Ms Robyn Heckenberg
Lecturer, Head of Section
| Phone: | +61 3 990 26765 or +61 3 512 26765 |
| Fax: | +61 3 990 26359 or +61 3 512 26359 |
| Office: | 1S 112 , Gippsland Campus |
| Email: | Robyn.Heckenberg@monash.edu |
Biography
Robyn Heckenberg has worked in a variety of educational environments including:
- community workshops
- TAFE
- secondary school projects
- four Universities.
Her educational background has also been one of variety with postgraduate qualifications from tertiary institutions in the Northern Territory, NSW and Victoria.
Her research as a student includes:
- ‘Stepping Stones to All Ya Clans: running a project in Indigenous Education’, minor thesis in Master of Teaching (La Trobe University, Wodonga);
- ‘Heroes and superheroes in Aboriginal culture: Aboriginal view points on land, social justice and survival’ for Master of Fine Art (Research) (University of Newcastle).
Other projects, for ATSIC and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education focused on the gaps and overlaps of service provision for Indigenous families affected by domestic violence in Victorian communities.
Robyn has been an active feminist with early affiliations to the Sydney Rape Crisis Centre, Women’s Liberation House and street publishing in the seventies and eighties around issues to do with social justice and tenancy. Being an artist she is a round peg in a square hole.
Research interests
- Cultural sustainability issues for Indigenous people globally: community asset gathering and community driven projects; mapping positive outcomes for the future
- Cultural heritage: caring for country (Flora and Fauna, waterways); importance of buildings and locations of significance to local memory and identity
- Effects of changes in policy on power workers in Gippsland industry
- Pathways to university for Indigenous students: development and innovation Koorie Footprints to Higher Education: conduit between university and community (won a Wurreker Award (VAEAI) in 2008 and was shortlisted in 2009)
- Recent research consultancy work resulted in a community driven action plan and report for cultural sustainability for a riverine community on the Murray River
- Negotiating the curriculum to make it more engaging and creative for university students is an ongoing commitment and area of study
Current research projects
- Cultural vitality and the importance of cultural practices for sustainable futures for Indigenous Australians, particularly when viewed upon by government and educational organisations and the mechanisms they use to create such environments
- Artistic practice in Australia and the discourse surrounding imaging this practice in text; the interface between text and visual art
- Caring for country and culture
- Australian writing with focus on Indigenous literature and film
- The university classroom (actual) and the tyranny of distance (virtual)
- Comparative studies of disparate backgrounds of Indigenous people of the Pacific, Australia and Northern Europe
Recent publications
- Heckenberg, R. 2010, ‘Positive Futures: Indigenous Cultural Sustainability: for Albury City Council’, Monash University, Churchill
- Heckenberg, R. 2009, ‘More than a whisper: the indelible beguiling of teaching off campus learners Indigenous Studies’ in Collected Wisdom: Off Campus Learning and Teaching Symposium. with accompanying artwork
- Heckenberg, R. 2007, ‘Researchers, Journalists and Librarians: who owns the Knowledge’, Threshold, Monash University student paper, Monash University, Gippsland.
- Heckenberg, R. 2006-2007, artwork as part of mix06 and article in publication from Institute of Global Movement
Conference participation and presentations
- Custodianship of Country: Native Title Rights and Spiritual Connection, 2010, Hawaii International Conference on Art and Humanities, Honolulu.
- Launch of Educate09, 2009 panel and summations, Gippsland
- ‘When all the Rivers Run’, 2009, Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu
- ‘Inspiration or Intellect: Research dilemmas’, 2009 Faculty of Art and Design Research Forum, Caulfield
- Monash University and Koorie Footprints to Higher Education, 2009, Deadly in Gippsland Conference (DIG), San Remo; presented with Kylie Clarke (Koorie Resource Officer)
- ‘Making Sense of Mobile Phone Cameras’ 2008, Art Education Victoria Conference, South Oakleigh Secondary College, South Oakleigh
- ‘Indigenous ways of seeing: Colonised view of Art History’, 2008, Art Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, Queensland Art Gallery
- ‘Kevin Gilbert and Gordon Bennett: reflections from the same Vista’, 2008, Rhizomes Conference on Violence and Language, University of Queensland, Brisbane.
- ‘Koorie Footprints to Higher Education’, 2008, AARE Conference, Queensland University of Technology
- ‘More than a whisper: the incredible beguiling of teaching off campus learners Indigenous studies’, 2008, published in Collected Wisdom: Off Campus Learning and Teaching Symposium, papers and posters
- ‘Making Our own Koorie Footprint’, 2007, proceedings of Indigenous Studies Conference, University of Tasmania, Hobart
- ‘Leadership, Malaise and Action: Leading solutions’, 2007, presented at AARE Conference, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle
- ‘Practice what you preach: How can leadership roles by Indigenous educators encourage positive outcomes for our Future teachers’, 2007, paper presented at AARE Conference, Notre Dame University, Fremantle
Teaching
- Introduction to Indigenous Studies
- Issues in Aboriginal Education
- Dynamics of Indigenous Cultures
- Australian Indigenous Art & Design (theory) Caulfield and Gippsland
- Australian Indigenous Women
- Australian Indigenous Literature
- Australian Indigenous Women (masters subject), Master of Community Development
Expert media commentary
Grants
- 2010, Indigenous Cultural Sustainability Project: Contract Research, (Albury City Council), $9,000
- 2008, Gippsland Campus Bursary, $5000
- 2007-2009, Koorie Footprints to Higher Education, Nationally competitive, (DEST/DEEWR) $67,500