Thomas is Lecturer in Spanish Studies in the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. He is also Convenor of the Bachelor and Diploma of Languages, Convenor of Honours in Languages and Spanish at the ANU, and Secretary of the Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA).

He is an early career scholar of World Literature with a focus on Spanish and Latin American literature of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

His research analyses literatures’ various interactions with their ecologies (artistic, political, commercial, etc.) and traces their circulation and reception at national, regional or global strata. His research spans continents and numerous countries of Latin America as well as many genres, such as the novel, poetry, short story, essay and anthology. Through diverse case studies he uncovers the structure and dynamics of what he theorizes as the Latin American literature-world, and considers the function of specific genres (e.g., the essay and anthology) as instruments of canonization and literary revolutions.

His first monograph was published by Lexington Books in 2023, titled McOndo Revisited: The Making of a Generation Defining Anthology in the Latin American Literature-World. McOndo Revisited has been considered “a brilliant contribution to the sociology of literature in Latin America and an exceptionally well researched and argued book” (Juan Poblete, UC Santa Cruz), as well as “a major contribution to the study of one of the critical moments of Latin American literature’s ongoing struggle to be a part of world literature” (Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, Washington University St Louis).

Thomas’s articles have been published in Hispanófila, Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, Theory Now, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research, Chasqui, and 1616: Anuario de literatura comparada. He has also co-organised multiple local and international conferences, including the AILASA Biennial Conference Transnational Textures (ANU, 2024), Communicating Truth and Beauty ACHRC Annual Conference (HRC, 2021), The Uncanny City HRC Conference (HRC, 2017), and Our America? Past and Future of Latin American Literature (University of South Florida, 2016). In 2023 he was a participant at the Institute for World Literature at Harvard University.

Over the course of his research career, he has conducted archival research and dozens of in-person interviews with authors in Chile, The United States, Portugal, and Spain. Some of these interviews have been published in Latin American Literature Today, Nagarí, Letra Urbana and also in the edited book McCrack: McOndo y el Crack y los destinos de la literatura latinoamericana. He has also organised public author interviews, including with Chilean author Carla Guelfenbein and Spanish authors Adolfo García Ortega and Jordi Gracia for the Festival Benengeli: International Week of Literature in Spanish.

Thomas' main research areas include:

• Case studies in and theorisation of the Latin American literature-world.
• Chilean Literature as World Literature.
• World Literature Theories and Methodologies.
• Latino Literature and the New Latino Boom in the United States.

Thomas is available to supervise PhD, Masters, and Honours students in any of his fields of expertise. He is currently:

• Primary Supervisor and Chair of Panel, Jéssica M. Andrade Tolentino (PhD) "The child gaze: imaginaries of childhood in contemporary Latin American literature.”
• Associate Supervisor, Hamid Farahmandian (PhD) "Irish Orientalism: The Iranian Eire of James Joyce."
• Supervisor, Yaoyun Zhang (Honours) “‘We should have a film now, that’s what’s missing:’ Re-reading Manel Puig’s cinematic narration in The Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

Coming from generations of teachers, teaching is one of Thomas’ passions. He is regularly described by his students as among the most “gifted,” “inspiring,” “exceptionally engaging,” “committed,” and “caring” teachers they have ever had. His teaching philosophy is founded on a growing theory of learning, which challenges and trains students to approach aspects of language and cultural learning methodically as a process of inquiry, discovery, and authentic practise. He incorporates in his teaching innovative methods, such as: extracurricular reading groups; roleplay; the composition and performance of mini-dialogues; task-based group assessments such as short film writing/production or podcast writing and production, creative oral presentations; and regular flipped-classroom tasks. He has been nominated to CASS and university-level teaching awards by students and peers alike, and was profiled by the Centre for Learning and Teaching for his work on inquiry-based learning.

Thomas has experience working in the Australian Public Service as a Senior Engagement and Policy Officer at the Australian Research Council (ARC), in research advocacy for the Australasian Consortium of Humanities Researchers & Centres (ACHRC), and in the private sector as a Senior Consultant and defence contractor.

PhD and BA (Hons) (ANU)

20th, and 21st Century Latin American fiction; World Literature theories and methodologies; Latin America's historical identity discourse; anthologies and literary canonization; author studies; Latino literature in the USA; Chilean literary history.