Presentation Type
Presentation
Location
Online https://notredame-au.zoom.us/j/83148681185
Meeting ID: 831 4868 1185 Password: 874279
Start Date
29-4-2026 12:30 PM
End Date
29-4-2026 1:30 PM
Description
Our collaborative inquiry into First Peoples’ governance unfolds through lived conversations in which Country, kinship, and institutional struggle are inseparable. In our dialogues, governance emerges not as theory, but as the everyday labour of navigating compliance cultures, fractured university systems, and the long fight for Aboriginal knowledge to be recognised and valued across the university, in curriculum, research and governance. These dialogues reveal how trust, relational accountability, and the authority of Country are continually undermined by corporatised structures, yet also how they persist in practice through story, protocol, and shared responsibility. This presentation reflects on how such relational, placeheld conversations enact the beginnings of living universities grounded in First Peoples’ governance. We expect the research paper that accompanies this small project to form part of a Special Focus of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education entitled, ‘Culturally Regenerative Universities’. We are also part of a Nulungu-led ARC grant application called: Culturally Regenerative Universities.
Recommended Citation
Wooltorton, Sandra; Jago, Marianne (Ria); Poelina, Vennessa; Collard, Len; and Guimond, Laurie, "Midnight's Children: University and the theft of the future, our collaborative inquiry" (2026). Talking Heads Seminar Series. 2.
https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_talkingheads/2026/Schedule/2
Midnight's Children: University and the theft of the future, our collaborative inquiry
Online https://notredame-au.zoom.us/j/83148681185
Meeting ID: 831 4868 1185 Password: 874279
Our collaborative inquiry into First Peoples’ governance unfolds through lived conversations in which Country, kinship, and institutional struggle are inseparable. In our dialogues, governance emerges not as theory, but as the everyday labour of navigating compliance cultures, fractured university systems, and the long fight for Aboriginal knowledge to be recognised and valued across the university, in curriculum, research and governance. These dialogues reveal how trust, relational accountability, and the authority of Country are continually undermined by corporatised structures, yet also how they persist in practice through story, protocol, and shared responsibility. This presentation reflects on how such relational, placeheld conversations enact the beginnings of living universities grounded in First Peoples’ governance. We expect the research paper that accompanies this small project to form part of a Special Focus of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education entitled, ‘Culturally Regenerative Universities’. We are also part of a Nulungu-led ARC grant application called: Culturally Regenerative Universities.
