Events

Enabling and building a culture of research impact is vital to ensure our discoveries and ideas actually change and improve the world around us. Whether it’s finding new ways to solve problems, advancing technology, or helping communities, the conscious pursuit of impactful research is required in order to ensure that research findings and outputs ultimately create meaningful and positive changes within society. 

On Wednesday 15 November 2023, the University of Melbourne will host The Future of Impact Research Symposium. This all-day, in-person event will explore the current research impact landscape in discussion with leading local and global research impact experts, and has been designed for the local research community, including academics and professional research staff.

Confirmed Speakers

Professor Margaret Sheil AO: Vice Chancellor Queensland University of Technology and Chair of the ARC Review Committee

Dr David Phipps: Assistant Vice President Research Strategy and Impact at York University, and Director of Research Impact Canada.

Professor Jenny Lewis: Academic director, Scholarly and Social Research Impact, Chancellery Research & Enterprise, Professor of Public Policy, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne.

Dr Wade Kelly: Director, Research Excellence and Impact, Monash University.

Ken Knight: Head of Research Impact & Consumer Involvement, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The Narrm Oration is the University’s key address profiling leading Indigenous peoples from across the world. The 2023 Oration will be delivered by Akawyan Pakawyan, a senior leader of the Indigenous Pinuyumayan people in the Puyuma village of Taiwan, and is titled:

Cultural Reawakening: A Taiwanese Indigenous woman’s journey through memories and revitalisation

In the 2023 Narrm Oration, Akawyan Pakawyan will reflect on her own journey and work influenced by major historical events and their impacts in Taiwan.

Akawyan Pakawyan, born in 1938 in the Puyuma Indigenous village of Taitung, Taiwan, is a witness to the historical transitions and colonial influences that have shaped Taiwan.

She started her education journey during the Japanese colonial period of Taiwan (1895-1945), and attended two years of Japanese elementary school, before having to learn a new language – Chinese – when the ROC took control of Taiwan after 1945. Taiwan, home to the Pinuyumayan people among other Indigenous groups, endured transformations initiated by the arrivals of the Dutch and Portuguese in 1624, followed by Han settler workers. These waves of colonisation led to the displacement of many Indigenous communities.

Taitung, home to the Pinuyumayan and many other Indigenous groups, has its unique narrative. The Puyuma, one of the Pinuyumayan communities, cultivated partnerships with early settlers. These alliances fostered the community’s prominence in southeast Taiwan, a status quo sustained until the Japanese colonisation in 1895.

Akawyan’s early years were immersed in the juxtaposition of Japanese and Chinese influences. The shift from Japanese to Chinese rule in 1945 intensified the assimilation policies, threatening many Indigenous languages and traditions. Despite these pressures, Akawyan retained her fluency in Pinuyumayan, a testament to the resilience of her cultural identity.

The cessation of 40 years of martial law in 1987 marked a turning point for Indigenous rights, catalysed by relentless protests. For Akawyan, the journey transcends personal experience; it epitomises the indomitable spirit of the Puyuma people. For over three decades, she has been a bastion of cultural preservation, safeguarding the Puyuma language and traditions amidst historical and political upheavals.

This narrative unveils the story of a Puyuma woman who not only derives strength from her cultural heritage but also elevates its prominence. Akawyan’s life is a tapestry of resilience and cultural fidelity, a legacy that illuminates the path of cultural revitalisation for the Pinuyumayan and other Indigenous groups in Taiwan.

This Narrm Oration will be delivered in the Indigenous Taiwanese Puyuma Language.
 Live written translation will be provided onscreen in English.
Audio translation services will be provided in English and Mandarin.