Donna Leslie

Donna Leslie is an Associate Professor in Indigenous Studies within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne, where she teaches subjects such as INDG30001 Being Indigenous in the 21st Century, INDG30002 Indigenous Cultural Heritage, and INDG40001 Indigenous First Principles. An Aboriginal scholar belonging to the Gamilaroi people of New South Wales, she is recognised as Australia's first trained Indigenous art historian at the doctoral level in the discipline of Art History. Her academic background includes a Doctor of Philosophy in Art History from the University of Melbourne in 2004, with a specialisation in Australian Aboriginal art and a thesis titled 'Aboriginal art: creative responses to assimilation'. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Art Curatorial Studies) from the University of Melbourne (1994), a Graduate Diploma in Education (Art/Craft) from Melbourne College of Advanced Education (now University of Melbourne, 1987), a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) from Chisholm Institute of Technology (now Monash University, 1986), a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Research and Leadership and Graduate Certificate in University Teaching from the University of Melbourne (both 2014), a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from Australian Catholic University (2023), and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment from Western Sydney Institute (2012).

Dr Leslie's career history encompasses significant roles including Associate Professor (tenured) in Art History at Griffith University from 2015 to 2020, Vizard Foundation Assistant Curator at the Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She curated the exhibition 'Seeing the Natural World: Birds, Animals and Plants of Australia' in 2012. Her research interests focus on Aboriginal art, Australian art, art and spirituality, and cross-cultural relationships, with a commitment to enhancing understanding across cultures from pre-colonial to contemporary periods. Key publications include the books Aboriginal Art: Creativity and Assimilation (Macmillan Art Publishing, 2008, 319 pages) and Spiritual Journeying: The Art of Tim Johnson (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2019, 361 pages), the latter receiving 'Highly Commended' in the Best Book Prize category of the Art Writing and Publishing Awards by the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand in 2020. She has authored numerous articles in journals, art catalogues, and magazines, and is the recipient of two successful Australian Research Council Fellowships as well as the Crichton Award for Children’s Book Illustration in 1993 for her work in Alitji in Dreamland.

Professional Email: donna.leslie@unimelb.edu.au