Dr Melissa Curley
Dr

Melissa Curley

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Phone: 
+61 7 334 69054

Background

Senior Lecturer in International Relations. Her research and teaching interests include Southeast Asian politics and international relations, Cambodian politics and post-conflict reconstruction, and non-traditional security in East Asia (including trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling, pandemic disease and child protection issues). Dr. Curley co-facilitated the UQ Working Group on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling in the T.C Bernie School of Law (http://www.law.uq.edu.au/humantrafficking) from 2012-2016. She has published in internationally peer reviewed journals including: Review of International Studies, The Journal of Law and Society, Australian Journal of Human Rights, and Australian Journal of International Affairs, amongst others. Her most recent book is Migration and Security in Asia (Routledge 2008) with S.L. Wong. Before joining the School in January 2006, Dr. Curley was a researcher in the China-ASEAN project at the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong, where she also coordinated a consultancy project on Southeast Asian affairs for the Hong Kong Government's Central Policy Unit. She holds a Ph.D in International Relations from Nottingham Trent University in the UK, and BA(Hons) in Government from UQ.

In 2015, Dr Curley joined the Executive Advisory Board of Bravehearts, an Australian not-for profit organisation that aims to educate, empower and protect Australian children from sexual assault, and in 2016 was made a Paul Harris Fellow, in recognition of her services to The Rotary Foundation. In 2020 she gained Fellowship status with the Higher Education Academy (UK).

Availability

Dr Melissa Curley is:
Available for supervision

Fields of research

Political science

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Nottingham Trent University

Research interests

  • Non-traditional Security in the Asia Pacific

    Non-traditional security issue in International Relations are commonly understood to be transnational, multi-jurisdictional policy issues that impact multiple states and which cannot be solved via domestic (internal) policies alone, such as: trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling, public health and pandemic disease and drug and wildlife trafficking and child exploitation. My publications have appeared in a range of internationally peer-reviewed journals in Political Science, Asian Studies, International Relations and Law across these topics, often as lead author. Focus areas include: policy approaches to non-traditional security in state and institutional contexts; conceptual intersections between traditional and non-traditional security; infectious and pandemic diseases including SARS, H5N1 Bird Flu, COVID 19; and child trafficking and exploitation and relevant international legal frameworks.

  • Governance of civil society in authoritarian states

    The role of civil society under authoritarian rule. How do they navigate relations with the state and advocate for their agenda?

  • Migration and Security

    • Forms of irregular migration and security and their 'securitisation' by the state • Securitisation theory and its application in non-democratic contexts

Research impacts

In 2015, I was invited to join the Executive Advisory Board of Bravehearts, an Australian not-for profit organisation that aims to educate, empower and protect Australian children from sexual assault.

External recognition of my research and contribution to the field of International Relations is reflected by various (funded) invitations to speak at international and Australian conferences and forums associated with non-traditional security and policy related research.

o Australian Federal Police to speak at International Symposium on Child Sex Tourism in Bangkok in 2012, and Fiji in 2013.

o Nanyang University of Technology, to speak at Symposiums on Irregular Migration in 2012 and 2009.

o University of Western Australia, to speak at Conference on Regional Leadership and Norms: EU and Asia-Pacific Trajectories, 2012.

Search Professor Melissa Curley’s works on UQ eSpace

52 works between 1999 and 2023
All (52) Journal Article (16) Book Chapter (19) Conference Publication (13) Book (3) Edited Outputs (1)

41 - 52 of 52 works

2008

Book Chapter

Conclusion: Undocumented migration and the state/human security nexus in Asia

Curley, Melissa G. and Wong, Sui-lun (2008). Conclusion: Undocumented migration and the state/human security nexus in Asia. Security and Migration in Asia: The Dynamics of Securitisation. (pp. 179-184) edited by Melissa Curle and Sui-lun Wong. London & New York: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203934722

Conclusion: Undocumented migration and the state/human security nexus in Asia

2007

Book

Advancing East Asian Regionalism

Melissa G. Curley and Nicholas Thomas eds. (2007). Advancing East Asian Regionalism. Politics in Asia series, London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203023303

Advancing East Asian Regionalism

2007

Book Chapter

An Introduction

Curley, M. and Thomas, N. (2007). An Introduction. Advancing East Asian Regionalism. (pp. 1-25) edited by Melissa G. Curley and Nicholas Thomas. London: Routledge.

An Introduction

2007

Book Chapter

The role of civil society in East Asian region-building

Curley, M. (2007). The role of civil society in East Asian region-building. Advancing East Asian regionalism. (pp. 179-201) edited by Melissa G. Curley and Nick Thomas. London, U.K.: Routledge.

The role of civil society in East Asian region-building

2006

Book Chapter

An Avian Flu Pandemic in the Asia-Pacific: Lessons on Regional Cooperation from the 2003 SARS Outbreak

Curley, M (2006). An Avian Flu Pandemic in the Asia-Pacific: Lessons on Regional Cooperation from the 2003 SARS Outbreak. An Avian Flu Pandemic: What Would It Mean and What Can We Do?. (pp. 37-44) edited by Michael Birt and Claire Topal. Seattle, USA: The National Bureau of Asian Research.

An Avian Flu Pandemic in the Asia-Pacific: Lessons on Regional Cooperation from the 2003 SARS Outbreak

2004

Journal Article

Human Security and Public Health in Southeast Asia: The SARS Outbreak

Curley, Melissa and Thomas, Nick (2004). Human Security and Public Health in Southeast Asia: The SARS Outbreak. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 58 (1), 17-32. doi: 10.1080/1035771032000184737

Human Security and Public Health in Southeast Asia: The SARS Outbreak

2004

Conference Publication

The Role of the Non-profit sector in Transitional Asian Economies. The Case of Cambodia

Curley, M.G. (2004). The Role of the Non-profit sector in Transitional Asian Economies. The Case of Cambodia. 15th Biennial Conference of the ASAA, National Convention Centre, Canberra, 29 June- 2 July, 2004.

The Role of the Non-profit sector in Transitional Asian Economies. The Case of Cambodia

2004

Book Chapter

Poverty and Non-Traditional Security: Experiences of China’s Partnership with Multilateral Donor Institutions on Poverty Alleviation

Curley, Melissa and Wang, Qingxin K. (2004). Poverty and Non-Traditional Security: Experiences of China’s Partnership with Multilateral Donor Institutions on Poverty Alleviation. Broadening Asia's security discourse and agenda : political, social, and environmental perspectives. (pp. 72-96) edited by Ramesh Thakur and Edward Newman. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

Poverty and Non-Traditional Security: Experiences of China’s Partnership with Multilateral Donor Institutions on Poverty Alleviation

2002

Journal Article

Security and illegal migration in Northeast Asia

Curley, Melissa (2002). Security and illegal migration in Northeast Asia. Center for East Asian Studies Monterey Institute of International Studies

Security and illegal migration in Northeast Asia

2002

Journal Article

NGOs in China: The Role of International Organizations and South-South Cooperation

Curley, Melissa (2002). NGOs in China: The Role of International Organizations and South-South Cooperation. Asian Perspective - Special Addition on China-ASEAN Relations, 26 (4), 171-200.

NGOs in China: The Role of International Organizations and South-South Cooperation

2000

Journal Article

Exploring complex security realities: NGOs, community and state development partnerships in Laos

Curley, M.G. (2000). Exploring complex security realities: NGOs, community and state development partnerships in Laos. Asian Perspectives, 24 (1), 187-216.

Exploring complex security realities: NGOs, community and state development partnerships in Laos

1999

Book

Changing security agendas and the third world

Curley, Melissa and Pettiford, Lloyd (1999). Changing security agendas and the third world. London: Pinter Publishers.

Changing security agendas and the third world

Past funding

  • 2006 - 2007
    Governance, Sovereignty and Civil Society: The Emergence of Civil Society in Cambodia Post-UNTAC
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Melissa Curley is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Available projects

  • The role of civil society groups in Environmental Governance (Indo-Pacific)

  • Combating Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery in Southeast Asia

    How do states in Southeast Asia combatt trafficking in persons? This research agenda includes the governance of anti-trafficking iniatives within government and the implementation of domestic trafficking laws, in compliance with the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol (2000).

    How are NGOs and other faith-based organisations involved in anti-trafficking initiatives?

    How is trafficking in children and child exploitation related? What are the drivers of child exploitation in Southeast Asia (tourism industry, trafficking for domestic labour and sexual exploitaton) and how can they be reduced and/or eradicated?

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Dynamic Responses of Southeast Asian States to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Andrew Phillips

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The localization of the right to asylum norm in ASEAN: Assessing ASEAN Response during the Refugee Crisis

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alexander Bellamy

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Jihadi Brides, Race, and their Return: Examining Government Responses in the United States (U.S.), Malaysia, and Germany

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Nicole George

  • Doctor Philosophy

    State Formation and Self-Determination in post-Colonial Africa: The Case of Secessionists Movements in Sudan and Nigeria

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alexander Bellamy

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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