Biography
Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes is a researcher, writer, and poet from Lalibela, Ethiopia. He currently lives in Whadjuk Noongar Boodja (Perth, Western Australia), where he is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University, Australia. Drawing from the history, philosophy, and experiences of marginalised people, Dr Woldeyes contributes critical insights for reimagining the future and addressing epistemic and racial injustices. He researches African experience and Ethiopian traditions and writes creatively on diasporic lives and belonging. His research in education focuses on applying critical pedagogy and indigenous knowledges for transformative learning. Dr Woldeyes has won various university awards for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching. His publications include the sole authored book Native Colonialism: Education and the Economy of Violence Against Traditions in Ethiopia (New Jersey: The Red Sea Press, 2017), and the co-edited (with Offord, Fleay, Hartley and Chan) Activating Cultural and Social Change: The Pedagogies of Human Rights (London: Routledge, 2022). Currently, Dr Woldeyes is one of the chief investigators in a new Australian Research Council funded discovery project titled Roads to the Future: Infrastructure and new Development in Africa.