Communicating Identities in Digital Spaces: Greek Migrant Youth and New Media
with Melina Mallos
- When: – 9:00 pm
- Where: Greek Centre, Level 12 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
- Entry: Free
Event Details
My doctoral research was motivated by my personal experiences of migration. Migrants not only navigate time zones but languages, cultures and relationships. The spontaneous effect of new media can be considered beneficial for migrants wishing to maintain a connection to their birth country. But is it?Collaborating with eight migrant youths living in Melbourne, aged 18-24 years, we met online to explore the question, ‘In what ways does new media usage shape the identities of Greek migrant youths, and help them find a sense of belonging?’ Together we explored instances of our identities performed for and shaped by our online communities. As the a/r/tographer (artist/researcher/teacher) leading the research, I captured our individual and shared digital journeys through storyboarding. My arts practice as an author of children’s books centres around arranging text and images on a page to communicate meaning. For this research, each storyboard I created was an assemblage of words and photographs contributed by the participants that also resonated with me and my identities.The research study was impacted, perhaps in a positive way, by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown not only heightened the desire for connection during what was an isolating time for the youth participants, but also fuelled personal contemplations about their migration journey, the enormity of physical distance from Greece, as well as the pandemic’s impact on their future life plans, such as careers, social life and interests.Mediating the use of new media for ‘survival’ in a new homeland, and the value of the digital space to enable communities of belonging, were significant outcomes of this research.
About Melina Mallos
Melina Mallos is a lecturer in visual art education at the University of Melbourne. Previously, she created educational initiatives for educators, families, and schools in Australian museums, including the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne, and the Queensland Art Gallery or Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane. Melina holds a Master of Education (Research) and a Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education. In 2010, she was granted a three-month Queensland-Smithsonian Fellowship to investigate object-based learning at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Melina has also authored a bilingual picture book, Catch that Cat! in Greek and English.
Her doctoral research explored the ways Greek migrant youth in Melbourne communicated their identities through new media practices and was undertaken during the global COVID-19 lockdown of 2020. Melina leads arts-based workshops exploring identity and belonging with Greek migrants worldwide.
How to Participate
This is an in-person only event, so please join us at the Greek Centre, on Level 12 (Press 12 in the elevator).
See our speaker live, ask questions during the Q&A and hobnob with fellow participants before and after the event.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Admission to this enlightening lecture is free, and all are invited to attend.
Sponsors
We'd like to thank Anastasia Sougleris, Maria Rerakis and Robyn Coyne for the kind donations that make seminars like this possible.
During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice.
You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722.
We thank the following corporate sponsors:
Delphi Accounting, Symposiarch Wines and the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria
About Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024
This event belongs to the series, Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024.
The Greek Community of Melbourne hosts a wide range of events, from intimate gatherings to large functions, and celebrates cultural diversity with vibrant festivals, performances, and exhibitions.
SERIES DATES: Thursday, 07/03/2024 – Thursday, 26/09/2024
See all Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024 published events.
- LANGUAGE English
- CATEGORY Education
- EVENT SERIES Seminars > Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024
- SERIES DATES Thursday, 07/03/2024 – Thursday, 26/09/2024
- PRESENTED BY The Greek Community of Melbourne
- FEATURING Melina Mallos
- M.C. Nick Dallas
- MAJOR DONORS Delphi Accounting, Symposiarch Wines and the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria
- MINOR DONORS Anastasia Sougleris, Maria Rerakis and Robyn Coyne
- PLACE Greek Centre, Level 12
- ADDDRESS 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
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