** Editorial copy ** -- replaced
Charles Darwin University serves Australia’s vast Northern Territory, where around 30 per cent of the population is Indigenous, ten times the proportion in the rest of the country. As such, it says it is deeply engaged with Australia’s Indigenous peoples, and a substantial minority of students are from these communities.
Situated on Australia’s northern coast, the university’s main campuses are actually closer to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea than Melbourne or Sydney. Its research focus is on tropical and desert regions in the Asia-Pacific region and Australia, and boasts strengths in areas such as human health, community and identity, and natural resource management.
Students can study both on campus and externally, fitting their course around their family or work life. CDU is also a dual-sector university, which means it offers a broad range of courses from higher education to vocational education and training.
The Casuarina campus, in the northern suburbs of Darwin, offers students a nearby beach, acres of parkland, as well as sporting facilities and Chinese and Indonesian gardens. The university also has a base in both Melbourne and Sydney which are focused on international students.
The CDU Foundation, supported by donations and other contributions, has for a quarter of a century been raising money to help strengthen links between the university and wider society. One of the areas it supports is the study of Greek language and culture, and CDU aims to build Australia’s best Greek studies programme. The university has even appointed the musician Nikos Kourkoulis as an ambassador for its Greek programme.
