Griffith In Asia

Host, Professor Renee Jeffery chats to Elise Stephenson, PhD Candidate, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith Business School about her creative projects and research in the region. Rising global challenges and a changing academic landscape led Elise Stephenson to launch into entrepreneurship the same year she commenced her PhD, in 2017. Whilst running major international events across South East Asia with the Australian Government, Elise has pursued an ambitious research agenda to understand women’s under-representation in international affairs, across spheres of diplomacy, defence and security. This conversation explores Elise’s career, thesis, and work in ASEAN on public diplomacy programs as part of Australia now. The notion of ‘antifragility’ – of thriving from uncertainty – is at the forefront of Elise’s academic approach and is particularly relevant given the ambiguous times ahead, allowing her to combine creative projects with high impact research to make the most of working in t