Introduction

Clair Anderson & Maggie Walter

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education Vol. 38S, 2009, pp. 1-2

The 2008 Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Knowledge Conference was held in Hobart, 2-4 July. Hosted by the Riawunna Centre and the School of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Tasmania, the event drew more than a hundred participants. The focus of the conference was the place of Indigenous knowledges within the “Education Revolution” and how to include Indigenous content, perspectives and knowledges within degree programs. Our four keynote speakers Martin Nakata from the University of Technology Sydney, Aileen Moreton-Robinson from the Queensland University of Technology, Ian Anderson from University of Melbourne and Karen Martin from Southern Cross University all addressed a different aspect of this theme. Together, with our dinner speaker the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and acting Race Discrimination Commissioner Tom Calma, these Indigenous scholars set the context for our engagement.

As in previous Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Knowledge Conferences in 2006 and 2007, the quality of the work presented in 2008 was outstanding and this special supplementary edition of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education extends the forum provided by the conference to a wider audience. These seven papers provide examples of the depth of contemporary Indigenous scholarship with a connecting thematic of the authors’ approach to Indigenous studies and Indigenous knowledge via projects, research or case studies.