Dr Christopher Wilson

Senior Lecturer

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

+61 8 82013276

christopher.wilson@flinders.edu.au

Humanities (236a)

GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

Na Marrni na pudni, Kaurna yerta (Im glad we all gathered here, we are on Kaurna Country)

Dr Wilson is an archaeologist and Indigenous studies educator who specialises in Indigenous Archaeology (Theory and Practice). He has culturall afflications and connections to the Ngarrindjeri, (the people of the lower Murray Lakes and Coorong in southeastern Australia) Kaurna (the people of the Adelaide Plains) and Wotjobalak (the people of Dimboola, Victoria) . He has been at Flinders University for 17 years and is the Chair of the Aboriginal Partnerships Committee (APC) and Member of the Board for the South Australian Museum and recently appointed to the Indigenous Repatriation Advisory Committee by the Commonwealth Government of Australia.

Dr Wilson teaches across the disciplines of Archaeology and Indigenous Australian Studies and his teaching and fields of research are interdiciplinary and include: Archaeology of Indigenous peoples, cultural heritage, museums and repatriation of ancestral remains, critical race studies and the represetations of Indigenous dentity and in contemporary popular culture (IndgiPop). He is an advocate for Indigenous staff through the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and passionate about restoration, maintainance and protection of Indigenous culture, valuing and respecting Indigneous heritage . Thiese include key languages, heritage, global health and social justice that has dual benefit for all Australians and assists in redefining relation to our shared history.

Kondoli (Whale) Fact:

Studies on the brains of humpback whales revealed spindle cells, which, in humans, control theory of mind. Because of this, it is thought that baleen whales, or at least humpback whales, have consciousness

Qualifications

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology, Flinders University

2010, Professional Certificate in Indigenous Research Training and Practice, University of Melbourne

2006, Bachelor of Archaeology (Honours) First Class, Flinders University

2004, Bachelor of Archaeology (Indigenous Archaeology), Flinders University

Honours, awards and grants

Current Research Projects

2021-2022, CI Ngarrindjeri Research Project: Healthly Coroong Healthy Basin, Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Coorporation and Department of Environment and Water (DEW).

2019-2021 PI, Indigenous Cultural Heritage as a Facilitator for the Sustainable Development Goals (Prof Alok Kumar Kanungo PI, Archaeology, IIT, Gandhinagar and Dr Nisshant Choksi Co-PI, Archaeology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar and Professor Claire Smith, Co-PI, Archaeology, Flinders University), SPARC Program Project, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India.

2019-2021, CI, Refining Holocene Occupation, Subsistence and Chronologies in the Lower Murray River, South Australia, Reserach Training & Ethics (RT&E) Grant, Centre for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH).

2012-2021, CI/PI, National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN), Australian Research Council (ARC), Special Research Initiative, CI Professor Aileen Morten-Robinson, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Grant ID: SR120100005.

Completed Research Projects

2012 CI, Stage 2: AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Fish Otoliths from the Lower Murray River, SA, Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Award (Grant ID: 11022)

2010 Ngarrindjeri Reburial Commuinty Program, International Repatriation Unit, Department for Family and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA)

2009 CI, Stage 1: AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Fish Otoliths from the Lower Murray River, SA, Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Award (Grant ID: ALNGRA10062)

2008 CI, Lower Murray Archaeological Project, Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Research Grant (Grant ID: G2008/7398)

Honours and Awards

2020 Flinders Univesity Early Career Alumni Award

2009 University of Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Prize

2007 DEST National University Indigenous Partnership Award (with Dr Catherine Koerner and Dr Simone Tur)

2007 Office for Youth Outstanding Young Indigenous Acheiver Award, Channel 9 Young Achiever Awards

Key responsibilities

External Appointments & Ministerial Committees

2021-2024 Member, Advisory Committee for Indigneous Repatriation (ACIR), Appointed by Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Federal Minister for Communications, Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts.

2020-2022 Chair, Aboriginal Partnership Committee, Board Member, South Australian Museum.

2019-2021 ATSI Branch Committee Member, National Tertiary Education Union, Flinders University Branch.

2010-2013 Member, Aboriginal Advisory Committee, Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project Grant titled ‘’Museum, Field, Metropolis, Colony: Practices of Social Governance’’, Chief Investigator: Toney Bennet, University of Western Sydney

2009-2010 Member, International Repatriation Advisory Committee (IRAC), appointed by Hon. Jenny Macklin MP, Federal Minister for Families and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra

2005-2006 Member, National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group (NIYLG), appointed by Hon. Mal Borough MP, Federal Minister for FACSIA.

Teaching interests

Archaeology of the First Australians, Coastal and Riverinie Archaeology, Lab and Field Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, Museums and Repatriation, Indigenous Australian Studies, Critical Race Studies

Topic coordinator

INDG1000 An Introduction to Indigenous Studies

ARCH2208 The Museum

INDG1000 An Introduction to Indigenous Studies FLN

ARCH2202 Archaeology of the First Australians

ARCH8140 Archaeology of the First Australians GE

INDG1001 Race and Represenation: Indigenous Identities

Topic lecturer

ARCH2202 Archaeology of the First Australians

INDG1000 Indigenous Studies: An Introduction

INDG1001 Race and Representation: Indigenous Identities

INDG9000 Indigenous Research Methdologies