Announcements
Order a copy of my latest book, The Secret History of Democracy
"Like" The Secret History of Democracy on Facebook
View a recent interview on the formation of Iraq's Government on SBS World News
Read my latest Opinion Editorial on the Arab Revolutions in The Punch
Read/listen/watch an interview on The Secret History of Democracy in the Journal of Democratic Theory [Pdf Download] [Podcast] Youtube: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]
Watch extracts from a recent presentation on the topic What do Australia's Muslims Really Think?
Professional Biography
Dr Benjamin Isakhan is Research Fellow at the Centre for Citizenship and Globalization, part of the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, Australia. Previously, Ben has been a Research Fellow with the Centre for Dialogue at La Trobe University and a Research Fellow and Lecturer for the Griffith Islamic Research Unit, part of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, Australia. Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology (1997), First Class Honours in Literature and Cultural Studies (1998), and a PhD in Middle East Studies (2009).
In 2009, Ben was awarded his PhD for a thesis entitled Discourses of Democracy: ‘Oriental Despotism’ and the Democratisation of Iraq which received high appraisal from the international and national assessors.This work is currently being re-worked into a book tentatively titled Democracy in Iraq: History, Politics and Discourse (Ashgate, 2011). Ben is also the co-editor of The Secret History of Democracy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and The Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy (Edinburgh University Press, 2012), both with Professor Stephen Stockwell. In addition, Ben has authored several publications including book chapters in Islam and the Australian News Media (Melbourne University Press, 2010). He is also the author of refereed articles in the journals Middle East Policy, International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Global Media Journal, Journal of Sociology, Australian Journalism Review, Media/Culture, Transformations and the Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies. He has presented around 20 refereed conference papers in the United States, Jordan, Australia and New Zealand. Ben has also given guest lectures at The Centre for Middle Eastern Studies and The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago as well as The Middle East Institute at Columbia University (New York) as sponsored by The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII). Broadly, his research interests concern issues such as: Democracy in Iraq, Orientalism and the media, the history of democracy and Middle Eastern politics and history.
In his time as a Research Fellow at Deakin, La Trobe and Griffith University’s, Ben Isakhan has collaborated with colleagues on a number of research projects and publications regarding issues as diverse as: The Politics of Withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq; Who Speaks for Islam?; Obama and the Middle East Peace Process; The History of Democracy; Measuring Islam in Australia; New Media and Higher Order Learning; Creativity, Pedagogy and Democracy; Bullying in Islamic Schools; Theme Parks and Cultural Policy and; Queensland’s Optional Preferential Voting system. At the Centre for Dialogue, Ben was the Editor of the Working Paper Series and the Director of the Seminar Series.
Ben has also taught Great Empires of Islamic Civilization; Culture, Media and Society; Islam, Media and Conflict; Communication Practise; New Communication Technologies; Islam and the Making of Europe; Mass Media: Issues and Controversies; Understanding Islam; New Communication Technologies; Popular Music and Cultural Theory; Effective Writing I and Cultural Perspectives I & II.
Ben has also won various awards and grants and he is a member of a number of professional and academic associations, including the Middle East Studies Association (US); The American Academic Research Intitute in Iraq (US and Iraq); The International Association of Contemporary Iraqi Studies (UK); The Middle East Institute (US); The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (UK); Australasian Political Science Association (APSA); Australia New Zealand Communications Association (ANZCA); Journalism Education Association (JEA); Sydney Democracy Forum (SDF); and the Islam and Politics Group. Ben has contributed to the newsletters of the The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII), the Journalism Education Association, the Cultural Studies Association of Australia (CSAA) and the Centre for Public Culture and Ideas (CPCI).
Ben has also written several opinion editorials and is regularly interviewed for radio and television including ABC News, SBS and Triple J.
For further information on any of the above, please contact Benjamin Isakhan directly.
