Rate My Professor Benito Cao

Benito Cao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations within the School of Social Sciences at The University of Adelaide, where he has been teaching politics since 2002. He also taught at the University of South Australia and Flinders University. Holding a Doctor of Philosophy from The University of Adelaide on the relation between racism and national identity in Brazil, Cao is a member of the Adelaide Education Academy since 2017 and recognized as an Education Specialist. His teaching philosophy emphasizes student-centered engagement, participation, and feedback, treating students as partners in the learning process. He coordinates tutors and has taught over twenty courses, including Introduction to Global Politics, Environment and Citizenship, Citizenship and Globalisation, The Ethics of War and Peace, Global Environmental Politics, and International Study Tours such as Inside Singapore: History, Politics, Identity. In 2020, he interviewed former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard for his Introduction to Global Politics class. Cao has led multiple Singapore study tours funded by the Australian Government New Colombo Plan Mobility Grants (2016-2019).

Cao's research focuses on citizenship studies, especially environmental citizenship; nation, state, nationalism, and multiculturalism; racism, ethnic relations, and politics of identity; power, politics, and popular culture; and innovation in teaching and learning in higher education. He authored the book Environment and Citizenship (Routledge, 2015) and guest-edited a special edition of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region on Environmental Citizenship in the Indian Ocean Region (2020). Key publications include 'Identity, geography and citizenship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil' (Social Identities, 2023), 'Squatting in Rio de Janeiro: constructing citizenship and gender from below' (Social Identities, 2023), 'Postcards from Rio: favelas and the contested geographies of citizenship' (Social Identities, 2023), 'Consuming environmental citizenship, or the production of neoliberal green citizens' (book chapter, 2017), and 'Dam-Nation: the struggle over the future of the Brazilian Amazon' (book chapter, 2014). Cao has received numerous teaching awards, including the Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching and Support for Learning (2020), Executive Dean's Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2011, 2016), Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2010, 2016, 2020), Beacon Commendation for the Enhancement and Innovation of Student Learning (2016), Student-Led Excellence in Teaching Award (2019), and Special Commendation for COVID-19 Emergency Teaching Response (2020).