Teaching Sovereignty: Indigenous education in crisis times

Dean's Lecture presented by Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith CNZM

Indigenous Peoples have heavily committed to education as a foundation for cultural and language survival, regaining sovereignty, economic and community development and achieving equity in society.

Those aspirations have connected Indigenous Nations and communities across the world in efforts to transform and decolonise education systems.

This is occurring simultaneously to various global forces including, a pandemic, climate change, rapid advancement of emergent technologies, escalating economic exploitation of marginalised people, the undermining of global institutions, invented culture wars and actual wars being waged across the world. The list is long.

In the face of these crises many Indigenous education initiatives are optimistic sites of survivance.

In this Dean’s Lecture, Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith CNZM discusses the growth of Indigenous education over the last 40 years and the aspirations of communities who are also coping with social realities and this global context.

Date: Tuesday, 17th of March 2026

Time: 5.30pm Refreshments | 6pm - 7pm Dean's Lecture

Venue: Q230 Theatre
Level 2, Kwong Lee Dow Building (Building 263)
234 Queensberry St, Carlton.

Please only register for a seated ticket if you are sure to be attending in person. Another ticket type is available to receive a copy of the recording for those who are unable to attend in person.

Linda Tuhiwai Smith CNZM is a Distinguished Professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in Whakatane New Zealand. She is Māori and from Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou and Tuhourangi tribes. Distinguished Professor Smith is known internationally for her work on Decolonising research methodologies, Indigenous education and kaupapa Māori. She was the founding Co-Director of Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga the Māori Centre of Research Excellence and has held several senior academic roles at the University of Auckland and Waikato University.

She has served on the Health Research Council, the Marsden Fund Council, the Royal Society of New Zealand Council and is currently Deputy Chair of Council of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. She is a Fellow of the American Education Research Association, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, an International Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Academy of Science and the US National Academy of Education. Dist.

Professor Smith is a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Her publications include Decolonising Methodologies Research and Indigenous Peoples (1999, 2012, 2021) Zed Books, The International Handbook of Indigenous Education co-editted with Elizabeth McKinley (2017) Springer, and A Civilising Mission? The Making of New Zealand’s Native School System 1867-1969 (2001) co-editted with J.Simon, F.Cram, M. Hohepa and S.McNaughton. AUP.

She has recently published five children’s picture books inspired by her research on Māori strategies for healing from trauma.

VENUE INFORMATION:

There are two entrances available to the Kwong Lee Dow Building via Queensberry St or Leicester St. Please see images below.

Please take the lifts to Level 2. Stairs are also available.

Parking:

On-street parking may be available in Barry St, Leicester St and surrounds. Alternatively, public parking can be found at University Square Car Park. The entrances are at 244 Bouverie Street or 206 Berkeley Street. A map can be found here: https://maps.unimelb.edu.au/parkville/building/107

Tram:

The closest tram stop is stop 4-Queensberry St/Swanston St, Melbourne - Serviced by routes 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, and 72.

Alternatively, stop 9-Pelham St/Elizabeth St. The event venue is then a short walk along Pelham Street and down Leicester St.

View of the entrance to Kwong Lee Dow Building via Queensberry St (with stairs)

View of the entrance to Kwong Lee Dow Building via Leicester St (ground level entrance, no stairs)

Inside the Q230 Theatre, seats 198

The University of Melbourne is a global leader in higher education where brilliant minds come together to address important questions and tackle grand challenges.

We equip our students with a future-facing education personalised around their ambitions, enriched by global perspectives and embedded in a collaborative research culture. As active citizens and future leaders, they represent our greatest contribution to the world.

We engage our communities to ensure that education and research is inspired by need and for the benefit of society. In this, we remain true to our purpose and will fulfil our mission as a public-spirited institution dedicated to the principles of fairness, equality and excellence in everything we do.

The University of Melbourne acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we work, learn and live: the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong peoples (Burnley, Fishermans Bend, Parkville, Southbank and Werribee campuses), the Yorta Yorta Nation (Dookie and Shepparton campuses), and the Dja Dja Wurrung people (Creswick campus).

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