Adrian H. Hearn

I am an anthropologist who researches the cultural challenges and opportunities arising from international relations.

My work is driven by questions about the interaction of global processes with local experiences. What can Latin American, Australian, and Chinese cities teach each other about sustainable community food production and consumption? How can environmental education programs work more closely with First Nation communities? How can artistic collaborations illuminate cross-cultural knowledge to inform local development and foreign policies? How might China's Belt and Road Initiative better address social and ecological concerns in partner countries?

I explore these questions with funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Open Society Foundations, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), the Council on Australia-Latin America Relations (COALAR), and others. Living in the United States for eleven years, the UK for ten years, Latin America for four years, and China and Senegal for a year each has instilled a sense of cultural relativity that informs my theoretical approach to “intermediaries.”

In addition to my academic work, I lead a multicultural arts project called Suns of Mercury. The project's 360-degrees interactive film "Who Is Nature?" and 360 "Yoruba Heritage" virtual tour have featured in cultural festivals and classrooms in Australia, Latin America, and the United States. Suns of Mercury also releases collaborative multicultural music and manages my projects to support urban farmers in Cuba and Brazil, funded by the "Direct Aid" program of the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).