Aboriginal Yulendj (Knowledge) and Community

With UNESCO's acknowledgement that Indigenous groups globally are challenged from 'development', climate change and globalisation and the Australian government's adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, how might Indigeneity assert itself legally, politically, culturally, socially and technologically to secure/ensure an equitable and respected place in a multicultural globalised Australian context?
How might key Aboriginal issues underpinned by self-determination, land and Country, treaty, economic development, urban and regional planning, traditional owners, cultural heritage and art, human rights, ethics and community development be considered and applied in a changing world and in Australian civics and citizenship, workplaces and community?


The Aboriginal Yulendj (Knowledge) and Community major will be available for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts at VU and it will use Moondani Balluk (embrace people) units in decolonial and postmodern theories to consider a range of complex topics concerning personal and national identity in a changing global world. In this major, students will explore, analyse and deconstruct their own disciplinary and lived perspectives as well as explore, reflect and understand the impacts and outcomes of colonisation for Indigenous Australian individuals, families and communities in South East Australia. Topics to be explored include history, human rights, traditional owners, sovereignty, governance and societal structures, coloniality and systems of power and community ethics. In addition, students will undertake a major graduating research, creative, or community-based project that allows them to build a professional portfolio and make a contribution to this field of study.