Associate Professor Sandra Phillips, member of the Wakka Wakka and Gooreng Gooreng nations of Queensland has been welcomed as the Associate Dean for Indigenous Engagement at the University of Queensland (UQ). Phillips will be the first to fill this new role in the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), leading reconciliation actions across teaching, research and engagement in HASS and the entirety of UQ.
Dr Phillips said she looked forward to working towards boosting Indigenous involvement in HASS courses and activities. “The time is right for the faculty to maximise its disciplinary strengths in working effectively with Indigenous partners to bring positive changes to lives well beyond the campus.”
Dr Phillips joins UQ from the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, where she coordinated university-wide recruitment and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher degree by research students.
UQ awarded Dr Phillips her Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Government) in 1988 and her PhD from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2012 was awarded the Creative Industries Dean’s Commendation Doctoral Thesis Award. Phillips has had a successful career in Australian publishing and continues to be a widely recognised and valued leader in the Indigenous literary sector. Phillips has also received numerous awards, including the Queensland Writers Centre Johnno Award for services to writing in Queensland and the inaugural Oodgeroo Noonuccal Research Scholarship (Postgraduate).
Phillips has written and edited book chapters and journals on Indigenous Knowledges and creativity and worked in federal government and statutory bodies, including the Department of Communications and the Arts and Aboriginal Hostels Limited. From 2013 to 2017, Phillips lectured in creative writing and literary studies at QUT. Phillips retains her board positions with the National Institute of Dramatic Art, the Library Board of Queensland and the not-for-profit group Of One Mind.
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