The University of Melbourne presents the 2020 Narrm Oration by Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher on the topic of Our Country, Our Way: How Indigenous people and knowledge can save Australia’s environmental and social unravelling. The Oration will be delivered online on Thursday 26 November 2020, at 6PM.
The Narrm Oration
The Narrm Oration is the University’s key address that profiles leading Indigenous peoples from across the world in order to enrich our ideas about possible futures for Indigenous Australia. Narrm refers to the Country of the Melbourne region.
Delivered annually since 2009, the Narrm Oration is held every November on the Parkville campus. (In 2020, this shall be on Online Oration…)
2020 – Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher
About the orator:
Associate Professor Fletcher is a descendant of the Wiradjuri and a geographer interested in the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance, vegetation and landscapes in the southern hemisphere with a particular emphasis on how Indigenous burning has shaped the Australian landscape. He is Director of Research Capability at the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, Assistant Dean (Indigenous) in the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne, and a panel member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts.
Oration synopsis
The 2020 Narrm Oration is entitled: Our Country, Our Way: How Indigenous people and knowledge can save Australia’s environmental and social unravelling. Australia is in the midst of both environmental and social crises. With the highest rate of biodiversity loss on earth, the country is facing an ever-increasing barrage of massive catastrophic wildfires that wreak untold environmental damage and its First Peoples are among the most disadvantaged and disaffected demographic. In the 2020 Narrm Oration, Associate Professor Fletcher will argue that many of Australia’s current environmental problems can be traced to the impact of British invasion and the violent and devastating effects this has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Embedding the Aboriginal world view and notion of Country into mainstream Australia has the potential to benefit the lives and livelihoods of all Australians and our Country.
Note: The 2020 Narrm Oration will premiere online at 6pm (AEDT) Thursday 26 November. Register here.
Event Details
Program: 2020 Narrm Oration by University of Melbourne
Date: Thursday, 26 November 2020
Time: 6:00PM
Location: Online Event
Cost: FREE
Bookings: Register online at Eventbrite
