The Board of Directors of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) were honoured to receive a visit from Professor Yiorgos Anagnostou, the Head of Greek Studies at Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio, USA.
He is on a six-week research trip to Australia funded by the Walter Mangold Public Trust at the University of Melbourne and is being hosted by Dr Andonis Piperoglou, who last year was appointed the inaugural senior lecturer in Global Diasporas.
It is his first visit to Australia and so far, he’s been impressed by what he’s seen, a very vibrant Greek community which to a significant extent has retained its bilingualism compared with other diaspora settings.
Professor Anagnostou commended the Community for its lobbying efforts in getting the Global Diasporas program at the University of Melbourne off the ground, as there is no other globally equivalent initiative as often the diaspora gets sidelined in Greek studies departments.
“We need to understand existing and future generations, we need to understand how communities are changing, these insights will not surface without research” he added.
Over the internet, Professor Anagnostou has been following the Community’s cultural programming. He admires the fact that it has created a public forum for different voices and different perspectives to be heard, and for creating a public space where things can be discussed and where through conversation, we all learn from one another.
The end result is that we all have a better understanding of ourselves, our families, and our communities.
“Sadly, in Greek America, the public sphere is receding, the narratives are limited, bilingualism is diminishing,” he lamented.
Professor Anagnostou also encouraged the Community to reach out to its counterparts overseas, in particular those in the Anglosphere world where there are greater commonalities. Much can be learned from shared experiences. He will be in Australia until mid-November, mainly in Melbourne, but will also be visiting Canberra and Sydney to participate in public events and discussions.
