Howard Brasted

Just falling short of achieving a half century of teaching and researching at the UNE, Howard Brasted was made Emeritus Professor of history and Islamic studies on his retirement in 2020. He had been appointed by Russel Ward to a lectureship in Asian civilisations in 1974, having completed a PhD at Edinburgh University on Irish and Indian challenges to the British empire. He later went on to develop units on Indian nationalism and Gandhian non-violence, before establishing a postgraduate Masters of Islamic Studies in 1994, the first of its kind in Australia.  A long-time editor of the journal South Asia (1984-2001) and Secretary of the South Asian Studies Association (1984-2002), he has published widely on a range of themes including decolonisation in South Asia, labour standards in Asia, and since 9/11 Islamic radicalization. His publications in that field include: ‘A New World Disorder in the Making?’, ‘Revisiting S.P. Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations” Thesis’, and co-edited volumes Religion, Extremism and Violence in South Asia (Springer, 2022) and The Routledge Handbook of Populism in Asia and The Pacific (Routledge,2024).

In terms of teaching and curriculum development, Howard Brasted made original contributions in two fields: South Asian history and Islamic studies.

• With respect the study of South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), he constructed a sequence of undergraduate units on modern South Asia.
• With respect Islamic studies, the UNE in 1994 successfully submitted Professor Brasted’s application under the Federal Government’s National Reserve Priority Scheme [NRPS] to create a 10-unit Graduate Diploma in Islamic Studies (GDIS), the first university in Australia to offer a postgraduate program in this field. First offered to students in 1995 the program was retired in 2020.

Secretary South Asian Studies Association of Australia [SASAA] (1984-2002)

Board Member of National Centre for South Asian Studies (1993-1999)

Council Member Asian Studies Association of Australia [ASAA} (2002-2004)

ARC assessor (1997, 2000, 2005-2006)

Fellow of Australia-India Institute (2012-2020)

Editor of South Asia (1984-2001)

Contributing Editor to Indo-British Review [Madras] (1988-1994)

Editorial Advisor to Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society [New Delhi] (1999-2006)

Editor. Sage series: Studies on Contemporary South Asia (1996-2002)

Editorial Board Advisor to Melbourne University Press [MUP] series on ‘Islam and Muslim Affairs’ (2007- 2017)