BIO

Background and current position

I did my undergraduate degree at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and was a University Medalist there. I then also did my PhD at UNSW and taught there, and later at the University of Wollongong. In 2003, I took a position at the Australian National University in Canberra. I was a Fulbright scholar at Texas A&M University at Kingsville in 2006.

Between 2007 and 2016, I was Director of Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies at the Australian National University.

I am now Emeritus Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University.

Teaching Awards

In 2008, I won the ANU Students’ Association Award for Excellence in Teaching.

This was an award in which students across the entire university voted for the teacher they most valued. I then won a national teaching award, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Teaching in 2009. This was followed by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2010.

In 2010, I was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian University Teacher of the Year - the major award for teaching in Australia. Only one such award is made each year, and winners of these national awards can win them only once in their lifetimes.

In 2011, I won the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Education at the ANU. In 2017 I was appointed to the position of ANU Distinguished Educator for a five year period.

In 2019, I won the Dean's Commendation for Innovation in Teaching and Learning.

Throughout my career I have taught approximately 25 different courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. At the ANU my most recent courses have been:

Issues in International Political Economy
Development and Change
Latin America: Conquest and Colonisation

Research Interests

I have published on a range of issues including :

the phenomenon of so-called “miracle economies”
the labour movements in South Korea and Taiwan
keeping oil in the ground in the Ecuadorian Amazon
the politics of development
refugee politics in Australia
social movement politics