Gillian Cowlishaw

Gillian Cowlishaw (née Jessup; born 1934) is a New Zealand-born anthropologist, known for her ethnographic research on Indigenous Australians.

Early life and education Cowlishaw was born Gillian Jessup in 1934 in the rural area of Otakiri, near Edgecumbe in the Bay of Plenty Region, New Zealand, and grew up on her parents' dairy farm with three siblings. She completed her PhD in anthropology in 1979. She went on to teach at Charles Sturt University, Australian National University, and the University of Sydney (1992 to 1997). She was a research professor at University of Technology Sydney (from 1998 to 2005) before returning to the University of Sydney.

Career Cowlishaw's ethnographic research with Aboriginal Australians investigates local cultures, histories, and the relationship between settler colonialists and Indigenous peoples.

In 2006 the Australian Research Council awarded Cowlishaw an Australian Professorial Fellowship.