Dr Kearrin Sims ~ Lecturer, Development Studies

Dr Kearrin Sims is a critical development scholar trained in sociology and international relations.

Kearrin’s diverse research interests are built around three central themes.

1. Kearrin is advancing our understanding of how Chinese development cooperation is changing lives and reshaping geopolitics in Mainland Southeast Asia. By listening to the different development aspirations of governments, businesses, non-profit organisations and localised residents, Kearrin offers new insights on how China’s growing global social, political and economic significance is reworking the livelihoods and wellbeing of impoverished communities.

2. Kearrin is expanding knowledge on urban inclusion and sustainability. By studying the politics of urban development and design within the global South, Kearrin seeks to advance the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’, and UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda to foster ‘Cities for All’. Kearrin is Chair of JCU's Sustainable Development Working Group and a member of JCU's Tropical Urban Design Lab.

3. Kearrin is exploring new ways of thinking about development studies pedagogy and global citizenship education. At a time when the global development sector is undergoing profound change, Kearrin’s research looks for improved methods of teaching and learning in the field of development. His work in this domain includes a focus on both tertiary and secondary education, as well as industry partnerships with service-based learning organisations.

Kearrin’s approach to academia is centered on finding creative and collaborative mechanisms for bringing together teaching, research and community engagement activities. He has taught at multiple universities and has served in a number of volunteering positions for non-profit organisations both in Australia and abroad. To date, much of Kearrin’s research and community outreach has been focused within Southeast Asia. In particular, he has had a strong interest in transnational connectivity programs and the geopolitics of development in Laos.

By approaching the field of development as a highly politicised arena of resource struggles and competing value-systems that are entered from different positions of power, Kearrin has sought to uncover how processes of social and economic power redistribution might lead to greater representation and accountability for the poor.

 

In 2015 Kearrin was shortlisted for best graduate student paper in the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography.

In 2017 Kearrin was awarded the Willam L. Holland prize for best paper in Pacific Affairs 

 

Kearrin welcomes applications from prospective PhD candidates interested in each of the above three themes.

Kearrin is a Member of the Development Studies Association of Australia Executive Committee and Treasurer of the Association of Mainland Southeast Asia Scholars.

 

Teaching

• EV5911: Development Practice Project Proposal and Literature Review (Level 5; CNS)
• EV5951: Development in Practice (Level 5; CNS)
• EV5952: Critical Issues in Global Development (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5900: Special Topic (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5901: Special Topic 1 (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5902: Special Topic 2 (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5903: Literature Review (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5909: Minor Project and Seminar (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5912: Minor Project, Seminar and Literature Review (1 of 2) (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5913: Minor Project, Seminar and Literature Review (2 of 2) (Level 5; CNS)

Experience

• 2017 to 2019 - Research Fellow, Cairns Institute (James Cook University)
• 2016 to 2017 - Adjunct Fellow, Humanitarian and Development Relief Initiative (HADRI), School of Social Sciences and Psychology (Western Sydney University)
• 2015 to 2017 - Research Associate, Institute for Culture and Society (Western Sydney University)

Research Disciplines

• Political Science (1606)
• Sociology (1608)
• Human Geography (1604)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• International Relations (9403)
• Government and Politics (9402)

Awards

• 2017 - Pacific Affairs 2017 William L. Holland Prize. Article: "Gambling on the Future: Casino Enclaves, Development, and Poverty Alleviation in Laos"
• 2015 - Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography Shortlist - Best Graduate Student Paper - "The Asian Development Bank and the production of poverty: Neoliberalism, technocratic modernization and land dispossession in the Greater Mekong Subregion"

Memberships

• 2019 - Development Studies Association of Australia Executive Committee Member
• 2017 - Association of Mainland Southeast Asian Studies (AMSEAS) Treasurer and founding member.
• 2017 - Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Affiliate Member Representative for JCU
• 2015 to 2018 - Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Sims K (2018) Teaching development studies in times of change. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 59 (2). pp. 147-158
• Sims K (2017) Gambling on the future: casino enclaves, development, and poverty alleviation in Laos. Pacific Affairs, 90 (4). pp. 675-700
• Sims K (2015) Culture, community-oriented learning and the post-2015 development agenda: a view from Laos. Third World Quarterly, 36 (10). pp. 1922-1943
• Sims K (2015) The Asian Development Bank and the production of poverty: neoliberalism, technocratic modernization and land dispossession in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 36 (1). pp. 112-126
• Howe B and Sims K (2011) Human Security and Development in Lao PDR: a responsibility to provide and protect. Asian Survey, 51 (2). pp. 333-355

Book Chapters

• Sims K (2018) More growth, less freedom? charting development pathways in Lao PDR. In: National Security, Statecentricity, and Governance in East Asia. Security, Development and Human Rights in East Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 127-149
• Sims K (2016) Uneven geographies of transnational capitalism in Laos. In: Globalization and Transnational Capitalism in Asia and Oceania. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 199-213
• Sims K and Winter T (2016) In the slipstream of development: World Heritage and development-induced displacement in Laos. In: Urban Heritage, Development and Sustainability: international frameworks, national and local governance. Key Issues in Cultural Heritage. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 23-36

Other research outputs

• Sims K and Pinto C (2019) Can the land of a million elephants survive the belt and road? The Diplomat, 03 January 2019.
• Sims K (2017) Book review of "Changing Lives in Laos: society, politics, and culture in a post-socialist state" ed. by Vanina Bouté and Vatthana Pholsena. Singapore, NUS Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-981-4722-26-1. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 39 (3). pp. 583-586
• Sims K (2017) Economic growth and development in Lao PDR: who pays for progress? Human Rights Defender, 26 (1). pp. 20-21
• Sims K (2016) Is Laos’ ASEAN chairmanship a threat to southeast Asian regionalism? The Diplomat, 15 April 2016. pp. 1-3

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 21+ research outputs authored by Dr Kearrin Sims from 2011 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation:

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Education for Sustainability in a Difficult Political Climate: A Social Learning Model (PhD , Secondary Advisor)