Exploring the Kungullanji Research Program Phenomenon and undergraduate research experiences from the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers

Exploring the Kungullanji Research Program Phenomenon and undergraduate research experiences from the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers
Exploring the Kungullanji Research Program Phenomenon and undergraduate research experiences from the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers

Principal speaker

Jennifer Campbell

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been shown internationally to provide dynamic spaces for students to develop research capital and create pathways to careers in research. UREs present an opportunity for the provision of new spaces in Australian institutions that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research, build research capital, and build communities of undergraduate researchers.

This seminar will explore Jennifer's PhD research exploring UREs as a mechanism to transform tertiary institutions into more supportive spaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research in the Australian context. Through the lenses of critical race theory, Indigenous standpoint theory, and communities of practice theory this research uses an Indigenist phenomenological methodological approach to understand the essence of the students' experience within the Kungullanji Research Program. This session will explore how the Kungullanji Research Program was found to: (1) provide new opportunities to interrupt colonising processes and misconceptions; (2) build individual research capital in addition to the benefits generally gained from UREs, to increase student success; (3) build communities of practice among undergraduate researchers that connect with and strengthen existing research communities; and (4) as a result of this social capital and the community of practice, support new research trajectories of program scholars.

The significance of this research - the first of its kind investigation of a URE for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars - lies in its analysis of how Indigenous knowledges, student voice and co-design assembled to deliver these transformative opportunities.

The recommendations covered in this session will illustrate how Indigenist research spaces can be developed with the potential to transform not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students' lives and careers, but research and knowledge creation across the tertiary education sector.


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