Aboriginal Astronomy - National Reconciliation Week 2017
Event Information
Description
Join us at the Ballarat Library for a FREE public seminar on Aboriginal Astronomy as part of celebrations for National Reconciliation Week 2017...
Hear from astronomer and Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre in Melbourne, Dr Duane Hamacher, as he shared the ways Indigenous Australians encode scientific information in their traditions and how this knowledge is passed to successive generations.. Features videos of dances, songs and interviews with Elders.
Aboriginal Astronomy - public seminar with Dr Duane Hamacher
Monday 29 May at the Ballarat Library
6.00pm - 7.30pm
Dr Duane Hamacher is an astronomer and Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre in Melbourne. His research focuses on Indigenous astronomical and geological knowledge and traditions, particularly in Australia.
His current project, funded by a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian Research Council, explores the astronomical knowledge of Torres Strait Islanders.
Born in the US, Duane earned a degree in physics from the University of Missouri before moving to Australia to complete a research Masters degree in astrophysics at UNSW searching for extrasolar planets, followed by a PhD in Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University studying Aboriginal Astronomy.
He is a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Chair of the IAU Working Group on Intangible Heritage, Secretary of the International Society of Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture, and an associate editor of the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.
