Researcher

Dr Leah Lui-Chivizhe

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curatorial, archives and museum studies, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural history, Indigenous methodologies

Biography

I am a cultural historian of the Torres Strait Islands and joined UNSW in February 2024 as Scientia Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Languages, ADA. My current research focuses on how to work with nineteenth century museum collections from the Torres Strait in ways that strengthen Islander connections to our pre-colonial histories of human and more-than-human relations and contribute to decolonial praxis in collector...view more

I am a cultural historian of the Torres Strait Islands and joined UNSW in February 2024 as Scientia Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Languages, ADA. My current research focuses on how to work with nineteenth century museum collections from the Torres Strait in ways that strengthen Islander connections to our pre-colonial histories of human and more-than-human relations and contribute to decolonial praxis in collector institutions. Based on my doctoral research, my first book, Masked Histories: Turtle shell masks and Torres Strait Islander people (MUP 2022), was highly commended for Australian History in the 2023 NSW Premier’s History Awards.

My Qualifications

Doctor of History, University of Sydney, 2017
Graduate Cert. Educational Studies (Higher Education), University of Sydney, 2008
Master of Science, University of Sydney, 2007

My Research Activities

Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections LMU Munich and MAA Cambridge UK 2021-2025
Reclaiming TAWD, Max Planck Institute, (History of Science) Berlin 2020-2026
100 Histories of 100 Worlds in 1 Object, 2019-

My Engagement

Member, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra
Exhibitions co-editor, Editorial Board, Journal of Pacific History, ANU.
Member, Oceania Working Party, Australian Dictionary of Biography, ANU
Member, History Council NSW
Member, Publishing Advisory Committee, Aboriginal Studies Press
Member, Indigenous Advisory Group, Art Gallery NSW

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