Dr. Sarah Bourke

Biography

Sarah Bourke is a Research Fellow at the Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research. Being a Gamilaroi, Jaru, Gidja woman raised on Ngunnawal Ngambri Country in Canberra, she completed her undergraduate studies in Biological Anthropology and Psychology at the Australian National University, along with distinguished scholarships including the John Monash Scholarship and the Roberta Sykes Scholarship. She pursued her MPhil in Medical Anthropology at Keble College, University of Oxford in the UK, and is currently working on her DPhil in Anthropology at St. John's College, Oxford, which she expects to complete in 2021. Sarah's doctoral research employs an Indigenist research framework to closely examine the historical, social, and political factors that have shaped the development of the Mayi Kuwayu, a national study focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing, emphasizing the measurement of cultural determinants of health. Her expertise notably lies in the realms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health wellbeing research policy, decolonizing Indigenous research methodologies, and qualitative methods, with her research exploring Indigenous philosophies of health and the means to live a 'good life' from Indigenous perspectives.

Research Interests

Experience