Prompting Indigenous Culture, Land & Heritage with Indigenous Knowledge

This panel considers how Indigenous knowledge practices can be better supported and applied in contemporary contexts to strengthen and sustain Indigenous cultures and languages. The panel will investigate how Indigenous knowledge can be adapted with the guidance of senior Indigenous knowledge holders to meet social, environmental, and economic challenges of global significance. Culture and Heritage is a Research Theme program funded by the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne.
Associate Professor Lisa Palmer is an academic, writer, and filmmaker who teaches and researches at the University of Melbourne. She lives in Melbourne and regularly travels to Timor-Leste to carry out research and visit extended family. She has published widely in academic journals and is the author of two books: Island Encounters: Timor-Leste from the outside in (ANU Press, 2021) and Water Politics and Spiritual Ecology: Custom, environmental governance and development (Routledge, 2015). She has made two films about the island of Timor: Wild Honey: Caring for bees in a divided land (Ronin Films, 2019) and Holding Tightly: Custom and Healing in Timor-Leste (Ronin Films, 2021).
Professor Barry Judd is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) and Director of the Indigenous Studies Program in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. In his role as PVC, Professor Judd has responsibility for institutional policy, strategy, and advice in relation to all aspects of Indigenous higher education. As Director of Indigenous Studies, he provides academic leadership to the Program through undergraduate teaching, Higher Degree Research supervisions and research activity in support of this growing field of studies.
Kirsty Sword Gusmão carries out research in the School of Geography at the University of Melbourne. She is the Goodwill Ambassador for Education of Timor-Leste and the Chair of the Alola Foundation, an organisation that works to support Timorese women and children in the area of education, health and economic empowerment. She is also Chief Executive Officer of Woor-Dungin, a Melbourne-based organisation which works to link Aboriginal community-controlled organisations with the philanthropic sector.
Rachel Nordlinger is Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language at the University of Melbourne. Her research focusses on the description and documentation of Indigenous languages of Australia, especially Bilinarra, Wambaya, and Murrinhpatha. She also collaborates with Indigenous communities to support their efforts to maintain and revitalise their languages.
This panel was part of the Indigenous Knowledge Institute’s 2022 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples Symposium. Find out more here indigenousknow...