2025 US Study Tour Wrap Up

In February/March 2025, Aurora welcomed ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars on the US Study Tour. The US Study Tour takes scholars to some of the most prestigious universities in the world, including Harvard, NYU, and MIT, to learn about their prospective opportunities for postgraduate study.

The Tour began in Tucson at the University of Arizona, which is renowned for its exceptional First Nations academic and coursework programs. The University of Arizona is considered an “Indigenous Ivy League” school, which was the primary reason for its addition to the program in 2024. The University of Arizona’s Native Nations Institute welcomed scholars to speak with researchers, as well as organised a program for scholars to experience the culture of the local Tohono O’odham nation.

Scholars were taken on Country to the Tohono O’odham nation, where they met staff from the Tohono O’odham Community College, shared a meal of local Indigenous food, and visited the Tohono O’odham Cultural Centre and Museum. Scholars also presented the Native Nations Institute with an artwork by Kamsani Bin Salleh, descendent of the Ballardong Noongar people and Nimbunburr and Yawuru peoples of the Kimberley. In return, participants were gifted shell necklaces from Evan Thomas at the Tohono O’odham Community College.

Scholars visited the Tohono O’odham nation in Arizona, where they learnt about local Indigenous histories and cultures.

The program set by the Native Nations Institute had a significant impact on participants, and their desire to pursue postgraduate study at the University of Arizona. Qandamooka woman and Study Tour Participant Mollie O’Connor, who is looking to pursue a Master of Laws to specialise in Indigenous Rights and Human Rights Law, shared:

“The visit to the Tohono O’oodham reservation had a very large impact on me, in terms of my interest in the region and the University, as it provided me with insights into what I might learn at the University in relation to nation building. I found the visit incredibly inspiring, particularly in terms of what I could take back to my community. I felt so welcomed and the incredible commitment the Tohono O’oodham people have to advancing outcomes for their people was amazing to see.”

Study Tour participants Isabella and Gail at the University of Arizona campus.

From Arizona, the Study Tour went northeast to New York, where they visited New York University and Columbia University, explored the city, and participated in an event hosted by the Centre for Collaborative Indigenous Research with Communities and Land (Center CIRCL). Amongst their meetings with university staff and discovery of what the city of New York is really like, participants also took a visit to the United Nations (UN), where they met with the Ambassador to Australia and learnt more about Australia’s role at the UN, as well as career pathways for scholars interested in a career in global affairs.

For Isabella Borchet-Jonker, Mamu Waribarra woman and Study Tour participant interested in pursuing a Master of Public Policy or Master of Laws, who dreamt of one day working at the UN when she was in high school, this part of the tour was particularly transformational.

“After visiting Columbia, I was sitting in a café reflecting on a 1-on-1 meeting I had with a [Master of Public Policy in Development Practice] student who had talked about the advantages of the program. He had said the relationship with the UN is so strong that everyone is working with the UN in some capacity. I remembered visiting New York at the very beginning of 2017, after finishing high school, with my Mum. At the time I had visited the UN, and I had big dreams of working there one day. Over the years at university and work my focus changed to Indigenous issues on a national scale, and the UN dream fell away to some extent. But at that cafe I realised that I was sitting in the same city, 8 years later, talking about taking a course where I would almost definitely be working with the UN, like it was the most normal  and achievable thing in the world. This week has been transformative. For New York to be a city that is within reach, and the UN and all of the organisations based in the city to be places that I could conceivably interact with is something I could never have dreamed of.”

Mollie O’Connor at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

During the final leg of the Tour, participants travelled to Boston, where they explored their opportunities for postgraduate study at Harvard and MIT. Here, scholars met with academics and program coordinators, sat in on classes, and went on an Indigenous walking tour of Harvard with the Harvard University Native American Program. During this last leg of the Tour, scholars were surprised at the accessibility of Harvard and MIT, and how these institutions felt like places they could potentially belong. In the words of Deborah Sandow, Ghungalu woman and Study Tour participant interested in Public Health:

“I thought that Harvard University would be quite elite and out of my reach. However, after visiting the campus and having my meeting with program coordinators, I realised that it is not out of my reach at all and that I am capable of studying at such a prestigious university.”

The 2025 US Study Tour cohort outside a Harvard University library during their Indigenous walking tour of the campus.

The Aurora Study Tour Program is supporting First Nations scholars to realise their own potential, by helping them navigate institutions that have typically felt inaccessible for Indigenous communities. Learn more about the program here.