The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Ivan's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Ivan
My research focuses on Indigenous lifeways, environmental change, and animism and crosscuts socio-cultural and biological anthropology, environmental science, health, and creative media. At the University of Plymouth, I lecture in Anthropology, Sociology and Criminology. I have previously lectured in Anthropology and Anthrozoology at the University of Exeter and in Anthropology, Sociology and Cultural Studies at the University of Lyon, France.
For the last 20 years, I have conducted ethnographic research with Batek hunter-gatherers who live in the some of the last remaining tropical forests of Malaysia. I am particularly interested in how the Batek have maintained culturally distinct lifeways despite being in close contact with other groups for thousands of years.
My research is committed to decolonizing knowledge production through embedding Indigenous methodologies, participatory research in creative co-production. My work challenges disciplinary boundaries, demonstrating how anthropology, art, science, and storytelling can intersect to create engaged, interdisciplinary scholarship that amplifies Indigenous agency, environmental justice, and the enduring power of myth and ritual in shaping human societies.
I am currently completing an illustrated ethnography with artist John Hurford based upon my research with the Batek. I also lead a Sustainable Earth Institute-funded project entitled Resilient Landscapes: Co-Producing Orang Asli Visual Narratives of Climate Change and Environmental Transformation, with Malaysian Indigenous artist Shaq Koyok and illustrator John Kilburn (ADA). Through participatory art workshops, the project documents Orang Asli experiences of climate change and deforestation, advocating for decolonial, culturally sensitive conservation and policy.
I also lead The Time-Resistant Syntax of Myth and Ritual project with an international team of anthropologists, illustrators, and writers from Slovakia, the UK, the USA, Ireland, and Bulgaria. Our team are producing a 13-part graphic novel series which translates anthropological theories into accessible visual narratives, exploring myth and ritual through a comparative, cross-cultural lens.
Since 2024, I have collaborated on the Canadian New Frontiers in Research funded project Indigenous Breakaway Dynamics and Health in Malaysia led by Dr. Vivek Venkataraman (University of Calgary, Canada). This project brings together an international, inter-disciplinary team of socio-cultural and biological anthropologists, medical researchers, and Indigenous knowledge holders from institutions including Vanderbilt University (USA), University of Utah (USA), University of New Mexico (USA), University of Maryland (USA), and Universiti Malaya (Malaysia). It examines the health and well-being of Orang Asli communities reclaiming traditional ways of life in ‘breakaway’ communities, blending anthropology, political science, and biomedical research while centring Indigenous knowledge.
I also collaborate closely with Dr. Kenneth Sillander and Dr. Isabell Herrmans from the University of Helsinki on Southeast Asian Indigenous peoples, innovating conceptual frameworks related to affect, uncertainty, and sociality.
I regularly embed multi-modal approaches in my teaching through the use of ethnographic films, graphic novels, exhibitions, computer games, and interactive virtual reality simulations.
Would you like to do postgraduate research with me?
I would happy to supervise anyone interested in postgraduate research (MA or PhD) related to my expertise. For more info on the topics I work on, please click my research tabs. Do not hesitate to write me an email if you wish to discuss project ideas and funding opportunities!
Teaching
I have extensive experience lecturing in anthropology, sociology, criminology cultural studies and anthrozoology at universities in France and the UK. Prior to joining the University of Plymouth, I was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Exeter at the Exeter Anthrozoology as Symbiotic Ethics Working Group - an interdisciplinary group of academics whose research aimed to improve the lives of animals. At Exeter, I taught on the undergraduate Anthropology programme and the Masters programme in Anthrozoology. In France, I taught at the Université Lumière Lyon 2, the Université Jean Monnet, St Etienne and the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3.
At the School of Society and Culture at the University of Plymouth, I currently lead the following modules:
- ANT5003 - Applying Anthropology
- SOC4003IE - Body, Identity and Relatedness
- SOC4002 - Social Identities and Inequalities
- ANT5006MX - Decolonizing the Social Sciences
- ANT5008MX - Brave New Worlds
- ANT6006 - Anthropology on the Ground
I also teach on the following modules:
- ANT5001/ANTH605 - Anthropology of Truth/Different Ways of Knowing
- SOC5004 - Contemporary Social Theory
- ANT6001 - Anthropology Dissertation
- SOC6000 - Sociology Dissertation
- ANT5002/ANT6003 - Gifts, Commodities and Crises: A Contemporary Guide to Economic ANthropology
