Follow us on Twitter

Study Indigenous knowledge, histories and practices

You will develop deep critical thinking and effective communication skills, and be introduced to innovative perspectives on society and the world.

We need to have a paradigm shift; to me the paradigm shift is that we have to see the world as Indigenous people see it.

Dr David Suzuki Scholar, environmentalist and scientist

Postgraduate study

Postgraduate students can embark on the Master of Research or PhD in Indigenous Studies.

Teachers, educators, administrators and policy developers seeking to expand their knowledge and formalise their professional experience in Indigenous education can complete a one year Master of Indigenous Education, which is unique to Macquarie University.

Indigenous studies posters

Undergraduate units

The latest information about our undergraduate units is available in the Macquarie University Course Handbook.

ABST 1000 Introducing Indigenous Australia

This unit introduces students to contemporary Indigenous thought, culture and politics in Australia. Students in this unit learn about Indigenous futurism and activism, the history of race and settler colonialism in Australia, and Indigenous studies and decolonial thinking. Students will also be introduced to contemporary expressions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identities. This is a transformative unit that provides students with skills and knowledge to be agents of change in their communities and the world at large.

ABST 1020 Dharug Country: People, Places and Presences

ABST1020 allows students to connect with contemporary Dharug people and learn about the impact of colonisation on the community and also better understand how Dharug people and communities have resisted and survived. Dharug people will share stories of importance so students can be more aware of the politics of place.

ABST 2020 Indigenous Pop Culture

This unit introduces students to significant, contemporary Indigenous artists, performers, authors, musicians, meme makers and other producers of popular culture. This unit also considers the way Indigenous people and communities consume and subvert popular culture. Students will engage with global Indigenous collaborations expressing resistance, resurgence and rebellion against colonial representations. Graduates of this unit will be able to demonstrate an understanding of contemporary Indigenous political creativity.

ABST 2035 Indigenous Queer Studies

This unit is a multidisciplinary unit that draws from both Indigenous and Queer Studies which have generally been treated as separate fields of academic inquiry. This unit prioritises Indigenous Queer populations as agents of transformation across social, cultural, and political landscapes of Australia and across the globe. Through critical engagement with Indigenous LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer) worldviews, students will develop an understanding of Indigenous Queer identities and explore the specific challenges that these communities continue to endure under colonial regimes. We will engage in Indigenous Queer perspectives which interrupt, challenge, enrich and recalibrate our understandings of community, culture, gender, and sexuality.

ABST 2060 Indigenous Histories and Knowledges

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are the oldest living cultures on earth with over 60,000 years of history. There is much to learn from Indigenous people and communities. ABST2060 explores Indigenous histories and knowledges from the big bang through to contemporary times and provides an understanding of how Indigenous knowledges about the world can inform future thinking about conservation, land management, climate change and sustainability.

ABST 3025 Indigenous Research Methodologies

Indigenous research holds answers to environmental, social, cultural, and political questions that require urgent attention in the world. ABST3025 provides students with skills and knowledge to critically think about their engagement in culturally competent and ethical research with and for Indigenous people and communities. **ABST3025 also paves the way for higher-level study in the Masters of Research program.

ABST 3035 Indigenous Queer Theory and Practice

This unit introduces students to theories and practices for the analysis of race, gender, and settler colonialism. Engaging with Black and lesbian feminism, queer of colour critiques and Indigenous methodologies, students will learn strategies and concepts that challenge Western ideas about love, family, sex, and identity. Students will become familiar with standpoints that view the origins of race, gender and heterosexuality as connected, and as integral to capitalism and colonialism as global projects. This unit teaches strategies and legacies of resistance, emphasizing the complexity and productivity of coalition and solidarity between Indigenous and Black, immigrant and refugee, and queer and transgender activists globally.

ABST 3040 Settler Colonialism, Decolonisation and Indigenous Futures

This unit provides an overview and critical analysis of Indigenous–settler politics in Australia. Students will develop a nuanced, critically-informed understanding of settler colonialism as a political structure, and explore how it manifests through both policy and institutional cultures in Australia. The unit then turns to practices of decolonisation, unpacking the role of political protests, land claims and non-Indigenous allies in moving towards justice in the context of settler colonialism. It closes by exploring ‘Indigenous futurisms’—how Indigenous people are already both imagining and practicing a decolonised Australia—including through digital media, queer identities, and science fiction.

Page owner

E: Department of Critical Indigenous Studies