Berndt Museum of Anthropology
Ronald and Catherine Berndt recording a commentary in the Museum,1982 [P5021]
The Professor Ronald M. and Dr Catherine H. Berndt Research Foundation
The Professor Ronald M. and Dr Catherine H. Berndt Research Foundation was established from a sum of money bequeathed to the University of Western Australia by Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt in 1994.Its purpose is 'encouraging and supporting research in the discipline of Australian Aboriginal Social and Cultural Anthropology' in terms of the Bequest, and in particular to:-
* Charter
(a) encourage indigenous Australian participation and involvement in the activities of the Foundation;
(b) co-operate with Anthropology in the furtherance of social and cultural anthropological research in the area of Aboriginal Australia;
* Donations
(c) solicit donations, gifts and bequests to the Foundation on behalf of the University;
* Publications
(d) recommend and sponsor the printing of publications consistent with these objects and the issue thereof, and to make a regular subvention to sponsor the publication of Anthropological Forum;
* Lectures
(e) arrange for lectures, exhibitions and demonstrations on the area of Aboriginal Australia;
* Visits
(f) assist in arranging visits to The University of Western Australia by specialists in Aboriginal Australia;
* Grants
(g) recommend grants to Anthropology for the purpose of encouraging research in the discipline of Australian Aboriginal Social and Cultural Anthropology through visiting fellowships, post-doctoral fellowships, and post-graduate scholarships;
(h) recommend cadetships to indigenous Australians including undergraduate students currently enrolled at The University of Western Australia for the purpose of conducting research in Anthropology .
(i) ensure that all researchers funded by the Foundation adhere to established guidelines for ethical research;
(j ) do all such things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objects or any of them.."
The Foundation is administered according to Regulations approved by the University Senate.
Current Commitments (ongoing)
1. Anthropological Forum;An annual allocation is made for the publication of the journal Anthropological Forum.
2. Undergraduate Awards
• Second/Third Year Prize of $500 allocated to an Australian Indigenous person completing an Advanced year on the basis of overall assessment in two Anthropology semester units.
• Honours Research Grant of $1,000 allocated to support research by an Australian Indigenous student for an Honours thesis in Anthropology.
3. Biennial Memorial Lecture
There will be a biennial Ronald and Catherine Berndt Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by a distinguished speaker.
• The Inaugural 2000 Lecture was delivered by Dr Peter Sutton, Independent Scholar, entitled: ‘The politics of suffering: Indigenous policy in Australia since the 1970s’. The published version is available in the journal Anthropological Forum 11, 2: 125-73.
• The 2002 Lecture was delivered by Professor Robert Tonkinson, University of Western Australia, entitled: ‘Spiritual prescription, social reality: reflections on religious dynamism’. The published version is available in the journal Anthropological Forum 14, 2: 183-201.
• The 2004 Lecture was delivered by Dr Gaye Sculthorpe, National Native Title Tribunal, entitled: ‘Recognising difference: contested issues in Native Title and cultural heritage’. The published version is available in the journal Anthropological Forum 15, 2: 171-92.
• The 2006 Lecture was delivered by Professor Howard Morphy, entitled ‘Rewriting Ron Berndt: Exploring the depths of his Yolgnu ethnography’. The published version is available in the journal Anthropological Forum 19, 1: 73-97.
• The 2009 Lecture was delivered by Professor Marcia Langton, entitled ‘Anthropology, Politics and the Changing World of Aboriginal Australians’. The published version is available in the journal Anthropological Forum 21, 1: 1-22.
• The 2010 Lecture was delivered by Mr Kim Akerman, entitled ‘Revealing an “Empty” Land: An examination of the effects of the “frontier” on Aboriginal knowledge of the landscape in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia’. The published version will be available in a future issue of the journal Anthropological Forum.
• The 2012 Lecture was delivered by Professor Martin Nakata, entitled ‘The Rights and Blights of the Politics of Indigenous Higher Education’. The published version will be available in a future issue of the journal Anthropological Forum.
4. From time to time, as funds permit, additional commitments may be made, including:
• Postgraduate Scholarship
A Postgraduate Scholarship may be supported (subject to available funds) for postgraduate study within the Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology on the general topic of the social anthropology of Australian Indigenous society. No Postgraduate Scholarship is currently being offered.
• Postdoctoral Fellowship
A Postdoctoral Fellowship may be supported (subject to available funds) for research within the Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology on the general topic of the social anthropology of Australian Indigenous society. The first Postdoctoral Fellow was Dr Katie Glaskin (Katie.Glaskin@uwa.edu.au). No Postdoctoral Fellowship is currently being offered.
5. Research Grants
• Funds are allocated (subject to available funds) for research relevant to the objectives of the Foundation. The first round was held in 2009; four Awards have been made (see below).The Foundation is now calling for applications for the 2013 Round, details for which are set out below. Please note that the closing dates for applications is close of business 31st August 2013, and that successful applicants will be advsed by 31st October 2013.
INFORMATION SHEET Download Information Sheet
Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt
Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt established the discipline of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia in 1956. At that time, Anthropology was a Centre within the Department of Psychology but in 1963 it became a separate Department. The Berndt’s unique research collaboration in northern Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory covered almost fifty years and resulted in a wide range of published works and unpublished reports. They were also responsible for establishing the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at The University of Western Australia. The Museum contains one of the largest collections of items from Australia, with a smaller number of items from Papua New Guinea and South Asia. Ronald and Catherine also fostered ‘Anthropological Forum’, a journal that continues to be devoted to the publication of anthropological research in Australian and Pacific settings.
The Ronald and Catherine Berndt Research Foundation
The Foundation was established from a sum of money bequeathed to the University of Western Australia by Ronald and Catherine Berndt. Its purpose is to ensure that funds available from the Bequest are used ’to promote social and cultural anthropological research about Aboriginal Australia‘.
The Research Grant Process
The Foundation has allocated funds to support postgraduate research by any postgraduate student enrolled in Anthropology and/or a cognate discipline at an Australian university who will contribute to anthropological research and Aboriginal Studies more broadly, and/or to an appreciation of the collections of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology. Amounts of up to $8,000 will be awarded to those applications that help to (i) facilitate thesis research, (ii) meet the criteria established through the Foundation’s Postgraduate Research Grant Committee, and (iii) are judged by the Foundation’s Postgraduate Research Grant Committee to warrant financial support.
Applications
Applications for a grant are to be made on the Application Form Download Application Form
PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT fill in the version that opens automatically on the screen following download! You need to remove the pdf from your Download Box and drag it onto your desktop. Open this copy to fill it in. You can save it at any time, and then fax or post it to us with your attachments.
Information about the Research Grants Program can also be obtained by mail by contacting Dr John Stanton, Director of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, at the following address:
Ronald and Catherine Berndt Foundation,
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, M255A
The University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley, Western Australia, 6009
Telephone: 61 8 6488 3854
Fax: 61 8 6488 1165
Email: berndt.museum@uwa.edu.au
Berndt Foundation Postgraduate Research Awards
Members of the Berndt Foundation Committee are delighted to note the successful recipients of the following Foundation Postgraduate Research Awards:
(2009)
Project Title - Manguri and the market: connections in Martu women's contemporary fibre art.
Mary-Jean Sutton (Queensland University)
Project Title - Places of shared history: exploring the significance of missions and government settlements to communities in Queensland.
(2010)
Project Title - Interculturality and the New Museology: indigenous self-determination in a culturally hybrid environment.
(2011)
Project title: International NGO practice in Central Australian youth development.
Jessica Einhorn (Australian National University)
Project Title: The role of ‘Country’: Aesthetics, and economics in contemporary Western Desert fibre art.
Belinda Liebelt (Monash University)
Project Title: Boundaries and connections: Aboriginal visibility in South Australian rural landscapes.
Warmest congratulations to the recipients.
All enquiries in relation to the Foundation‘s activities should be addressed to the Secretary, Dr John E. Stanton (john.stanton@uwa.edu.au)
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