The third international Perspectives on the Hellenic Diaspora conference will take place physically at the Casuarina campus of Charles Darwin University and virtually from 26 to 28 May 2022.
The biennial event, which was first held in 2017, is a cross-tertiary institutional collaborative effort between Charles Darwin University, the University of the Aegean and the University of Macedonia, and aims to engage in conversation Western and Australia’s First Peoples’ educational traditions as well as to promote Hellenic Studies and Greek Language in the Diaspora.
This year’s conference will bring together more than 60 academics from around the world while keynotes will be given by Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Dean of St Andrews Theological College of Sydney; Eileen Cummings University, Fellow at the Northern Institute Charles Darwin University; Professor Michael Damanakis from the University of Crete; and Professor George Kanarakis from the Charles Sturt University.
“From ancient times, the Greek civilisation was one that embraced the foreign. Let’s not forget the sense of the word ‘Filoxenia’ (literally meaning love of the foreign) which is a complex moral code with deep ancient roots. As Isocrates said, ‘Greeks are those who have a Greek education’” Associate Professor for Greek and Hellenic Studies, George Frazis, one of the conference convenors, told The Greek Herald.
“We, Greeks, know well what it means to be a refugee and have ourselves been displaced many times. How can we not acknowledge the hardships Australia’s First Peoples have been through in the last 200 years?
“We have an obligation to embrace Indigenous Australians, to learn more about them and their struggles.
“Besides, our experiences as nations exhibit many similarities. We had the mass kidnapping of children when Greece was under Turkish occupation and they [Indigenous] had the Stolen Generation.
“In this conference, we will share common experiences and acknowledge our past in order to move forward.”
*The conference is free of charge and open to everyone. For more information and the full program visit https://hellenic-diaspora.cdu.edu.au
