Rate My Professor Julie Collins

Dr Julie Collins serves as a lecturer in Indigenous Studies within the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of New England (UNE) since 2012. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy from Charles Sturt University, with her thesis titled "Caring for country in New South Wales: connection, identity and belonging," exploring Aboriginal cultural connections to land and non-Indigenous efforts to forge a sense of place. Prior to UNE, she was a lecturer and researcher in Aboriginal Studies at Charles Sturt University in Albury. Her career includes teaching at TAFE in Fitness, Live Production, Outdoor Recreation, and Population Health; youth support work for the Yalari Foundation providing scholarships to Indigenous children from remote areas; and collaboration with Beyond Empathy on arts projects involving Indigenous youth. Collins has acted professionally in theatre and television, including a credit in Doctor Who, and worked with Innerplay theatre company on conflict resolution techniques. She is also a filmmaker and yoga teacher.

Collins' research in Environmental Humanities examines the arts' role in well-being for people and environments, community development, theatre for conflict resolution, and bodily praxis for peace and belonging, with emphasis on Indigenous arts, resilience, health, and traditional ecological knowledge. Key publications are "Indigenous Representation at the Eurovision Song Contest: A Quintessentially Australian Identity" (2019), "Innovation: Creativity as a Renewable Resource for the Eco-City" (2018), "Reconciliation in Australia? Dreaming Beyond the Cult of Forgetfulness" (2018), and "Monitored Lives: Writing Indigenous Land Management and the State (Part Two)" (2001). She co-wrote, directed, and performed in "Trucked Off," a truth-telling project on decolonising history with Lorina Barker since 2017, researched the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial as reconciliation ritual, and works as a Teaching Artist for Sydney Theatre Company enhancing Ezidi refugee literacy through drama. Additional projects include Vaudeville Ecodrama (2016), Silver City Songlines (2012-2013), and "Mubali Yinaar Yarnup" video (2015).