August 2023
Adelaide, SA | rvg [at] ravejudgerun [dot] com
Experience | Education | Research Interests | Additional Info
I have taught in a variety of educational settings, managed projects and organizations, and have engaged in a diverse array of research activities.
University of the West of Scotland
Senior Lecturer (GS4) | Paisley, Scotland | Current
Flinders University
Senior Lecturer | Adelaide, Australia | January 2019 – December 2022
I taught cybercrime and intro to criminology and criminological theory. I researched illicit enterprise in both analogue and digital spaces. I supervised doctoral and honours students.
University of Liverpool
Lecturer | Singapore | July 2016 to December 2018
I was the module leader for two courses: Cybercrime and Transnational Organized Crime. I developed these courses, focusing on the most recent literature and concerns in each discipline. I taught over 70 students in several group tutorials and lectures. I developed strategies to improve the students’ writing and critical thinking skills. I completed a doctoral student, Ernest Purvis.
The International Association for the Study of Organized Crime
Various Roles | International | February 2013 to present
I have served in three roles for IASOC, being a trustee from February 2013 to December 2014 and its acting executive director from December 2014 until December 2019. I currently serve on the advisory board.
Editorial Board Positions and Professional Memberships
For a current list of editorial boards I serve on and bodies that I am a member of [Click Here].
Doctor of Philosophy: Criminology, 2017
Thesis: Organizing Crime in the Margins: The Businesses, Organizations, and People of the American Drug Trade
Supervisors: Martin Innes and Michael Levi
Examiners: Federico Varese and Adam Edwards
This work examines various elements of the American drug trade within the context of the contemporary moral panic on drugs and unauthorized immigrants. Over the course of twelve months, I lived in the three sites I examined: The El Paso/ Juárez metropolitan area, Phoenix, and Chicago, working with local universities in each site: University of Texas, El Paso/ University Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Arizona State University, and Loyola University of Chicago, respectively. I formally interviewed 129 respondents and built the project based on these interviews and my experiences in each of the three field sites.
Master’s of Science: Criminology Research Methods, 2012
Dissertation: Revisiting Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and Social Control via the Moral Panic about Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants in the US
Supervisor: Ben Bradford
This work, which examines how unauthorized immigrants interact with the communities in which they live, was conducted over the course of two weeks, wherein I interviewed ten unauthorized immigrants in Greater New Orleans.
Master’s of Arts: International Relations, 2010
Dissertation: Considering Sovereignty and the Mexican Drug Trade: How Drug Trafficking Organizations Have Compromised Mexican Sovereignty
Supervisor: Andrew Phillips
This work examines the political implications of drug-related violence in Mexico.
Bachelor’s of Arts: Latin American Studies and Spanish, 2007
Dissertation: Stages of Migration: The Cycles of Mexico and Ecuador Compared
Supervisor: Maureen Shea
This work examines migration patterns from Mexico and Ecuador to the US and Spain.
To see my scholarly outputs, [Click Here]. In addition, my book Trying To Make It is out now on Cornell University Press. For a preview of a chapter, “Adelita and Calista,” [Click Here].
I am generally interested in illicit enterprise and illicit markets; organized crime; street and prison gangs, financial crime, and cybercrime.
I’m a native English speaker; I’m fluent in Spanish; and, I’m proficient in Italian.
I’m a citizen of Australia, Canada, Italy, and the United States of America.
I’m a hobby photographer. I enjoy cooking and exploring new music.