Sou-Jie Melissa Van Brunnersum

Sou-Jie van Brunnersum is a Dutch-Australian journalist who currently works for Deutsche Welle and Euronews. She covers international affairs, migration and geopolitical tensions. She is an experienced editor, reporter and presenter, and has conducted fieldwork in Southeast Asia, South America and Europe. Her current research project is titled “Ambivalent Enmity: The militarisation of the Asia-Pacific region throughout history and its impact on small island communities, land and identity” and focuses on issues such as environmental degradation, cultural erosion and hostile relations between the military and civilians. During her time in Okinawa, she conducted interviews with locals regarding the social, ecological, and psychological impacts of the U.S. and Japanese military presence. During her residency in Heidelberg, she intends to further develop her research using interdisciplinary methods that combine journalism with political science, ethnography, and conflict studies.