The ANU Australian Studies Institute (AuSI) is delighted to welcome our next Visiting Fellow for the 2022-23 Program, Dr Piers Kelly.

“I would like to cordially welcome Piers to AuSI and wish him well throughout his month at the Institute. Piers will use his Fellowship to delve into the investigation of Australian message sticks, an important communication system once used across Indigenous Australia for facilitating long-distance interactions.”

- Professor Paul Pickering, Director, ANU Australian Studies Institute

“It’s wonderful to be at the Institute throughout October and to interact with Australian Studies colleagues across a broad range of disciplines at the ANU. I’m especially looking forward to working with First Nations scholars, and exploring national collections in Canberra.”  

- Dr Piers Kelly, Visiting Fellow, ANU Australian Studies Institute

Dr Piers Kelly is a linguistic anthropologist at the University of New England where he is undertaking a DECRA on Australian message sticks. He was previously employed at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany where he investigated graphic codes in West Africa and Southeast Asia. His book, The Last Language on Earth, was published by Oxford University Press this year.