Profile
Dr Douglas Farrer
Lecturer in Criminology
My research and teaching are focussed on the interstices of criminology, sociology, and anthropology. Currently I am doing research in narrative criminology for a project on crime scene photography. This is based upon 36-months ethnographic research with law enforcement personnel on Guam. My other research includes projects on Islamic art, resistance, and dreams. Previously I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Singapore and Malaysia with Sufi mystics, martial arts practitioners, and traditional healers. Co-founder of Martial Arts Studies I have authored publications on Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kung fu, and silat. My fieldwork includes research in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) and Micronesia (Palau, Guam, and Yap).
Research group links
- Centre for Magic and Esotericism
- Department of Sociology and Philosophy
- Egenis - Mind, Body, and Culture
Research interests
- Crime scene photography
- Narrative criminology
- Visual anthropology
- Resistance
- Anthropology of dreams
- Witchcraft
- Martial arts
- Martialité
Modules taught
- SOC1020 - Contemporary Society: Field and Case Studies
- SOC1040 - Social Issues: Part II - Themes in Criminology
- SOC2004 - Into the Field
- SOC2068 - Race, Ethnicity and Criminalisation
- SOC2069 - Crimes of the Powerful
- SOC2124 - Surveillance, Security and the State
- SOC3040 - Dissertation
- SOC3126 - Race, Ethnicity and Criminalisation
- SOC3127 - Crimes of the Powerful
- SOC3130 - Digital Society
Biography
I took BA Social Science (Sociology Track) at Middlesex University, followed by MA Social and Political Thought at Sussex University. At the National University of Singapore I completed a doctorate in Anthropology with a dissertation on Malay mysticism. This was published as Shadows of the Prophet: Martial Arts and Sufi Mysticism. I have also edited volumes on Martial Arts as Embodied Knowledge, and War Magic. Trained in martial arts since the age of eight I have been awarded three black belts. Currently I am learning Brazillian jiu-jitsu and Ashtanga yoga. Because my research intersects with the anthropology of peformance and performance studies, I am also Affiliate Professor of Theatre at the University of Ottawa. Co-teaching fieldschools in underwater archaeology on Guam I became a rescue diver.