Brian Stoddart

Brian Stoddart is Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia where he served as Vice-Chancellor, a higher education consultant internationally, a regular commentator on global issues, cruise ship lecturer, and a crime fiction writer.

He took his first two degrees in History from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, then a PhD from the University of Western Australia. His doctoral work was on nationalist politics in south India, beginning a long interest in the sub-continent. He then became a pioneer in the study of sports culture and his 1986 book, Saturday Afternoon Fever: Sport in the Australian Culture is still regarded as a definitive work. He went on to write numerous books and articles on aspects of sport in politics, international relations, business and the media as well as sports history. He is an authority on Caribbean cricket and culture, sport and international politics, and sports media. Brian Stoddart established one of the world’s first sports journalism degree programs at the University of Canberra in association with the Australian Institute of Sport.

He has maintained a strong interest in India, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Australia-India Institute at the University of Melbourne. His recent books include A People’s Collector in the British Raj: Arthur Galletti (Delhi, 2011); Land, Water, Language and Politics in Andhra: Regional Evolution in India Since 1850 (Delhi, 2011); and (with Auriol Weigold (eds), India & Australia: Bridging Different Worlds (Delhi, 2011).

Brian Stoddart is well known as a columnist and commentator, and works now with social media (@BrianStoddart, and www.brianstoddartwriter.com).

In his most recent work as a consultant, he has lived extensively and worked in Lao PDR, Jordan, Syria and Cambodia. His memoir, A House in Damascus: Before the Fall, recounting his Old City immediately before the current problems, was an Amazon No.1 for Middle East Travel.

A Straits Settlement, the third of his Superintendent Le Fanu novels set in 1920s British India, was long listed in the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for best New Zealand crime novel.
 

Post Archive

01 March 2024
Brian Stoddart on why the study of popular culture has much to offer the world of international affairs and development. While we know instinctively that popular culture in…
20 July 2023
Brian Stoddart explores the rise and dominance of Indian cricket. As America’s Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour arm wrestles Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)…
02 May 2023
Brian Stoddart argues that Australia needs more strategic analyses of “key” partners and of the Indian Ocean as part of the Indo-Pacific. It has been instructive traversing the…
14 July 2022
Brian Stoddart puts recent Australian attacks on New Zealand’s internationally popular Prime Minister into a global context. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is now…
06 May 2022
Brian Stoddart explores the impact of COVID on countries, companies or individuals efforts to restore damaged public images by sponsoring popular international or national sports…
27 April 2022
Brian Stoddart unpicks Australia's foreign policy debates, including its new “love in” with China, warm words for India and the need to pacify America over the Pacific. As an…
29 March 2022
Brian Stoddart explores what it will take for Australia to acknowledge its demographic changes and really engage with India. Canberra has experienced some frantic activity in the…
02 June 2021
Brian Stoddart explores why Australia has decided to follow an “all or nothing” approach to China that now openly discusses the idea of war. When the Secretary of Australia’s…
11 February 2021
Brian Stoddart explores the uncertain future of large scale sporting events. COVID-19 has sprung many surprising social consequences, among them its impact on sports and leisure…
22 September 2020
Many of GP’s contributors have been writing about the pandemic as part of their scholarly work. We were also curious about their personal experiences and thoughts amidst these…
27 August 2020
Brian Stoddart explores why Australia is eroding 50 years of relationship building with China. Amidst the COVID-19 crisis that has gripped Australia along with the rest…
07 July 2020
Brian Stoddart remembers Sir Everton Weekes as a major figure in the struggle for racial equality in sport, as well as one of the great cricketers. With the passing of Sir Everton…
06 May 2020
Brian Stoddart explores Australia's pantomime politics and its actors' performances in response to China's increasing regional power. Reading ex-Australian Prime Minister…
05 June 2019
Brian Stoddart argues that choosing the lesser of two political evils is the new global normal. It is now a truism to note that politics in the West are either in transition, “…
02 January 2018
It might seem odd to have viewed Darkest Hour and Padmaavat on the same day, and even more odd to then reflect on regional and global politics and international differences. But…