International Doctoral Researchers
Each year the Aceh Research Training Institute (ARTI) offers travel grants for up to ten Indonesian and ten Australian or international doctoral students to conduct their research in collaboration with the Pusat Latihan Penelitian Ilmu Sosial Budaya (PLPISB) of Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. These travel grants are for a period of six months and are funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Myer Foundation. Below are the profiles of PhD candidates affiliated with ARTI.
Catherine Smith
Catherine Smith is a PhD student at the Australian National University with an interest in political and medical anthropology. Catherine has an honours degree in anthropology from James Cook University and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Queensland. ARTI is currently supporting Catherine to undertake ethnographic fieldwork in Aceh towards her PhD focusing on women’s wellbeing and subjectivity in the post-conflict period.
Dan Birchok
Daniel Birchok is a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Program in Anthropology and History at the University of Michigan. He is conducting research on the history of Islamic discourse and practice in Aceh since 1945, focusing especially on Aceh's southwest coast. He is particularly interested in how the space and territory of Aceh has been marked as uniquely Islamic in relation to the rest of the Indonesian archipelago, and how boundaries, both territorial boundaries and those between social groups, have been created and maintained through attention to such things as religious conversion, historical narratives, and language practices. He began his research in October 2007 and plans to continue until July 2009. Currently he is engaged in ethnographic research and resides in Kota Baru (Jeuram), Kabupaten Nagan Raya.
Jane Palmer
Jane's thesis will use a multidisciplinary approach to explore the intersection between an aging population and environmental challenges including climate change. She will shortly be commencing fieldwork interviews with older people in Aceh, under an Aceh Research Training Institute Travel Grant. She intends to focus on what opportunities might be offered by an aging population in socio-cultural responses to environmental issues.
Jane has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons 1) in Philosophy from the University of Queensland, a Bachelor of Science (Architecture) from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Architecture (Hons 1) from the University of Newcastle. She has practiced as an architect for the last 10 years primarily in the area of Australian indigenous housing, in Darwin and Cairns. Prior to studying architecture, Jane was a senior manager with the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, involved in the development of national preventive strategies on occupational injuries and disease. Jane is currently working part-time as an architect and as a consultant to the Centre for Military and Veterans' Health in Queensland.
Paul Zeccola
Paul is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. His research examines humanitarian action in Aceh, Indonesia from 1998 to 2007, and is on course for submission in September 2009. Paul previously worked in the humanitarian sector in Aceh between 2001 and 2006, and is now affiliated with the Aceh Research Training Institute, and will be a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta in November 2008. Previously, Paul was awarded First Class Honours at the University of Sydney in Asian Studies (2004), undertook a Bachelor of Arts (Politics) at La Trobe University (2000) and graduated with a Bachelor of Business at Monash University (1996).
Thushara Dibley
Thushara commenced her PhD candidature at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Sydney in March 2008. Her research focuses on local NGO engagement in peace building in Aceh and Timor Leste. Thushara’s research also explores questions about how theories of peace building are developed and what role local organizations have in this process. Thushara completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney. She majored in Indonesian Studies and received first class Honours for her research about the role of Indonesian language in Timor Leste. Thushara's research in Aceh will be conducted in two phases. She did her preliminary research in Aceh in October 2008 and will return for a longer period of research in the second half of 2009.