Dr. Vandra Harris Agisilaou

Vandra Harris's research focuses particularly on the interface between different actors in humanitarian spaces, especially militaries, police and NGOs, and local and international development actors. She has a special interest in humanitarianism(s), children and youth, and ethics in everyday practice.

Vandra's most recent research project addressed NGO-military interaction complex emergencies and disasters, funded by the Australian Civil-Military Centre. She has previously worked on ARC research projects on Australia's international policing and on youth recidivism in Australia. 

Past and current PhD supervisions include international police traffic safety; trauma and nation-building in Timor-Leste; community-based disaster risk management in Sri Lanka; community policing and militant groups in Pakistan; gender-based violence in humanitarian practice; and pro-poor decentralisation in Ghana

At Masters level, Vandra teaches Practical Ethics for Development; International Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Assistance; Humanitarian Practice; and Children in Development and Humanitarian Practice. In undergraduate International Studies, she teaches Global Development: Themes, Debates and Practices.

Vandra is a member of RMIT's College Human Ethics Advisory Network. She is a Fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society (IUSAFS); 

maintains professional membership of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP), International Development Ethics Association (IDEA), Australian Association of Professional and Applied Ethics (AAPAE), Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA)

• Doctor of Philosophy (Development Studies), Flinders University
• Master of Letters (Development Studies), University of New England
• Graduate Diploma of Social Science (Child Development), University of South Australia
• Bachelor of Arts - Honours (Literature), University of Adelaide
• Bachelor of Arts (Indonesian; English) Flinders University