Transforming Premodern Pasts through Indigenous Knowledges
Tuesday 22 September, 2026, Macquarie University, Sydney
Expressions of Interest are invited from researchers of the premodern world, from HDR to senior scholars, who would like to participate in a roundtable on Premodern Relationalities to be held 9.30-5.00pm Tuesday 22 September 2026, at Macquarie University, in the Wingaru Learning Space, Macquarie University. This is a discussion-based event. Participants will not offer presentations, but will complete pre-circulated readings in preparation for the sessions to take place on the day, which will involve group discussion.
‘Indigenous relationality’ is an ethical-epistemological framework that looks beyond geopolitical maps to recognise the interconnectedness of Indigenous worldviews, identities, values and peoples. Research on relationalities is future-oriented, arguing for how Indigenous ways of balance, care, and community support thrivance in the wake of colonialism. Recently, Indigenous and ally scholars in early historical disciplines such as medieval studies have started looking to relationalities as a framework for tracing intercultural connections across the medieval world and understanding Indigenous presence in premodernity.
The roundtable will enable an innovative convergence of historical and futurist research. Of particular interest are:
- how an Indigenous relationalities lens can transform our idea of the global past
- how historical research can offer powerful case studies of Indigenous relationalities across time and space.
This event seeks to create a dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. It will be led by visiting scholars Dr Tarren Andrews (Yale) and Dr Madi Williams (Canterbury), in conjunction with Prof Louise D’Arcens (Macquarie).
There are limited places available. Interested researchers are asked to contact Louise D’Arcens (louise.darcens@mq.edu.au) by Friday 11 September with preferred contact details for the pre-readings, plus a paragraph outlining their research interests and reasons for wishing to participate in the roundtable.
This event is generously supported by the Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University, and is a complementary event to the Indigenous Relationalities Symposium, which will be held on 23-24 September in the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures (CGIF), Macquarie University.
Full information including speaker biographies is available in the flyer below: