New team to expand Indigenous content in UTS courses

UTS has appointed three renowned Indigenous education scholars to lead the expansion of Indigenous content in curricula across the university.

Professor Michelle Trudgett, Professor Susan Page and Associate Professor Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews have this week joined the School of Education in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Based in a yet-to-be-named academic expertise centre, the three will take charge of the implementation of Indigenous Graduate Attributes and Indigenous Course Intended Learning Outcomes across UTS and the university's pathway provider UTS:INSEARCH.

UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs said the appointments were "a watershed moment for UTS", coming at the same time as the release of the university's Indigenous Education Strategy 2015-18 and the 50 year anniversary celebrations of the Freedom Riders who supported Aboriginal equality.

"Michelle, Susan and Gawaian will be crucial to implementing the education strategy's objective of expanding the opportunity for students across UTS to gain knowledge of Indigenous Australians," Professor Brungs said.

"The appointments, which are part funded by INSEARCH, strengthen our commitment to Indigenous education and aim to ensure that all UTS graduates have Indigenous professional competency as appropriate to their profession."

Professor Michelle Trudgett is an Indigenous scholar from the Wiradjuri Nation in New South Wales. Michelle comes to UTS via her position as the Head of Warawara – Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University. Michelle has developed an international reputation as a leading Indigenous Australian scholar whose research provides considerable insight into the area of Indigenous participation in higher education, with a specific focus on the postgraduate sector. Her current ARC funded research (in collaboration with her colleague, Professor Susan Page) seeks to create a model of best practice for the supervision of Indigenous doctoral students. Michelle is passionate about developing strategies to ensure Indigenous higher education students receive culturally appropriate support throughout their academic journeys.

Professor Susan Page was the Director of Macquarie University's Warawara – Department of Indigenous Studies from 2008-2012 and, until recently, was the Director of Learning and Teaching at Warawara. Susan is an Aboriginal academic whose collaborative research and publication focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experience of learning and academic work in higher education. She has been awarded a University Teaching Excellence award from the University of Sydney. In 2014, Susan was elected as the Deputy Chair to the inaugural Board of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Consortium (NATSIHEC).

Associate Professor Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews, of the D'harawal nation, was a Senior Lecturer at Warawara. Gawaian has a growing research base within Indigenous Australian education and psychology. He has managed and led numerous research grants investigating a diversity of topics capturing Indigenous Australian perspectives in education, mental health, identity, traditional knowledges, racism, and bullying. His projects have led to the development of a strong foundation in developing robust and diverse research designs, and he has developed considerable experience in applying advanced quantitative methodologies (e.g., structural equation modelling), and capturing voices and personal stories in qualitative inquiries. His research has also attracted a number of national and international awards (including the AARE Betty-Watts Indigenous Researcher award).