Françoise Dussart

Professor

Anthropology

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Education

Ph.D., 1989, Australian National

About

Françoise Dussart is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Connecticut. Trained in France and Australia, her specialties in social anthropology include Australian Aboriginal society and culture (as well as other Fourth World Peoples in Canada and the United States of America), iconography and visual systems, various expressions of gender, ritual and social organization, health and citizenship.

She is the author of La Peinture des Aborigènes d’Australie (1993, Parenthèses and Réunion des Musées Nationaux), and The Politics of Ritual in an Aboriginal Settlement: Kinship, Gender and the Currency of Knowledge (2000, Smithsonian Institution Press). She has also edited several volumes, Aboriginal Religions in Australia: An Anthology of Recent Writings (2005 with MaxCharlesworth and Howard Morphy) Media matters: Representations of the social in Aboriginal Australia (2006), Engaging Christianity in Aboriginal Australia (2010, with Carolyn Schwarz); Lifelines: Contemporary Indigenous Art from Australia (2015); Entangled Ontologies: Interpretations of relations to land in Australian and Canadian neo-settler states (2017, with Sylvie Poirier); Contemporary Indigenous Cosmologies and Pragmatic Actions (2022, with Sylvie Poirier).

Research Interests

Contemporary Indigenous art; cross-cultural exchange; Indigenous rights; politics of ritual; Indigenized Christianities; Territorial Entanglements; Indigenous contemporary cosmologies; gender and identity; diabetes, wellbeing and health; Indigenous Australia

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Social Anthropology
• Anthropological Perspectives on Women
• Anthropological Perspectives on Art
• Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia
• Development of Anthropological Theory

Graduate Seminars

• Contemporary Anthropological Theory
• History of Anthropological Theory
• Gender and Culture
• Cultural Rights

Publications

Monographs and Edited Volumes

2022 Dussart, Françoise and Sylvie Poirier (Guest Editors) Contemporary Indigenous Cosmologies and Pragmatics. University of Alberta Press.

2017 Dussart, Françoise and Sylvie Poirier (Guest Editors) Entangled Territorialities: Negotiating Indigenous Lands in Australia and Canada. University of Toronto Press.

2015 Guest Editor. Lignes de Vie: Art contemporain des Autochtones d’Australie. Catalogue for the exhibition: Lifelines: Contemporary Indigenous Art from Australia. Musée de la Civilisation, Quebec City, Canada.

2014 F. Dussart with Nicolas Peterson assisted with the transcribing, translation and writing of the life-story. What I am Part of: A Professional Autobiography by Rex Japanangka Granites. Self-published.

2010 Carolyn Schwarz and Françoise Dussart. (Guest Editors) Engaging Christianity in Aboriginal Australia. The Australian Journal of Anthropology. Special Invited Issue. Volume 21.

2006 Guest Editor. Media Matters: Representations of the Social in Aboriginal Australia. Visual Anthropology Review, Special Volume 21(1&2) Fall/Spring 2005, pp. 1-200

2005 Charlesworth, Max, Dussart, F., Morphy, H. (eds) Aboriginal Religions in Australia: An Anthology of Recent Writings. London, Ashgate Press.

2000 The Politics of Ritual in an Aboriginal Settlement: Kinship, Gender and the Currency of Knowledge. Washington: The Smithsonian Institution Press.

1993 La Peinture des Aborigènes d’Australie (Australian Aboriginal Painting). Paris, Parenthèses and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. (A Fourth Edition appeared in 2004)

Blind Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters (selected).

Forthcoming “To Perform or not to Perform the Ancestral Fire Dreaming from the Warlukurlangu Ranges (Central Australia)” in Vitality and Change in Warlpiri Songs. Georgia Curran, Linda Barwick, and Nicolas Peterson (eds.). Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Forthcoming “Politics of Representations: Making Indigenous paintings for sale in Central Australia” in Countering Modernity, Indigenous Communalism, César Abadia and Carolyn Smith-Morris (eds). Routledge.

2022 with Sylvie Poirier “Indigenous Cosmologies, Entangled Religiosities and Global Connections” in Contemporary Indigenous Cosmologies and Pragmatics. Françoise Dussart and Sylvie Poirier (eds.). Alberta: University of Alberta Press

2017 with Sylvie Poirier “Knowing and Managing the Land: The Conundrum of Coexistence and Entanglement” in Entangled Territorialities: Negotiating Indigenous Lands in Australia and Canada, Françoise Dussart and Sylvie Poirier (eds.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Pp.1-23

2010 “De la Terre à la Toile. Peintures Acryliques de l’Australie Centrale” [From the Ground to the Canvas. Acrylic Paintings from Central Australia], in La Fabrique des Images, Philippe Descola (ed.). Paris: Le Musée du Quai Branly and Somogy Editions, pp.138-145

2005 “Big Businesswomen” in Aboriginal Religions in Australia: An Anthology of Recent Writings. London, Ashgate Press, pp.93-112 (Revised extract of chapter 3 published in Dussart, 2000 The Politics of Ritual in an Aboriginal Settlement: Kinship, Gender and the Currency of Knowledge. Washington: The Smithsonian Institution Press)

2003 “The Engendering of Ceremonial Knowledge Between (and among) Warlpiri Women and Men in the Australian Central Desert.” Society for Economic Anthropology Monograph Series, Vol. 21,: Values and Valuables: From the Sacred to the Symbolic. Cynthia Werner and Duran Bell, (eds). Washington: American Anthropological Association and Altamira Press, pp.49-63.

1999 “What an Acrylic Can Mean: The Meta-Ritualistic Resonances of a Central Desert Painting” in Art from the Land, Howard Morphy and Margo Smith Boles (eds.). Charlottesville: The University of Virginia and Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, pp. 193-218. (Hardcopy and paperback)

1997 “A Body Painting in Translation,” in Rethinking Visual Anthropology, Howard Morphy & Marcus Banks (eds.). New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 186-202. (Paperback edition published in 1999)

1993 “First Impressions: Diary of a French Anthropologist in New York,“ in Distant Mirrors: America as a Foreign Culture, Philip DeVita & James Armstrong (eds.). Belmont: Wadsworth, pp. 66-7. (5rd edition)

1988 (co-authored with Christopher Anderson) “Dreamings in Acrylic: Contemporary Western Desert Art,” in Dreamings: Art from Aboriginal Australia, Peter Sutton (ed.). New York: Braziller Publishers, pp. 89-142.

Blind Peer-Reviewed Book Essays (selected)

2012 “Mediating Art: Painters of Acrylics at Yuendumu (1983-2011).” In Crossing Cultures: The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art at the Hood Museum of Art. Gilchrist, S. (ed.). University Press of New England, pp. 65-74.

2005 “Warlpiri Religion” Encyclopedia of Religion. 2nd Edition, Farmington Hills, MacMillan Reference and Thomson Gale, pp. 9693-9697.

2000 “The Politics of Representation: Kinship and Gender in the Performance of Public Ritual” in Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture, S. Kleinert and M. Neale (eds), Melbourne and London, Oxford Press, pp. 75-78.

1999 “The Warlpiri,” in Foraging Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Hunters and Gatherers, Richard Lee and Richard Daly (eds.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 363-66. (Paperback edition first published in 2004)

Blind Peer-Reviewed Articles

2023 With Georgia Curran, “ ‘We don’t show our women’s breasts for nothing’: Shifting purposed for Warlpiri women’s public rituals—yawulyu—Central Australia 1980s-2020s”. In Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses. Online First February 11, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/00084298231154430

2017 “Collaborations Episodiques ou Durables: La santé Autochtone dans le Centre de l’Australie [Short-term and long-term Collaborations: Indigenous health in Central Australia]” In Perspective croisées sur la santé autochtone : Problématique, pratiques et localités, La Faculté De Médecine, Université Laval Le CIERA, Université Laval La Faculté des Sciences Sociales, Le Département d’Anthropologie, Université Laval published: http://www.francophoniedesameriques.com/chercheurs/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/09/Sante-autochtone-Article-scientifique-Francoise-Dussart.pdf

2014 “Mise en Intrigue”. Quelques Réflexions sur les Expositions Muséales de Peintures à l’Acrylique des Aborigènes du Territoire du Nord (Australie)”. In Anthropologie et Sociétés, 38(3), pp. 179-206.

2010 with Carolyn Schwarz “Christianity in Aboriginal Australia Revisited”, In, C. Schwarz and F. Dussart (Guest Editors) Engaging Christianity in Aboriginal Australia. In The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 21, pp. 1-13.

2010 “It is Hard to be Sick Now”: Diabetes and the Reconstruction of Indigenous Sociality.” In Anthropologica., 52(1), pp. 77-87.

2009 “Diet, Diabetes, And Relatedness In A Central Australian Aboriginal Settlement: Some Qualitative Recommendations To Facilitate The Creation Of Culturally-Sensitive Health Promotion Initiatives.” In Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 20(3), pp. 202-207.

2007 “Canvassing Identities: Reflecting on the Acrylic Art Movement in an Australian Aboriginal Settlement” In Aboriginal History. Special Thirtieth Anniversary Volume Exchanging Histories, pp. 156-168.

2006 “Why Media Matters?” In Media Matters: Representations of the Social in Aboriginal Australia. Visual Anthropology Review. Dussart, F. Guest Editor, Special Issue vol. 21 (1&2), Fall/Spring 2005, pp. 5-10.

2004 “Shown But Not Shared, Presented but not Proffered: Redefining Ritual Identity Among Warlpiri Ritual Actors (1990-2000). The Australian Journal of Anthropology (formerly Mankind),15(3), pp. 272-287.

2004 “Montrés sans être Partagés; Présentés sans être Proférés: Redéfinition de l’identité rituelle chez les interprètes de rituels warlpiri. Anthropologie et Sociétés, 24, pp. 67-87.

1994 “Quelle Evolution Pour Les Collections Australiennes D’Art Aborigène Sous La Pression Du Marché: Un Bref Aperçu Historique (Museum Collections of Australian Aboriginal Art in Australia and the Pressures of the Market. A Brief Historical Perspective.) Les Cahiers de Publics et Musées, Paris, Direction des Musées de France, Ministère de la Culture et de la Francophonie & Collège International de Philosophie, pp. 49-53.

1992c “Warlpiri Paintings: Symbols Tell Stories.” Australia Through Time. Faces Series, American Museum of Natural History & Cobblestone Press. VIII (IX), pp. 32-35.

1992b “The Politics of Female Identity: Warlpiri Widows at Yuendumu.” Ethnology. 31(4), pp. 337-350.

1992a “Creation and Innovation: Tania’s Dream”. Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 94(1), pp. 25-34.

1989 “Rêves à l’Acrylique” (Acrylic Dreams.) Australie Noire: Les Aborigènes, un Peuple d’Intellectuels. Merleau-Ponty, Claire & Anne Tardy (eds.) in Autrement, March, Hors Série 37, pp. 104-111.

1988 “Notes on Warlpiri Women’s Personal Names.” Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 86 (1), pp. 53-60.

1984 “Les Aléas d’une Politique Militaire Intégrative: Le Cas de Samori” in Culture et Développement. Revue Internationale des Sciences du Développement, XVI (3-4), pp. 611-62.

Commissioned Essays Reviewed by Editorial Boards (selected)

Forthcoming Foreword for Yuendumu Yawulyu by Cecily Napanangka Granites and Kathryn Thompson-Ferry. Institute of Aboriginal Development and Aboriginal Arts Board Press.

2015 “Repères Ancestraux et Créations Contemporaines” [Ancestral landmarks and Contemporary Creations]. In Lignes de Vie: Art Contemporain des Autochtones d’Australie. Quebec City, Musée de la Civilisation, pp. 10-24

2015 “Comment Présenter l’Art Autochtone Australien. Interview avec conservateur autochtone Glenn Iseger-Pilkington.”[How to represent Indigenous Art from Australia. Interview with Indigenous curator Glenn Iseger-Pilkington] In Lignes de Vie: Art Contemporain des Autochtones d’Australie. Quebec City, Musée de la Civilisation pp. 66-75

2014 “Fora of Identity: From Public Ceremonies through Acrylic Painting to Evangelical Preaching.” In Australian Aboriginal Anthropology Today: Critical Perspectives from Europe (Les Actes ), URL : http://actesbranly.revues.org/575

2012 “Gestures of Translation and Activism.” In Gestuelles: The Art of Transmission by Aboriginal Desert Women. Sydney, International Development for Australian Indigenous Art, pp. 8-12.

2012 “Artists and Acrylics as Agents of Social Change.” In Carry On Kunga: Law Women From the Desert. Paris, Flammarion-Skira Editions, pp. 21-45.

2011 “Women’s Acrylic Paintings From Yuendumu,” In How Aborigines invented the Idea Of Contemporary Art (ed.) Ian McLean, Sydney, Power Publications. pp. 189-192.

2009 “Warlpiri Women and Acrylics” Essay/catalogue for Yuru-yururla: Women’s Painting from Yuendumu exhibitions at Kluge Ruhe Museum, January-May, And The Australian Embassy, Washington DC. May-Sep.

2006 “Portals of Promise: The Dreaming Doors at Yuendumu” in Opening Doors. Utrecht, Aboriginal Art Museum, pp. 20-25

2005 Introduction to Part 3: “Sacred Places” in Aboriginal Religions in Australia: An Anthology of Recent Writings. London, Ashgate Press, p. 113

2005 Introduction to Part 4: “Art and Religion” in Aboriginal Religions in Australia: An Anthology of Recent Writings. London, Ashgate Press, p. 157

2004 “An Educator, Artist and Reformer. Dolly Nampijinpa Daniels.” In Sydney Morning Herald, 11/30/04

2001 “To the Rescue With Pluck and a Parasol” on Marcus, J., 2001, The Indomitable Miss Pink: A Life in Anthropology, University of New South Wales Press. In Sydney Morning Herald 2-2-2002 (Edition: Late), p. 12.

1998 Review Essay: Moisseeff, M. 1995, Un long Chemin Semé d’Objets Cultuels .Editions de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Review Essay In Aboriginal History 22, pp. 243-5.

1993 “L’Australie : La Peinture du Centre et le Colonialisme,” (Australia: Paintings from the Central Desert and the Impact of Colonialism.) Encyclopædia Universalis, Florence Flon-Granveaud (ed.) pp. 518-520.

1989 “We are not a dying race: an interview with Marcia Langton” (Nous ne sommes pas un peuple en voie d’extinction: entretien avec Marcia Langton.) Australie Noire: Les Aborigènes, un Peuple d’Intellectuels. Merleau-Ponty, Claire & Anne Tardy (eds.) in Autrement, March, Hors Série 37, pp. 175-181.

1988 “Women’s Acrylic Paintings From Yuendumu,” in Inspired Dream, Margie West (ed.), Brisbane, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia. pp. 35-39. (Revised for 2011 How Aborigines invented the Idea Of Contemporary Art (ed.) Ian McLean, Sydney, Power Publications.)

Awards and Honors

• 2022-present Life-Membership International Committee Anthropologie et Sociétés. Canada
• 2012 Faculty Mentor of the Year. National award. The Institute on Teaching and Mentoring.
• 2001 Politics of Ritual in an Aboriginal Settlement, Finalist for the Stanner Book Prize, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
• 2000 Award: American Association of Museums Publications Award. Honorable Mention for Art from the Land: Dialogues with the Kluge-Ruhe Collection of Australian Aboriginal Art. University of Virginia and Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
• 1989 Ainsfield-Wolf Book Award for Dreamings: Art from Aboriginal Australia. New York, Braziller Publishers