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Visiting Professorships

2012 Tokyo Chair: Announcement

JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC APPOINTED VISITING PROFESSOR OF AUSTRALIAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

 The Centre for Pacific and American Studies (CPAS) at the University of Tokyo hosts an annual Visiting Professor in Australian Studies at their Komaba Campus, Tokyo. Associate Professor Justin Dabner has been appointed to the position for 2012-13, and will take up the Visiting Professorship in October 2012.

Associate Professor Dabner, a leading scholar in the field of international comparative taxation law, is the first Australian legal academic to be appointed to the position.  He will devise and teach subjects exploring Australian society and culture at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, engage in research and promote Australian-Japanese cross-cultural exchange.

“I am very excited by the appointment, and it will be a tremendous challenge to teach Japanese students about Australian culture from a legal perspective”, said Associate Professor Dabner, who is based in the Law School at James Cook University.

During his tenure Associate Professor Dabner will be undertaking research on the lessons to be drawn from the introduction of the carbon tax in Australia.

“The Japanese climate change policy was predicated on nuclear energy and a carbon tax to be introduced in 2011. However the tsunami, subsequent nuclear disaster and associated economic downturn changed all that. Introduction of the carbon tax has been deferred and the Japanese Government is likely to be very interested in how the new tax plays out in Australia.”

Associate Professor Dabner also plans to take the opportunity to visit Japanese Law Schools to speak on developments in Australian legal education. “Earlier this decade the Japanese undertook substantial reforms to their legal education model. It seems still to be a work in progress so developments in Australia are of great interest.”

Associate Professor Dabner is no stranger to Japan having visited there many times during the last decade, including a secondment to the Tax Policy Institute at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan.

The Visiting Professor in Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo is supported by the Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF), a non-statutory, bilateral foundation in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which aims to strengthen Australia-Japan relations. The selection process is chaired by Professor Kate Darian-Smith (University of Melbourne) in association with the International Australian Studies Association (InASA), the peak global Australian Studies organisation.  Applications for the 2013-14 Professorship will open later this year.

Further details about the position can be found at:

http://www.inasa.org      http://ajf.australia.or.jp/english/aboutajf/

Contact for interviews:

Associate Professor Justin Dabner

E: Justin.Dabner@jcu.edu.au                                                      T: + 61 7 4042 1093