com.au

Morten B. Pedersen

While preparing his PhD, Morten Pedersen spent six years in Burma (2000-2005) working with the International Crisis Group, the UN Country Team and the World Bank. Having completed his thesis, he returned to the Department of Political and Social Change for six months in 2006 as a Visiting Fellow to prepare a book manuscript Promoting Human Rights in Burma: A Critique of Western Sanctions Policy (Rowman & Littelfield, 2007). He then joined the United Nations University, Peace and Governance Programme, in Tokyo for two years as a UNU-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Post-Doctoral Fellow. During this period, he worked closely with the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum (New York) and the Martti Ahtisaari Rapid Reaction Facility (Helsinki), as well as continuing his work with the International Crisis Group. In December 2008, he returned for the second time to The Australian National University now as a Research Fellow with the Centre for International Governance and Justice, Regulatory Institutions Network. His current research focuses on international strategies for promoting human rights, with a particular focus on 'principled engagement' with authoritarian regimes. He also continues to write and consult on Burmese politics and development affairs. Morten may be contacted via email: don.porter@optusnet.com.au

Ropate Rakuita Qalo

Ropate is a lecturer in modern social theory; sociology of public policy; and issues in social and public policy and social development at the University of the South Pacific. He continues his research on rural development; urbanisation; local government in the South Pacific; indigenous land and sea issues; decentralisation in the South Pacific; Fijian education and small business. He has been consulting on cooperatives in Fiji, South Pacific local governments, Fijian education, Fijian small businesses and revitalising traditional district economies. His latest publication is Na Vakasamataki Ni Vakasama in the Fijian vernacular or Thinking About Thinking, facilitated by the University of the South Pacific and The Fijian Affairs Board, 2008. Email: qalo_r@usp.ac.fj

Nathan Gilbert Quimpo

Nathan Gilbert Quimpo is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Tsukuba. A long-time political activist in the Philippines, Quimpo took up a Masters in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After teaching political science and sociology at the University of the Philippines, Quimpo finished his PhD in political science and international relations at The Australian National University. Before coming to Tsukuba, Quimpo was a lecturer in international relations at the University of Amsterdam. He has authored Contested Democracy and the Left in the Philippines after Marcos Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 2008, and co-edited The U.S., the War on Terror and the Philippines, Anvil Press, 2008. His research and teaching interests include: democracy and democratisation; conflict and peace studies; Southeast Asian politics; ethnicity and nationalism; political corruption; civil society; and political and social movements. Email: quimpo@dpipe.tsukuba.ac.jp

Benjamin Reilly

Benjamin is Director of the Centre for Democratic Institutions and Professor of Political Science in the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the The Australian National University. He is the author of six books and over 60 journal articles and book chapters on issues of democratisation, constitutional reform, party politics, electoral system design and conflict management, and has advised governments and international organisations on these subjects. His latest book is a study of democratisation and political reform in the Asia-Pacific region, Democracy and Diversity: Political Engineering in the Asia-Pacific, Oxford University Press, 2006. Email: Ben.Reilly@anu.edu.au

Peter Searle

Peter has held several academic positions since completing his PhD in 1995 on rent-seeking and capitalism in Malaysia. From 1995 to 1998 he was lecturer at the Australian Defence Force Academy. During that time most of his teaching focused on the study of Indonesian politics and, more broadly, the Politics of Southeast Asia and Security Issues in the Asia-Pacific region. From 1999 to 2005, Peter moved to the University of Newcastle. During that period he helped establish the study of politics at the Central Coast Campus of the university. More specifically he introduced studies of Australian politics and foreign policy; Southeast Asian politics; government-business relations in the Asia-Pacific and the study of terrorism and failing states. Since 2007 he has been a co-joint lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Arts at the Central Coast Campus of the University. He contributes to a lecture series on contemporary Islam for the College of Asia-Pacific Diplomacy at The Australian National University. Besides Politics in Sarawak, Oxford University Press, 1983 the PhD thesis was published, The Riddle of Malaysian Capitalism: Rent- seekers or Real Capitalists? Sydney and Honolulu: Allen and Unwin and University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Email: peterwsearle@bigpond.com

Shannon Smith

Shannon Smith has been the Counsellor (Education) at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta since March 2005. Previously he was the Director of the Ministerial Briefings Unit, which provided strategic policy advice and support to the ministers and senior executive in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. He has an educational and employment background in public policy, political economy and international relations. He recently established the fast-growing Australian alumni network (OzMate) and created an annual Australian Alumni Awards scheme in Indonesia. His recent publications include: 'Towards Diplomatic Representation' in David Goldsworthy (ed.) Facing North: A Century of Australia's Engagement with Asia - Volume 1, 1901 to the 1970s, Melbourne University Press & Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2001. And co-editing Indonesia Today: Challenges of History Singapore and USA: ISEAS and Rowman & Littlefield, 2001. Shannon's email contact: shannon.smith@aei.gov.au

Taufiq Tanasaldy

Taufiq completed his PhD in April 2008 on 'Regional Ethnic Politics and National Political Transitions: the Dayaks of West Kalimantan'. Since completing his PhD Taufiq has been a visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales at Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, during which appointment he is converting his thesis into a book for external publication, as well as finalising two articles on ethnic politics and conflict, entitled 'Ethnic geography in conflicts: the case of ethnic conflicts in West Kalimantan, Indonesia', and 'The rise of political interests of the Indonesian Chinese after Reformasi: the West Kalimantan case study'. His contact email is taufiq.tanasaldy@gmail.com

Wendy Timms

On completion of her PhD in 1997, Wendy worked at Curtin University of Technology in the positions of Academic Coordinator Indigenous Postgraduate Program and Academic Coordinator Indigenous Studies Program. Wendy was responsible for the development and implementation of post-graduate fee-paying courses in Indigenous Studies and the supervision of a number of indigenous students enrolled in Masters and Doctoral programs. In 2000 Wendy moved to Victoria and commenced work at the Victorian Department of Education and Training, where she has managed a number of areas in the vocational education and training portfolio including e-learning, system improvement and policy coordination. Since 2005 Wendy has worked as an executive responsible for labour market analysis, reporting and evaluation and statistical analysis. Wendy's email contact: wendy.timms@diird.vic.gov.au