Background
Thoughts for the materialisation of an educational program which has as its objective the teaching of Greek language and culture, and which would promote cross-academic collaboration both in and outside of Greece, came to fruition in 2007 when the first draft of a plan for such a collaborative initiative was signed by the University of the Aegean in Greece, and Charles Darwin University in Australia (CDU, 2016). This was followed one year later at the School of Humanities of the University of the Aegean in Rhodes, by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between these two institutions. The agreement placed at its epicentre the strengthening of collaboration among the educational institutions involved, including the primary goals of promoting new teaching/learning modes, incorporating as core to the initiative, updated technological platforms and tools, and the reinforcement of Greek language education (Damanakis, 2007) in the diaspora.
In 2014, with a similar orientation and philosophy, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the University of Macedonia in Greece. Within the framework of this agreement were included interdisciplinary collaboration, and an international inaugural conference initiated by Charles Darwin University, and continued at the University of the Aegean and the University of Macedonia (Carment et al., 2019).
The aim of the two conferences (held in 2017 and 2019) which were located across the three universities, was the establishment of academic initiatives that included the following main topics: “The Greek Diaspora,” as well as an interchange of ideas about perceptions of Greek language education (Frazis et al., 2019). It is noteworthy that apart from the ongoing assistance from the tertiary institutions primarily involved in improving the quality of the ongoing initiative, was the articulation of contributions to this effort from various potential providers such as Greek and other cultural associations, the inclusion and role(s) of private donors, as well as an articulation of the roles of primary and secondary education providers who embrace the Greek In-Country Study Program (CDU, 2016), and to offer their mentoring services to Charles Darwin University.
As one early outcome, the creation of an active network of colleagues in several universities led to the publication of the first collective/collaborative volume (Carment et al., 2019), the central topic of which was the multi-level activity among the Greek communities in the Northern Territory of Australia, as well as of other centres where the Greek presence has been evident, and remains strong, and has even shown growth as a consequence of the economic crisis that broke out in Greece since 2010 onwards. The publication of the first volume, Perspectives on the Hellenic diaspora (Carment, et al., 2019) was financed by the Government of the Northern Territory and the Charles Darwin Foundation. The second collective volume published in 2021, Perspectives on the Hellenic diaspora Volume 2 (Frazis et al., 2021) was also financed by the Government of the Northern Territory. Its central topic is migration from an interdisciplinary perspective and, as such, it contains studies of the phenomenon of migration through the lens of historical, cultural, community, and ethnographic orientations and methodologies.
3rd International conference
The conference will be held both virtually and on Casuarina campus in Darwin.
Our goal in this coming conference is:
- To showcase the successful collaboration with the above Universities since 2007, as well as with other universities around the world.
- To bring together (virtually and some of them physically) more than 60 academics around the world and deliver their research.
- To engage in discourse both educational traditions, the Western as well as the First Peoples’ in Australia. In line of this we have organised day one, 26 May two keynote addresses, as follows:
- by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Dean of St Andrews Theological College of Sydney:
Topic: The Orthodox Church and its mission in the world - by Eileen Cummings, University Fellow, Northern Institute Charles Darwin University:
Topic: Personal and career experiences of Indigenous personhood with respect to government ‘Stolen Generation’ policy and truth-telling the Stolen Generation history in Australia.
- by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Dean of St Andrews Theological College of Sydney:
- To promote Hellenic Studies and Greek Language in Diaspora with two keynote addresses, as follows:
- by Professor Damanakis Michael, University of Crete:
Θέμα: Λειτουργίες και λειτουργικότητα της γλώσσας προέλευσης στη διασπορά. - by Professor Kanarakis George, Charles Sturt University:
Topic: The Diachrony of the Greek Language and its Contribution to Australian English.
- by Professor Damanakis Michael, University of Crete:
- To promote the NT around the world as well as the unique character of our three Universities.
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