Preparing postgraduate research students to research Indigenous topics

ABSTRACT

When Indigenous and non-Indigenous postgraduate research students start researching Indigenous topics, how can we best prepare them for the task ahead? In this article, I describe the approach taken by one regional Australian university to support research students with Indigenous topics through a Master of Philosophy (Indigenous). Drawing on Nakata’s cultural interface theory, the programme is designed to grow students’ capacities to both negotiate the intersection between Indigenous and Western knowledges and successfully complete a research thesis. This article outlines the pedagogical underpinnings of the programme and describes some of the practices used throughout one-week intensives.

KEYWORDS:

• Research education
• postgraduate research
• Indigenous research
• educational design
• doctoral preparation
• cultural interface

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ailie McDowall

Ailie McDowall is a Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Studies at the Indigenous Education and Research Centre. Dr McDowall convenes the postgraduate research programs and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate coursework. Dr McDowall is a non-Indigenous researcher, whose research interests include how universities can better prepare both Indigenous and non-Indigenous research students to research topics at the intersection of Indigenous and Western knowledges.