| Focused on oral and written works by Indigenous people from Australia and other countries, the unit introduces Indigenous philosophies and worldviews. Students will explore Indigenous ways of being (ontologies), knowing (epistemologies), and acting (ethics and politics), concentrating on the way that such knowledge traditions have been (mis)understood by the West. Through careful attention to Indigenous Voices and Indigenous Arts, students will ascertain how Indigenous communities have resisted settler-colonialism, extractive economic markets, and racializing conceptions of scientific research. In completing the unit, students will have acquired, first, foundational cross-cultural skills needed for understanding the history of interactions between Indigenous and Western traditions. Second, they will have acquired expertise for contributing to real world problems, cultural safety and truth-telling around matters of Indigenous emancipation, Indigenous justice, and community-led research. |
