Vannessa Hearman

Biography

Vannessa Hearman is lecturer in Indonesian Studies. A historian, she has lectured and taught in Indonesian- and Asian Studies at the University of Sydney, the Australian Catholic University and the University of Melbourne since 2005. Her research deals with the 1965-66 anti-communist violence in Indonesia and its aftermath, the politics of memory and human rights, and transnational activism related to Indonesia and East Timor. She has published her research widely in edited collections and academic journals such as Critical Asian Studies, South East Asia Research and Indonesia. She is currently preparing a manuscript for publication on the destruction of the Indonesian left in East Java, Indonesia, based on her doctoral thesis at the University of Melbourne. This research was supported by the University’s Human Rights Scholarship in recognition of her past achievements in the advancement of human rights and for the potential of the thesis to further advance human rights. The thesis was awarded (jointly) the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA)’s President’s Prize for Best PhD Thesis in Asian Studies in 2014. It was also in the final shortlist for Best Dissertation in the Humanities in the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) Book Prize in 2015. For her MA, Vannessa conducted research on Timor Leste and post-conflict reconstruction and is returning to the study of Timor Leste, this time of the historical and activist links with Indonesia and Australia. Vannessa previously worked in Timor Leste as a translator/interpreter with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and in cross-cultural training with the Australian Electoral Commission’s International Services Division. She is a NAATI accredited professional Indonesian interpreter and translator and an experienced conference interpreter. Prior to academia and language and training work, she was employed in the development sector in Australia and Timor Leste.

Research Interest

he 1965-66 anti communist violence in Indonesia, Indonesian transnational activism, The self-determination campaign for East Timor and Indonesians’ involvement within it, Timorese diaspora and Australian government policy.