2020 Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture
Date: Monday 26 October
Time: 6:00 - 7:30pm
Venue: ZOOM Webinar
Cementing Indigenous leadership in higher education
The higher education sector has existed in Australia for 170 years, yet Indigenous Australians have participated for only half a century. This lecture will commence by providing an insight into the history of Indigenous participation in the sector, highlighting some of the contributions Indigenous people have made in the last fifty years.
A steady growth in student enrolment and completions is evident across the nation. There is also an increasing number of Indigenous people employed across the sector. Such progress is a legacy of those who have gone before us providing excellent formal and informal leadership to the sector - the pioneers of Indigenous education. It is this concept of Indigenous leadership that can bring significant benefit to all staff and students. This lecture proposes that Indigenous Knowledges and culture, through embedded Indigenous leadership, needs to be a core component of university business to ensure the best possible outcomes for both the university and broader communities.
Cementing Indigenous leadership in higher education
Professor Michelle Trudgett
Pro Vice-Chancellor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, Strategy and Consultation
Western Sydney University
Professor Michelle Trudgett is an Indigenous scholar from the Wiradjuri Nation in New South Wales. Michelle completed Bachelor of Arts (Aboriginal Studies), Master of Professional Studies (Aboriginal Studies) and Doctor of Education degrees at the University of New England. She currently holds the position Pro Vice-Chancellor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, Strategy and Consultation at Western Sydney University. Prior to this appointment Michelle served as the Inaugural Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Indigenous Knowledges at the University of Technology Sydney, and was previously the Head of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University. In recognition for her contributions to higher education, Michelle has received several awards including the highly prestigious National NAIDOC Scholar of the Year Award and the Neville Bonner Award for Teaching Excellence (along with colleagues Page and Bodkin-Andrews) in 2018. In 2019 she was awarded the University of New England Distinguished Alumni Award.
Michelle has been a Chief Investigator on four Australian Research Council grants, three as the lead CI, equating to almost $4.2 million in funding. She has developed an international reputation as a leading Indigenous Australian scholar whose research provides considerable insight into Indigenous participation in higher education, with a specific focus on the postgraduate sector. Michelle is currently working on two significant ARC projects - one will reshape the way universities currently 'do business' with Indigenous Australians through focusing on Indigenous leadership and governance in higher education, whilst the other investigates how the sector can best support and develop Indigenous early career researchers.
image: Prof. Michelle Trudgett, courtesy of Sally Tsoutas
