Applications are now open for the 2016 Lisa Bellear Indigenous Research Scholarship.
Victoria University with the Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit are offering a PhD scholarship to a promising Indigenous Australian researcher wishing to undertake a graduate research degree.
VU recognises that Indigenous Australians are under-represented in graduate research studies and encourages qualified Indigenous applicants to undertake their research studies at VU.
Eligibility
Applications are invited from candidates who:
- meet the minimum academic entry requirements for a graduate research degree at Victoria University
- are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- are able to commence their enrolment in Semester 1 of 2016.
How to apply
Applications close at 5:00pm on Friday 18 December 2015.
Please complete the application form and email to the scholarships office (researchscholarships@vu.edu.au) by the closing date.
Further information
For further information please contact Ms Karen Jackson, Director at Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit.
Phone: +61 3 9919 2836 (reverse charge calls accepted)
Email: karen.jackson@vu.edu.au
Lisa Bellear, 1961-2006
Lisa Bellear was a Goernpil woman of the Noonuccal people of the Minjerribah, Queensland. She was a poet, photographer, activist, dramatist, comedian, broadcaster and academic.
Lisa lost her mother and connection to her family when she was only weeks old. She overcame some of her personal grief and loss through her “adoption” into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Victoria, particularly the Harding family. She traced her ‘biological’ family and went on to be an accomplished, caring and strong woman. Lisa was passionate about social change, she was always participating and contributing to campaigns and protests and always out on the streets with her camera.
Lisa graduated from The University of Melbourne in Social Work and was employed as an academic at The University of Melbourne, LaTrobe University and Victoria University. She was a founding member of the Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative, the oldest Indigenous Theatre company in Australia, and wrote a book of poetry Dreaming in Urban Areas (UQP, 1996).
An avid photographer, Lisa took thousands of photographs over many years while she engaged in Aboriginal politics. She read at literary festivals, pubs and conference across Australia and was published in literary journals, newspapers and anthologies. She broadcast on 3CR in the Not Another Koori Show for more than 20 years.
Lisa was a friend, colleague and staunch supporter of the Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit. Her skills and expertise are carried on through the VU graduates that she taught and mentored in the Bachelor of Education/Arts (Nyerna Studies) program.
Lisa herself best summed up the demands and gift of her poetry: “You can allow your eyes and heart to see. See the injustice, cruelty; and you can also hear the laughter and the love.”
