Contact Details

Phone:

08 8946 6824

Fax:

08 8946 6540

Email:

david.mearns@cdu.edu.au

Location:

Orange 6.3

Academic Qualifications

BA (Hons), University of Manchester
PG Cert Ed, University of Southampton
PG Dip Adv Studies (Anthropology), University of Manchester
MA(Econ), Manchester University
PhD, University of Adelaide

Biography / Summary

David became irrevocably interested in other cultures during a year spent as a volunteer lecturer in English Language and Literature in what is now Sri Lanka. He converted to Anthropology as a result.

David's research began in Malaysia where he worked on Social Identity and Religion amongst the Indian population. This resulted in his monograph Siva's Other Children and another co-edited volume Society from the Inside Out with John Gray.

David then began working in Ambon in Eastern Indonesia and produced Remaking Maluku with his colleague Chris Healey. David has also published on ethnic identity and conflict in Indonesia and more generally.

David spent time as a consultant in East Timor and as Manager of the Northern Land Council Anthropology Branch and so has experience in Applied Anthropology and Indigenous Affairs as well as Asian Ethnography.

Recently David has been working on issues surrounding governance in East Timor with his colleagues, Dennis Shoesmith and Steven Farram.