Impact of Globalisation on Indigenous Knowledge Systems
This project aims to develop research policy in Indigenous studies in terms of the impact of communication technologies upon traditional Indigenous knowledge systems. The outcome will be a set of culturally appropriate protocols for using Indigenous material in multi-media. Publications that are part of this project include the edited book, Indigenous Cultures in an Interconnected World, co-edited by Graeme K. Ward and published by Allen and Unwin in 2000 and the documentary of the same title, co-produced by Heather Burke in 1999, and available through Coombs Academic Publishing, Australian National University. The recent focus of this project is Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, and Claire and Heather Burke convened a conference on this in Burra, South Australia, in December 2006. As well as facilitating pure research through the investigation of Indigenous knowledge systems and processes of cultural change, this project will play a significant role in the development of five case studies communities. The project will produce practical and constructive guidelines for negotiating cultural and intellectual property issues, making these communities better placed to take advantage of economic opportunities, and will generate state and national level policy recommendations. It is hoped that this research will strengthen Australia's social and economic fabric by contributing to the emotional, social and cultural wellbeing of Indigenous communities and helping to redress their extreme economic disadvantage.
Barunga-Wugularr Community Archaeology Project
Claire has worked intensively with the Barunga and Wugularr communities every year since 1990. Her doctoral research involved analysis of the relationships between the production of art and social and material context. Since then she has conducted a number of excavations and developed a research interest in people's relationships to place. The latter project has current funding from an ARC Discover Grant. Claire has published many papers on her work at Barunga, often collaboratively with community members. The main books to come out of this research are Country, Kin and Culture: Survival of an Australian Aboriginal Community, published by Wakefield Press in 2004 and the forthcoming book Barunga Murals. At the moment, Claire is using her experience in the Barunga-Wugularr region to develop a broad-ranging project on cultural heritage and cultural and intellectual property rights. In the longer-term Claire hopes to develop a multimedia education package on the archaeology, heritage and culture of the area for teaching at local and national schools.
Burra Community Archaeology Project
This project started in 1998, at the instigation of the community of Burra, South Australia. Aspects of the project include analysis of multiculturalism and of the lives of working people in Burra. This project emerges from an innovative collaboration between archaeology, cultural tourism and relevant industry and community bodies and is supported by an Australian Research Council Strategic Partnership with Industry Research and Training grant. Industry partners in this research are the National Trust of South Australia, Burra Burra Branch, the Regional Council of Goyder and the Mid North Regional Development Board. At the moment, Claire's current work in the Burra region is focussing on Indigenous cultural heritage and cultural and intellectual property rights, on which she co-convened a conference in December 2006.

Overview

Claire Smith has been a member of staff at Flinders University since 1998. Her primary research interests are in Australian archaeology, especially rock art. While she has conducted field research with Aboriginal communities in Australia, Asia and North America, she mostly works with Aboriginal people from the Barunga region of the Northern Territory, and with Ngadjuri people from South Australia. Her current research project, funded by the Australian Research Council Linkage grant, is 'Archaeology in the Long Grass', and is being undertaken collaboratively with Dr Heather Burke, of Flinders University, and Ms Keli Pollard, also from Flinders. She also has a long-term project based in Burra, South Australia, that encompasses issues such as the archaeology of colonialism, the repatriation of Indigenous knowledge and the returning to country of Ngadjuri people. As President of the World Archaeological Congress, she has knowledge of contemporary issues in archaeology in many parts of the world.

Claire is Head Series Editor for two book series: the Indigenous Archaeologies Series, with AltaMira, and the Global Cultural Heritage Manual Series, with Springer. Her recent publications include Country, Kin and Culture. Survival of an Australian Aboriginal Community; The Archaeologist's Field Handbook, co-authored by Heather Burke and published by Allen and Unwin; and Indigenous Archaeologies: Decolonising Theory and Practice, co-edited by H. Martin Wobst and published by Routledge.

Teaching is a major part of Claire's life, and this informs her research. With her colleague, Heather Burke, she has produced the edited book Archaeology to Delight and Instruct: Active Learning in the Tertiary Classroom. In addition, the two have recently completed Digging it Up Down Under: A Practical Guide to Doing Archaeology in Australia, which is aimed at giving graduate students the skills to work their way through the political, ethical, legislative and practical dimensions of doing professional archaeology in Australia.

Claire teaches a range of topics, including 'Indigenous Australian Archaeology', the 'Archaeology of Art', 'Digging up the Bible' and 'Power, Ethnicity and Gender in Archaeology'. The latter topic is an innovative, internationally collaborative venture that used the Web to access specialist expertise from around the globe. Its development and initial implementation is described in Claire's monograph Teaching Archaeology in Cyberspace. Claire also teaches an 'Ethnoarchaeology Field School' in the Barunga community of northern Australia, and recommends this for a life-changing experience for students who plan to spend their archaeological lives conducting research in other people's communities. Claire also regularly teaches at institutions outside Australia. She has taught at Lock Haven University, Pennsylvania, the University of Cape Town, South Africa and Pitzer College, California. In 2004-2005 Claire taught in the Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York. During this period, she developed a small addiction to Broadway shows.

Personal Interests

Claire's life outside of archaeology is shared by her anthropologist husband, Gary Jackson, with whom she conducts most of her research, and their 20-year-old son, James, whose research interests lie with virtual, rather than real, worlds. They have one dog, Nyphistra Silvertree, but still miss Leatherdog. Claire's life ambitions include learning to to play the flute, and to speak Spanish. Since she is unlikely to achieve either, she watches SBS television and listens to ABC Classic FM on the radio.

CRICOS Provider: 00114A | Updated: 18 Nov 2009