March 28, 2014

2014 AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference

This week Sarah Verdon and I have attended the 2014 AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference in Canberra. AIATSIS stands for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The theme of the conference is "Breaking barriers in Indigenous research and thinking". It has been an excellent conference with though provoking keynote speakers and session presenters. 
Sharynne, Fiona Skelton (LSIC), Laura Bennetts-Kneebone (LSIC), Sarah Verdon (CSU), Deborah Kikkawa (LSIC), Michael Walsh (AIATSIS), Christina Eira (VACL), Doug Marmion (AIATSIS)
We presented the following paper:
McLeod, S. & Verdon, S. (2014, March). Celebrating Indigenous Australian children's languages: Diversity, competence, and support. AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference, Canberra, Australia.
Our presentation is available here
 
Sharynne presenting a paper at the AIATSIS conference
During the conference we have had the opportunity to tour the AIATSIS building and look at the manuscript, photographic and sound archives.
AIATSIS Institute
 I have also been able to purchase a number of useful books about Indigenous education, Indigenous languages, Australian Aboriginal English, and some Indigenous children's literature as well.