BenjaminiSaKhan.com
Title
Mr. Benjamin Isakhan
After completing his Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology (1997) and receiving First Class Honours in Literature and Cultural Studies (1998), Benjamin Isakhan entered Griffith’s PhD program in mid-2004 and has since been awarded a Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (GUPRS).
Ben’s PhD project is tentatively titled Discourses of Democracy: ‘Oriental Despotism’ and the Democratisation of Iraq. This project is underpinned by Media/Cultural studies, Critical theory and Political theory relating to the Middle East (such as Orientalism, Post-colonialism, ‘Clash of Civilisations’ etc.) and seeks to scrutinise the discourse of 'Oriental despotism’ and the ways in which it continues to pervade contemporary understandings of Middle Eastern democracy. Specifically, this PhD examines the discourses used to construct Iraq’s recent shift from despotism to democracy and problematises them by examining three key periods in Iraqi history: the ancient civilisations, the late Ottoman period through to the 1958 revolution and the events since the fall of Saddam in 2003.
Since starting his PhD, Ben has published several refereed journal articles and has presented refereed conference papers in both the Australasian region and the Middle East on his central research interests: Democracy in Iraq, Middle Eastern minorities and the media, and the role of the public sphere and the free press in the democratisation of the Middle East. This work includes the presentation of a paper at the Second World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES-2) in Amman, Jordan as well as publications in Middle East Policy, Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (Jordan), Australian Journalism Review, Media/Culture and Transformations. A recent paper is also currently been translated into Arabic and will appear in a forthcoming issue of Society and Heritage, published by the Society of Inash Al-Usra in Al-Bireh, Palestine.
Throughout his time working at Griffith University, Ben Isakhan has convened / lectured / tutored Culture, Media and Society, Communication Practise, New Communication Technologies, Mass Media: Issues and Controversies, Effective Writing I and Cultural Perspectives I & II. Ben also works as a Key Researcher for the School of Arts at Griffith University, and is currently collaborating with colleagues on a number of research projects and publications regarding issues as diverse as: New Media and Higher Order Learning; Creativity, Pedagogy and Democracy; Theme Parks and Cultural Policy and; Queensland’s Optional Preferential Voting system.
Ben is also the co-editor of the proceedings of the 2005 Journalism Education Association (JEA) Conference (with Stephen Stockwell), he is a member of the Australasian Political Science Association (APSA), Australia New Zealand Communications Association (ANZCA), Journalism Education Association (JEA), Sydney Democracy Forum (SDF), the Islam and Politics Group and has contributed to the newsletters of the JEA, the Cultural Studies Association of Australia (CSAA) and the Centre for Public Culture and Ideas (CPCI).
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