Dr Christine Asmar

 

Dr Christine Asmar is a National Teaching Fellow of the Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC). At the time of the Indigenous Teaching project she was a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Murrup Barak -  Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development. 

Christine is now an Academic Volunteer at Tranby National Indigenous Adult Education & Training in Sydney ( www.tranby.edu.au ) and can currently be contacted at cmasmar@icloud.com


Christine carried out collaborative research for several years with Aboriginal and Māori colleagues, often funded by grants from the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Those projects were national studies of how Indigenous academics experience their roles and work within universities in Australia; firstly in the context of Indigenous units, schools or centres; and later with a focus on the academics' work in 'mainstream' faculties, schools and disciplines. The first project was replicated on a smaller scale in New Zealand, with Māori colleagues. Christine has also researched and published on Indigenous Australian student engagement.

Awarded a $95,000 Teaching Fellowship by the Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC), Christine carried out a program of research across Victorian and NSW universities. The Fellowship aimed to develop research-based exemplars for good practice in Indigenous university teaching', and included two Forums on Indigenous Teaching, hosted by the University of Melbourne in December 2009 and October 2013. This website is a major outcome of that Fellowship.

Further funding from the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) enabled Christine to facilitate numerous workshops on Indigenous teaching at universities around Australia.

Fellowship funding

  • $30,000 Office of Learning & Teaching (OLT) ‘Extension Grant’ to support the dissemination of outcomes from Teaching Fellowship: ‘Indigenous Teaching and Learning in Australian Universities: Developing Research-based Exemplars for Good Practice.’ (2012)
  • $10,000 Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) ‘Extension Grant’ to support the dissemination of outcomes from Teaching Fellowship: ‘Indigenous Teaching and Learning in Australian Universities: Developing Research-based Exemplars for Good Practice.’ (2011)
  • $95,000 Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Teaching Fellowship: ‘Indigenous Teaching and Learning in Australian Universities: Developing Research-based Exemplars for Good Practice' (2008-9)

 

Research grants

  • $19,000 research grant (with Susan Page) from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), for a national study of Indigenous academics within disciplines and faculties within Australian universities, titled 'Indigenous Academics at the Disciplinary Frontline: Pigeonholed, Peripheral or Pioneering?' (2008)
  • $13,500 research grant (with Susan Page) from AIATSIS, for a national study of Indigenous academics within Indigenous centres and units in Australian universities, titled 'Indigenous academic voices: Stories from the tertiary education frontline' (2003)
  • $15,000 University of Sydney Research Grant for a national study of 'The Course Experience of Muslim Students at Australian Universities' (1998)

 

Selected Publications

Christie, M. & Asmar, C. Indigenous knowers and knowledge in university teaching. In L. Hunt, & D. Chalmers (Eds.), University teaching in focus: A learning-centred approach. London: Routledge. 2nd ed. Forthcoming, 2021.
Asmar, C. & Page, S. (2018) Pigeonholed, Peripheral or Pioneering? Findings from a National Study of Indigenous Australian Academics in the Disciplines. Studies in Higher Education 43, 9, 1679-1691. http://srhe.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2017.1281240
Asmar, C. (2017). ‘Kitchen table prejudices’ in the diverse classrooms of today: Some research-based approaches to teaching majority students about minority issues. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 28(1), 117-135.
Chamberlain, C., Fergie, D., Sinclair, A & Asmar, C. (2015) Traditional midwifery or 'wise women' models of leadership: Learning from Indigenous cultures. Leadership. October 9. DOI: 10.1177/1742715015608426 http://lea.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/12/3/346.pdf?ijkey=rusNIC5O01f9wPE&keytype=finite
Asmar, C., Page, S., & Radloff, A. (2014) Exploring anomalies in Indigenous student engagement: findings from a national Australian survey of undergraduates. Higher Education Research & Development, DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2014.934334
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2014.934334
Asmar, C., Page, S. & Radloff, A. (2011) Dispelling myths: Indigenous students’ engagement with university. AUSSE Research Briefing Vol. 10, April. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) (An analysis of Indigenous student responses from the 2009 Australasian Survey of Student Engagement) https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=ausse
Mercier, O., Asmar, C. & Page, S. (2011) An Academic Occupation: Mobilisation, Sit-in, Speaking Out and Confrontation in the Experiences of Māori Academics. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 40, 81–91.
Page, S. & Asmar, C. (2011) Hidden Stories and Unasked Questions. Campus Review, 16 May. [Op-ed piece on analysis of Indigenous student engagement data].
Asmar, C. & Page, S. (2009). Sharing the Load: Indigenous cultural competency in the post- Bradley era: who will do the work? Campus Review, 12 October.
Asmar, C. & Page, S. (2009) Sources of satisfaction and stress among Indigenous academic teachers: Findings from a national Australian study. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. 29: 3, 387 - 401.
Asmar, C., Mercier, O. Ripeka, & Page, S. (2009). 'You do it from your core': Priorities, perceptions and practices of research among Indigenous academics in Australian and New Zealand universities. In A. Brew & L. Lucas (Eds.), Academic Research and Researchers. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press & McGraw Hill, 146-160.
Page, S. & Asmar, C. (2008) Beneath the teaching iceberg: Exposing the hidden support dimensions of Indigenous academic work. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 37S (Supplement), 109-117.
Asmar, C., Guest Editor. (2007) Synergy: The University of Sydney's scholarly forum for the discussion and debate of higher education teaching and learning. Special issue on diversity, with a focus on Indigenous issues. Institute for Teaching and Learning, Issue 26 (November)
Asmar, C. (2005) Internationalising Students: Reassessing diasporic and local student difference. Studies in Higher Education, 30, 3, 291-309.
Asmar, C. (2005) Politicising student difference: The Muslim experience. International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Volume 3: International Relations. Edited by Malcolm Tight. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Ltd, 129-157.
Asmar, C., Proude, E. and Inge, L. (2004) 'Unwelcome sisters'? An analysis of findings from a study of how Muslim women (and Muslim men) experience university. Australian Journal of Education 48,1 (April), 47-63.
Asmar, C. (2002) Strategies to enhance learning and teaching in a research-extensive university. International Journal for Academic Development 7, 1 (May), 18-29.
Asmar, C. (2001) A Community on Campus: Muslim students in Australian universities. Muslim Communities in Australia. Edited by Abdullah Saeed and Shahram Akbarzadeh. Kensington, NSW: University of NSW Press, 139-160.
Stevens, K. and Asmar, C. (1999) Doing Postgraduate Research in Australia. Carlton, VIC: Melbourne University Press.
 
International Conference Keynote and Plenary Presentations

Page, S. & Asmar, C. (2017). Indigenous academics in Australian universities: A brighter future? World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference: Education (WIPCE). Toronto, Canada (24–28 July). Moving beyond ‘kitchen table prejudices’: Innovative research-based approaches to teaching majority students about minority issues. Opening plenary, 35th Lilly International Conference on College Teaching, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. 19-22 October 2015
Indigenous Student Engagement in Australian Universities: Key findings from recent research. Invited plenary at 10th Annual Conference of Southeast Indian Studies, University of North Carolina (Pembroke) NC, 10-11 Apr 2014.
‘How Research-Based Approaches to Cross-Cultural Teaching Can Inform Our Practice: Findings And Implications From A National Study of Indigenous Teaching’, 32nd Lilly International Conference on College Teaching, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 15-18 November  2012.
‘Assumptions, relationships and transformations: The ART of Indigenous teaching’. Teaching and Learning Forum, Murdoch University WA, 2-3 February 2012.
'You're everything to everybody': Understanding the teaching and support roles played by Indigenous staff in Australian universities. Joint closing plenary with Susan Page, Indigenous Studies & Indigenous Knowledge Conference, hosted by Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology, Sydney, 11-13 July 2007.
‘Cultural difference in western universities: Intercultural and internationalised responses to a changing world’. Opening keynote at 12th Improving Student Learning Symposium: Inclusivity and Diversity. Birmingham, UK 6-8 September, 2004.

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