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Dr Gemma Sentance, Wiradjuri woman and legal eagle extraordinaire recently completed her PhD which investigated the experiences of First Nations law graduates in colonial legal institutions. In our yarn we discuss, gifts, and how academia can be a space of empowerment. This episode includes discussions of mental health. Gemma is today a Senior Research Fellow with Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research. She has previously worked as a research assistant on an Australian Research Council project exploring the experiences of criminalised First Nations women engaging with the legal system in NSW. She also has experience working as a graduate solicitor for the NSW government and has a Bachelor of Laws from UTS, Master of Criminal Justice and Criminology from UNSW, and a graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage from CSU. Gemma co-leads the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Fellowship with Professor Juanita Sherwood, a program that forms part of the ARC Laureate awarded to Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt OA. Book referenced by Gemma in this ep. Thunder in my Soul: A Mohawk Woman Speaks. By Patricia Monture-Angus. https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/th...

Luke Pearson is a Gamilaraay man, who founded IndigenousX in 2012. IndigenousX is a 100% Indigenous owned and operated media, consultancy, and training organisation IndigenousX believes in the principles of self-determination and works to effect change by upholding Indigenous knowledges, voices and ways of being Luke leads the IndigenousX team and oversees day to day operations across the different sections of the business. Luke’s passion for IndigenousX stems from his commitment to Indigenous self-determination, truth-telling, and education. In this episode we discuss opportunity, hypervisibility and gate keeping. Relevant links: IndigenousX https://indigenousx.com.au/

A Pairrebenne Trawlwoolway woman from Tebrakunna Country in northeast Trouwerner (Tasmania), Dr Lauren Tynan’s research areas encompass human geography and Indigenous studies, developing original methodological approaches, and contending with ethics, climate change and land management issues. In 2025 her PhD was awarded without correction. It is entitled Kin and Country: Relational Research, Cultural Fire and Indigenous Futurities. With an interest in Indigenous and decolonising methodologies, Lauren’s research focuses on relationality with Country, largely through Aboriginal cultural burning practices and fire. Relevant links/articles: Tynan, Lauren. (2020). Thesis as kin: living relationality with research. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. 16. 117718012094827. 10.1177/1177180120948270. The book Amy refers to is by bell hooks ‘All About Love: New Visions’ (1999).

In this episode I yarn with Wonnarua woman and fierce medical advocate - Dr Leila Usher Obstetrician & Gynaecologist; FRANZCOG, MBBS; HNELHD - JHH, NMH. Please note that this episode includes discussion of Women’s Business, systemic violence, birth and hospital trauma, as well as discussions of Aboriginal people and loved ones who have passed away.

This is the final episode for season 1 of Blacademia. This week's guest is Dr Lorraine Muller.

My guest for Season 1, Episode 7 is the remarkable DR MARLENE LONGBOTTOM. In this episode we yarn up about: The value fo connection, mentorship, and uplifting/supporting mob in the academy and community What does being a 'post-doc' mean? Working in Hawaii The Australian bushfire crisis, and how Dr Longbottom contributed to mobilising community support via social media

In this yarn we explore what it actually means to be an astrophysicist, the power of part-time and finding what works best for you in study, and how deadly good ways STEMM can be.

In this episode we yarn about tailoring your teaching for hostile environments, Instagram influencers and the academy, what it means to be authentic as an institution, cultural safety and more!

In this yarn Professor Heiss and I chat the intersecting journey of author and academic, community engagement, the value of a PhD, master classes, self-care and Professor Heiss’s dream job!

In this episode we yarn about their journey from being someone who left high school at age thirteen...to now being a PhD holding, Associate Professor and Deputy Head of a School in a university! Also +imposter syndrome, family, alternate pathways to, and through, university, AND the power of museums that work!

In this episode I yarn with the phenomenal PROF. CHRIS MATTHEWS who shares about his journey to becoming a blacademic, finding solace and safety in maths and science, experiencing racism in schooling, and what the difference is between Honours and a PhD.

Season 1, Episode 1, Professor Marcia Langton by Blacademia