My ancestors are from South Australia however, I was born on Dharawal Country and have always felt a strong sense of belonging to this beautiful place. I have lived in many locations across Australia and around the world but Wollongong will always be home to me.

I am currently a Professor and Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University. However, I began my university journey in Wollongong some years ago. While doing some family research I was directed to the Aboriginal Education Centre at the University of Wollongong (UOW).

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There I met the Indigenous student support officer who suggested I apply to come to university. I did apply and was made an offer to study a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Aboriginal Studies and Sociology. That suggestion changed my life.

I felt a sense of real pride attending a place of higher learning where I had been born and felt so connected to. The Indigenous student support space on campus was originally called 'The Aboriginal Education Centre' (AEC) and was a very old building that leaked in the rain and was in need of much repair. Regardless it was fantastic to be there with all the other Indigenous students and staff.

The academics teaching Aboriginal Studies were also located at the Centre. The support I received definitely contributed to me successfully completing my degree. The AEC was later demolished and the new Centre was built and renamed 'Woolyungah Indigenous Centre'. Support centres on university campuses are the reason many Indigenous people graduate from university.

Support centres do more than just support students academically- they also provide a sense of community on campus that helps to nurture and provide cultural support. I was fortunate enough to be taught by local Wadi Wadi and Dharawal peoples. This was such a privilege that ensured local knowledges and perspectives were a part of the learning. One of my teachers was Carol Speechley who is a local woman with extensive knowledge of the area. UOW sits at the foot of Mt Keira.

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As Carol Speechley taught us, Mt Keira is known by local peoples as Geera and is a teaching mountain. It is very fitting that a institution of higher education be overseen by such a strong ancestor who is all about education. It was also fabulous to hear these well-known geographical landmarks be referred to by their real names and to also be taught the stories that link Geera to other landmarks including the five islands.

Local Aboriginal people refer to the time of Creation as Alcheringa and stories of this time and of creation ancestors such as Biamie are regularly taught. Aboriginal organisations and groups such as Coomaditichie keep this knowledge alive and share stories of human and more than human relationships to ensure the next generation has this knowledge.

The importance of local knowledge should not be overlooked. It provides staff and students with a real opportunity to understand the landscape via knowledge that is over 65,000 years old. It also provides a connection to people who have an intimate relationship with Country and everything within it.

Those who choose to study Aboriginal Studies are always overwhelmed by what they did not know about pre-colonisation in Australia. They are astonished by the level of knowledge local people possess and begin to see the word from a different perspective.

In my role as Head of Department at Macquarie University I have worked with local Dharug peoples to develop a unit of study that is centred on Dharug knowledges and that privileges Dharug people and voices. The unit is ABST102 Dharug Country: Presences, Places and Peoples and will be taught for the first time this coming session.

The unit will introduce students to Dharug perspectives about Country, spiritual concepts including human and non-human ancestors, and the importance of connecting to place and belonging. The entire curriculum was developed by Dharug peoples who provided their own stories about sites of significance to them.

The students will also be introduced to Dharug language and other cultural practices demonstrating continuity of knowledges that Dharug people have maintained for millennia.

It would be really good to see other universities take up the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with the local Indigenous community and provide the funds and resources to develop units of study that privilege local knowledges. Often universities have Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPS) and indeed UOW has just announced that they are launching their inaugural RAP shortly.

Unfortunately RAPs don't often translate into anything tangible and more often than not have very little meaning for the local Indigenous community and/or privileging local knowledge. As an Indigenous alumni and former staff member at UOW I was appalled at the announcement that UOW will be offering a Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisation funded by the Ramsay Centre. I was particularly upset by this decision given the lack of resources for Indigenous Studies at UOW.

Indigenous Studies is committed to critiquing colonialism and ensuring students are introduced to the fact there are different forms of knowledges and ways of viewing the world which may hold answers for a better future for all.

Philosopher Noam Chomsky has stated that "Indigenous peoples across the world are the ones keeping the human race from destroying itself and leading itself to disaster" and environmentalist and scientist Dr David Suzuki has argued "we need to have a paradigm shift; to me the paradigm shift is that we have to see the world as Indigenous people see it". Universities, since they have been established, have taught about western civilisation.

Sadly, no such commitment to alternative perspectives is supported with the same financial backing. Imagine what could be achieved if Indigenous Studies was provided with the same level of support.

_ By Bronwyn Carlson