• Emeritus Professor at Flinders University and Director for International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding, Adelaide University
Western civilisation and history have a darker side of genocide and land dispossession: a history that is often ignored. Wikimedia Commons

Curriculum review: Western civilisation’s legacy has a dark side

The push is currently on for Australia’s national curriculum to place more emphasis on the history of Western civilisation and its values. But if we accept that the purpose of such an education is to achieve…
On the ninth anniversary of the US-led Iraqi invasion, suicide attacks were used against civilians in Iraq. EPA/Mohammed Jalil

Good and bad deaths: why we react to suicide bombers the way we do

Suicide attacks and car bombings across Iraq this week have killed at least 43 people and left 255 wounded. We are sadly now very familiar with the phenomenon of the suicide bomber, but the particular…
Artist Peter Gouldthorpe’s representation of convict women baring their backsides during church as a form of protest. AAP/MY WORD

Whores, damned whores and female convicts: Why our history does early Australian colonial women a grave injustice

Some years ago while researching for my book on suicide in Australia, I thought it would be interesting to begin the book with a case study of the first recorded settler suicide in Australia. It did not…
The father of Nael Abu Hlayel, who blew himself up in Israel in 2002, holds up pictures of his son. AAP

9/11: Why suicide bombers blow themselves up

Ten years ago, nineteen young Muslims commandeered passenger jets and killed themselves, taking with them 2973 people to the inferno of fire. Since the 9/11 attacks, suicide bombings have become a staple…

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