Australia’s universities have a responsibility to be the beacons of light in delivering social justice agendas across its many curriculums and courses.
Professor Juanita Sherwood, Universies Australia, Indigenous Strategy 2022-2025
This year, UTS is hosting the Indigenous Higher Education Curriculum Conference (IHECC) to support the advancement of the Universities Australia Indigenous Strategy 2022-25. Across two jam-packed days (29-30 November), there will be insights and examples of how higher education curriculum can be decolonised for the purpose of developing Indigenous graduate attributes, and how we can work together to build a national and international community of practice.
Conference Convenor Associate Dean Indigenous Teaching and Learning, Associate Professor Annette Gainsford highlighted the importance of the two-day event, which includes presentations from higher education institutions in NSW, SA, ACT, VIC and QLD, and noted that UTS will be welcoming delegates from Australia, New Zealand and Canada for the conference.
Guest speakers
- Welcome to Country will be delivered by proud Wiradjuri woman Aunty Yvonne Weldon
- Juanita Sherwood, Professor of Australian Indigenous Education at UTS, will be giving a keynote speech
- The International Plenary, ‘Indigenous Curriculum in Higher Education – International Perspectives’, will feature panellists Dr Carwyn Jones, Professor Jeff Corntassel and Professor Juanita Sherwood
- The closing address is by Robynne Quiggin, Office of the Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous Leadership and Engagement at UTS
A plethora of presentations
Concurrent sessions will cover a broad range of approaches and practice with colleagues from university institutions across Australia and beyond. Topics include Country-Centred learning for pre-service teachers, the role of academic libraries as places of cultural safety, indigenising and decolonising the curriculum, mapping Aboriginal content and pedagogies and empowering Indigenous student voices in Higher Education.
Such a wide range of speakers, subjects and universities means that, whichever sessions you join, you’ll be engaging with unique perspectives from academics as they present on their areas of scholarship across Indigenous curriculum design, development and delivery.
…and dance!
Specialising in Aboriginal Contemporary and Traditional dance, the students of the Redfern-based Brolga Dance Company discover culture through body movement as a vital space for storytelling. Experience their story on the morning of 30 November.
These are just some of the highlights to preview this exciting two-day event – we’ll be back for a comprehensive two-part wrap-up in early December!