David Ocón

Dr David Ocón joined SMU in 2018. He is an interdisciplinary cultural historian and anthropologist who analyses ASEAN cultural relations and diplomacy with other countries in the Asian region, in particular China, Japan, and South Korea. He also works at the intersection of nature and cultural heritage preservation, digitalisation, and sustainable urban environments in Southeast Asia.

Dr Ocón has 20 years of experience in the arts, culture, and heritage sectors. As a practitioner, he led departments at organisations such as the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF, Singapore), the European Network on Cultural Management and Policy (ENCATC, Belgium), and Cervantes Institute (Beijing, China, and Dublin, Ireland), institution where he was the head of culture.

As an academic, he has worked, among others, at City University of Hong Kong, James Cook University, and the School of Technology for the Arts Singapore. In addition, for more than a decade, he has been a visiting faculty member at the University of Barcelona’s International Cultural Cooperation and Management Postgraduate Programme.

Dr Ocón has written several book chapters and published in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, and European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy, among others.

Qualifications

• PhD, UIC Barcelona, 2016
• MA, University of Warwick, 2004
• PGCE, Institute for Educational Sciences, 2002
• BA, University of Navarre, 2000

Research Interests

• Arts Management
• Asian Cultural Policies
• Cultural Cooperation in Asia
• Urban Heritage Preservation
• Urban Cultural Anthropology

Course(s) Taught in SMU

• Cultural Relations and Diplomacy in Asia
• Arts and Cultural Marketing
• Social Science Practicum: Cultural Heritage
• European Cultural History: From Antiquity to Brexit
• Art & History: From the Beginnings to the Revolutions
• Art & History: Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary