Nikki Henningham

Dr Nikki Henningham teaches in the History Department at the University of Melbourne in the areas of World History and Australian History. Her research interests lie in the area of rural and regional women's histories and cross cultural relationships in the Australian far north. Her PhD thesis, a study of gender and race relations in colonial north Queensland, received an Australian Historical Association Centenary of Federation Publication Award in 2000.

Topic: 'Talkin' up to the white woman':

Dr Aileen Moreton-Robinson's excellent publication of 2000, Talkin' up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism, raises important questions for women and feminism in contemporary Australia. Looking at Australian feminism through an indigenous woman's eyes, Moreton-Robinson examines the ways the feminist movement in Australia has operated to oppress indigenous women, but does so with the overtly political intent of affecting positive movement for change. Using some of the key points raised in Talkin up to the white woman as a starting point, Dr Henningham will lead a discussion on the relationship between indigenous women and the Australian women's movement in historical perspective.