Curriculum Vitae
Education
2012
PhD. in Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Western Australia.
2005
Postgraduate Diploma in the History and Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne.
2002
First Class Honours in Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Western Australia.
2001
Bachelor of Arts majoring in Anthropology, Philosophy and Political Science at The University of Western Australia.
Teaching Activities
2013
Adjunct Professor, Buddhist Studies in India, Antioch University.
2013
Guest lecturer and teaching assistant, the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Western Australia.
2008
Guest lecturer and teaching assistant, the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Western Australia.
Fieldwork
2015 and 2016
Ethnographic research in Ulaanbaatar examining how Mongolian Buddhist temples situate themselves amidst fluctuating global and local economies. This research looked at the spiritual value of money in Mongolia, as inert, polluted and generative, investigating the strategies that Mongolians use to navigate mundane and supra-mundane religious economies.
2009-2010
Ethnographic research exploring the resurgence of Buddhism in the urban environment of Ulaanbaatar, following the end of socialism in Mongolia in 1990.
Organisation of Panels at International Conferences
2013
Co-convened a panel titled ‘Novelty and Lineage: Contemporary and Historical Relations between Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhism’ at the 13th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
2011
Co-convened a panel titled ‘Faith as Heresy: Translocal Religion in a Global Era’ at the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, the Australian Anthropological Society and the Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa / New Zealand Conference, The University of Western Australia.
Presentations at Conferences and Workshops (Selection)
2016
'Money As Seed, Money As Fruit: Karma, Poverty and Wealth in Ulaanbaatar'
Buddhism, Believers and Economic Relations in Asia and Beyond. Buddhism, Business and Believers Conference at The University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
'Light, Enlightenment, and Purification: Contemporary Mongolian Buddhism in Ulaanbaatar'
The American Centre for Mongolian Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
'Studying Buddhism: Culture, Tradition and Globalization'
Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
2015
‘Aspiring to Enlightenment: Practicing Purification in Postsocialist Mongolia’
Religious Revivals and Artistic Renaissance in Central Asia and the Himalayan Region – Past and Present. Fourth International SEECHAC Colloquium, Heidelberg, Germany.
‘Pollution and Purification: Metaphors of Spiritual Danger and Social Inequality in Ulaanbaatar’
Geographies of Capitalism and Landscapes of Globalization Panel, Biennial Conference of the Finnish Anthropological Society, Helsinki, Finland.
‘Contemporary Buddhism and New Forms of Religiosity in Ulaanbaatar’
Zhun Khuree, Past and Present. Dashchoiliin Hiid, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
‘Enlightenment and Purification: Spirituality, Education and Lay Buddhist Religiosity in Mongolia’
Anthropologie Comparée du Bouddhisme, Dynamiques Asiatiques, Paris, France.
‘Contemporary Mongolian Buddhism: Meditation, Ritual and New Forms of Religiosity’
Mongolian Buddhism – Past Future and Present, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
‘Karma and the Permeability of Personhood: Perspectives from Mongolian Buddhists’
University College London, Emerging Subjects of the New Economy research group, London, United Kingdom.
2014
‘Polytropy and Eclecticism in Popular Mongolian Religious Practices: White Foods and Meditation in Ulaanbaatar’
Lecture at the Department of Inner Asian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
2013
‘Who is a Real Monk?’ Monastic Practice and Ideas of Lineage in Ulaanbaatar’
The 13th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
2012
‘The Topography of Morality: Global Buddhist Institutions and Morality in Postsocialist Ulaanbaatar’
Research Seminars, Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge.
2011
‘Filling the Gaps: The Influence of Choice on Lay Mongolian Morality and Spirituality’
International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, the Australian Anthropological Society and the Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa / New Zealand Conference, The University of Western Australia.
2010
‘Interdependent Co-arising: Contemporary Ideas of Buddhism in Ulaanbaatar’
American Centre for Mongolian Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Professional Affiliations
2016
Research Fellow: The American Center for Mongolian Studies
2014-2015
Research Affiliate: School of Culture, History and Languages, Australian National University.
2013-present
Member of The International Association for Tibetan Studies
Professional Development
2015
Max Planck Institute, Göttingen, Germany: Voice and Body Coaching: Communicating with Confidence and Accuracy
2014
Centre De Recerca I Creació Casamarlès, Catalonia, Spain / Academic writer in residence.
2008
Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, The University of Western Australia / Postgraduate Teaching Internship