Dr. Christopher Ballard

Biography

Christopher Ballard is a Senior Fellow at the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University, with over 40 years of experience in research, focusing primarily on the Pacific region, including eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a PhD from ANU. His research interests encompass transdisciplinary integration and methods spanning historical disciplines, addressing questions related to 'deep history' in Oceania, as well as indigenous Melanesian historicities and their transformations through cross-cultural encounters. Ballard is particularly focused on the representation of these histories in media and their articulation in contemporary challenges such as land reform and natural resource management. He is also involved in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage against emergencies like natural hazards and climate change. Additionally, he explores how local, regional, and global histories are interconnected through major climatic events, including volcanic eruptions, exemplified by his studies of the 15th-century eruption of Kuwae in Vanuatu.

Research Interests