Dr Liam Brady

Associate Professor

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

place Humanities (254)

I’m an anthropologist and archaeologist, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and Associate Professor in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

I’m originally from Canada with West Indian (Trinidad & Tobago), Venezuelan and Irish heritage. I completed my undergraduate studies in sociocultural anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario) and was then awarded a scholarship to travel to Monash University to undertake my PhD studies on the rock art of the Torres Strait Islands.

Prior to joining Flinders University in 2020, I was a tenured Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre (Monash University), and an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Western Australia’s Department of Archaeology.

Over the last 20 years I have crafted my research program around multidisciplinary approaches to Indigenous cultural heritage with a focus on integrating Indigenous knowledge into understanding the "archaeological record" (rock art, stone artefacts, rockshelter occupation sites etc.).

Related areas of interest include:

- how rock art and decorated material culture have been used as symbolic modes of communication in the deep and recent past

- the development of social networks and maritime specialisation in island and coastal contexts

- decolonising cultural heritage research in Indigenous contexts through “two-way” thinking

- exploring how prominent places acted as beacons through time to structure and shape people's movements, encounters, and connections with others.

I undertake research into these and other themes through long-term partnerships with Aboriginal communities in northern Australia, in particular with the Yanyuwa and Marra in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, the Palyku in the Pilbara, and the Kaurareg Nation in Torres Strait.

Qualifications

BA (Hons), Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada)

DPhil, Monash University

Honours, awards and grants
  • John Mulvaney Book Award, Australian Archaeological Association (for: Jakarda wuka, Too many stories, 2023)
  • Outstanding Academic Title, Choice (American Library Association, Association of College and Research Libraries, 2018)
  • Selected for the Future Research Leaders Program (Monash University, 2018)
  • Teaching Commendation, Monash University (2016, 2017, 2018)
  • Ethel-Jane Westfeldt Bunting Fellow, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2015)
  • Emerging Research Excellence Fellow (Monash University, 2014)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian Research Council (2009-2012)
  • Teaching Excellence Award, University of Western Australia (2010)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Western Australia (2008)
  • Mollie Holman Medal for Best Doctoral Thesis (Monash University, 2006)
  • Monash University Graduate Scholarship (2001-2005)
  • Monash University International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2001-2005)

Current grants

  • Lead Chief Investigator ARC Linkage (LP220100143), Investigating the archaeological values of Marra cultural heritage sites (with John Bradley, Emilie Dotte-Sarout, Amanda Kearney, Jeremy Ash, Cassandra Rowe, Daryl Wesley 2023-2027)
  • Chief Investigator, ARC Discovery Indigenous (IN220100079), Indigenist Archaeology: new ways of knowing the past and present (with Kellie Pollard, Claire Smith, Nicolas Bullot, Craig Taylor 2022-2026)
  • Chief Investigator, ARC Special Research Initiative (SR2002200062), Art at a crossroads: Aboriginal responses to contact in northern Australia (with Sally May, Paul Tacon, Daryl Wesley, Laura Rademaker, Andrea Jalandoni, Luke Taylor, Joakim Goldhahn 2021-2023)
  • Future Fellow, ARC (FT180100038), Desert Beacons: tracing connection and change in deep-time landscapes (2019-2022)

For a list of my publications see:

https://flinders.academia.edu/LiamBrady

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Liam-Brady-3

Key responsibilities

I am qualified to supervise Honours, Masters and PhD projects, and am keen to hear from prospective students interested in undertaking projects on all aspects related to Indigenous Archaeology, cultural heritage and material culture studies.

Teaching interests

I am currently on a research-only appointment until 2025 but teach into a range of topics in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to joining Flinders, I taught classes across several disciplines (anthropology, history, archaeology) focusing on method and theory, the anthropology and archaeology of art, cultural heritage issues in a global context, and Indigenous "Saltwater" people. My research-led teaching approach draws on a wide range of learning strategies including Problem- and Object-based learning, blending theory with practical applications, fieldschools and reflexive writing to challenge students to think critically about key issues in anthropology and archaeology.

Topic coordinator
ARCH8403 Directed Studies in Cultural Heritage Management
Supervisory interests
Anthropology
Australian Indigenous art and material culture
Australian museums and indigenous people
Contact archaeology
Cultural heritage management
Cultural landscapes
History, Indigenous
Indigenous Australian art
Indigenous archaeology
Indigenous cultural heritage