Dissertations: A Key Resource for Indigenous Studies

Aboriginal dancers make their way across the floor of the Olympic Stadium, 2000. Image from the National Archives.

Increasingly, colleges and universities around the world are prioritizing Indigenous studies. These initiatives take various forms, from specialized courses or degree programs dedicated to Indigenous people, histories and cultures, to incorporating more Indigenous voices and perspectives across the curriculum.

To support these efforts, students, faculty and researchers need reliable resources for authentic insights and information from Indigenous communities – which can be challenging to find because traditional research and learning materials have often excluded them.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global can help. Our collection encompasses more than 10,000 rigorously researched scholarly works relevant to Indigenous studies, dating from 1893 to the present.

Amplifying local perspectives on Indigenous issues, history and culture

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global not only ensures this research is accessible to students and scholars. It also ensures that the authors of such valuable research are visible to the international scholarly community. And this can mean putting the spotlight on local indigenous issues, from the perspectives of people from the communities they are researching and writing about.

This is a work in progress, and ProQuest is eager to ensure all regions are represented in the collection. For example, of the 65,000 thesis and dissertations that are surfaced by searching “Torres Strait” and “Aboriginal,” 4% are produced by authors in Oceania.

There is great opportunity for Higher Degree Research (HDR)-granting institutions from this region to increase exposure for the important scholarly contributions from their faculties and graduate programs. These institutions can partner with ProQuest to bring the committed and often innovative work of their scholars who are knowledgeable about local Indigenous issues, history and culture into the global scholarly discourse.

3 reasons why dissertations are invaluable to students and researchers of every level:

• • Discovery of related resources
    ProQuest Disseratations & Theses Global includes extensive bibliographies that can help students and researchers find credible books, scholarly articles and other materials consulted and cited by scholars to support research and learning in these subjects.
  • The evolution of Indigenous studies
    Because ProQuest Theses & Dissertations Global goes back more than 150 years, it serves as timeline of how attitudes, awareness and knowledges of and and derived from participatory research with Indigenous communities have developed over several decades and around the world.
  • Emerging topics in Indigenous studies
    ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global includes the very latest in peer-reviewed scholarly research so students and scholars can see what topics are trending in Indigenous studies and use this insight to develop themes for their own research projects.
    In addition to cutting edge research topics, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global users can also explore the most-accessed dissertations related to Indigenous studies to see which topics are of most interest to contemporary researchers. Currently, most frequently accessed dissertations in this area focus on Indian residential schools, violence against Native American and Aboriginal women, and issues of legal and social justice for Indigenous communities.

At ProQuest, we are committed to ensuring Every Voice is represented in research and learning. Our partnerships with colleges and universities are critical in fulfilling this mission. Learn more about how ProQuest can help promote the scholarship of your institution’s researchers through ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.