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Professor

Benjamin Isakhan

Professor, International Politics

Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation

Orcid identifier0000-0002-5153-7110
  • Professor, International Politics
    Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
  • +61 3 924 43934 (Work)
  • Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125

BIO

Benjamin Isakhan is Professor of International Politics and Founding Director of Polis, a research network for Political Science and International Relations scholars in the Alfred Deakin Institute at Deakin University, Australia.

Ben is also Adjunct Senior Research Associate, Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and Consulting Scholar at the Penn Cultural Heritage Centre at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.

Ben has held Visiting Research Fellowships at Stanford University, Oxford University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Exeter, University of Chicago, Newcastle University and the American University of Beirut.

Previously, Ben has held Postdoctoral Research Fellowships with the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (Griffith University), the Centre for Dialogue (La Trobe University) and the Alfred Deakin Institute (Deakin University).

Ben is the author of Democracy in Iraq: History, Politics, Discourse (Routledge, 2016) and the editor of 6 books including, The Secret History of Democracy (Palgrave, 2012 - translated into Arabic and Japanese), The Legacy of Iraq: From the 2003 War to the Islamic State (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), and State and Society in Iraq: Citizenship under Occupation, Dictatorship and Democratization (I.B. Tauris, 2019).

Ben has also published over 40 articles in esteemed international journals in the fields of Political Science and International Relations (Political Studies, Contemporary Politics, Cooperation and Conflict), Middle East Studies (Middle East Journal, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Policy) and Heritage Studies (Journal of Social Archaeology, International Journal of Heritage Studies, International Journal of Cultural Policy), among several others.

In addition, Ben has authored over 30 scholarly book chapters and delivered around 150 keynotes lectures, refereed conference papers and seminar presentations including those in prestigious institutions across Iraq, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Lebanon, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. Ben's work has been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Japanese.

Ben has also won various awards and grants, including an Australian Research Council (DECRA) grant for the project 'Measuring the Destruction of Heritage and Spikes of Violence in Iraq', a grant from the Australian Department of Defence for the project 'Measuring Cultural Property Destruction in Iraq and Syria' and an ARC Discovery project 'After Islamic State: Local-State-Global Heritage Dynamics in Syria and Iraq'

 

In both 2021 and 2023, Ben was named Australia’s research field leader in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in The Australian’s annual ‘Research Report’. In 2021, Ben was awarded the Research Leadership and Mentoring Award from the Faculty of Arts and Education, and in 2020 he received a Special Commendation in the Academic Leadership in Political Science Award from the Australian Political Studies Association. In 2016 Ben was Highly Commended in the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Partnerships, and in 2012 Ben was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research: Early Career Researcher.

 

Ben has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Political Science, International Relations and Middle East Studies and he has supervised several PhD students to successful and timely completions. He is a member of various professional and academic associations, and is regularly interviewed in the media.

For more details on Ben's work and a list of publications, see his profiles on Academia, ORCiD, Google Scholar and X.

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CURRENT APPOINTMENT

  • Professor, International Politics
    Deakin University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences

MEDIA

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ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Founding Director
    Deakin University, Polis, Alfred Deakin Institute, Geelong, Australia1 Jan 2016 - present
  • Consulting Scholar
    University of Pennsylvania, Penn Cultural Heritage Centre, Philadelphia, United States1 Jan 2017 - present
  • Adjunct Senior Research Associate
    University of Johannesburg, Department of Politics and International Relations, Johannesburg, South Africa1 Jan 2014 - present
  • Distinguished Visting Scholar
    University of Johannesburg, Department of Politics and International Relations, Johannesburg, South Africa1 Jun 2024 - 30 Jun 2024
  • Visting Research Fellow
    American University of Beirut, Beirut Urban Lab, Department of Architecture and Design, Beirut, Lebanon1 Oct 2022 - 30 Oct 2022
  • Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow
    Stanford University, Stanford Archaeology Centre, Stanford, United States1 Aug 2019 - 30 Aug 2019
  • Visiting Research Fellow
    University of Pennsylvania, Penn Cultural Heritage Centre, Philadelphia, United States1 Sep 2017 - 30 Sep 2017
  • Visiting Research Scholar
    University of Oxford, Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa, Oxford, United Kingdom1 Jul 2016 - 30 Jun 2016
  • Research Associate
    University of Sydney, Sydney Democracy Network, Sydney, Australia1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2020
  • Visiting University Research Fellow
    University of Exeter, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter, United Kingdom1 Jan 2014 - 31 Dec 2014
  • Visiting Research Fellow
    Newcastle University, International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom1 Jul 2013 - 30 Jul 2013
  • Visiting Research Fellow
    University of Chicago, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Chicago, United States1 Aug 2012 - 30 Aug 2012
  • Director
    Deakin University, Middle East Studies Form, Alfred Deakin Institute, Geelong, Australia1 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2016
  • ARC (DECRA) Senior Research Fellow
    Deakin University, Alfred Deakin Institute, Geelong, Australia1 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2015
  • Centre Research Fellow
    Deakin University, Alfred Deakin Institute, Geelong, Australia1 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    La Trobe University, Centre for Dialogue, Melbourne, Australia1 Jan 2010 - 31 Dec 2010
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Griffith University, National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, Brisbane, Australia1 Jan 2009 - 31 Dec 2009
  • Research Associate and Lecturer
    Griffith University, School of Humanities, Brisbane, Australia1 Jan 2004 - 31 Dec 2008

DEGREES

  • Graduate Certificate of Higher Education
    Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2015
  • PhD
    Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia1 Jan 2005 - 30 Apr 2009
  • Hons (1st Class)
    Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia1 Jan 1998 - 31 Dec 1998
  • BA
    Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia1 Jan 1995 - 31 Dec 1997

FIELDS OF RESEARCH (2020)

  • Political science
  • Heritage, archive and museum studies

AVAILABILITY FOR SUPERVISION

  • Masters by Research and PhD supervision

AREA/FACULTY

  • Faculty of Arts and Education

DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL/INSTITUTE

  • School of Humanities and Social Sciences

STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CENTRE

  • Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation

RESEARCH STRENGTHS