Cultural Competence and the Higher Education Sector

The University of Sydney’s National Centre for Cultural Competence (NCCC) conference will be held in April of 2018: Cultural Competence and the Higher Education Sector: Dilemmas, Policies and Practice.

The Review of Australian Higher Education (Bradley, 2008) and the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (Behrendt, 2012) identified the need for tertiary institutions to incorporate Indigenous Knowledges into curriculum to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians and to increase the cultural competency of all students. The overarching theme of this conference, therefore, is cultural competence and its intersection with the higher education sector from multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and Indigenous Knowledges perspectives.

Through keynotes, paper presentations, yarning circles and posters the conference aims to facilitate networking, share information and create a national dialogue. The conference provides an opportunity to explore different and innovative approaches and strategies that incorporate Indigenous knowledges and practices into the development and implementation of cultural competency in the higher education sector.

Registration opens 1 December 2017
Full price: $500
Early bird (ends 4 February 2018): $350
Student: $250
Calls for Abstracts are due by 15 January 2018

Keynote Speakers:

Assistant Professor Tawara Goode
Tawara Goode is the Director of the National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Tawara is a distinguished thought leader in the area of cultural and linguistic competence and has built the Georgetown National Center for Cultural Competence into an internationally recognised and award-winning program. She had a primary role in developing curricula, assessment instruments, professional development series and other resources that support cultural and linguistic competence across the United States and the world; and conducts research on the essential role of cultural and linguistic competence in addressing health disparities.

Professor Yolanda T Moses
Professor Moses is Professor of Anthropology and the former Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Excellence at the University of California – Riverside. Her research has looked at diversity and change in universities in the United States, India, Europe, South Africa and now Australia. Professor Moses started her research residence with the NCCC in February 2017 and is exploring and assessing the cultural competence model used at the University of Sydney, comparing it to those used in the United States.

Professor Jean Lau Chin
Jean Lau Chin, EdD, ABPP is Professor at Adelphi University in New York.  Dr. Chin is distinguished as an educator, administrator, clinician and scholar. She has held senior management positions as: Dean, Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University; Systemwide Dean, California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University; President, CEO Services; Regional Director, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership; Executive Director, South Cove Community Health Center; and Co-Director, Thom Child Guidance Clinic.  Academically, she has trained psychologists and health care professionals in the diagnosis and treatment and has helped to develop culturally competent training curricula for working with diverse populations. She received a Fulbright Scholar Award as Distinguished Chair in Cultural Competence to the University of Sydney in Australia for 2018.

For more information and to register, click here.