PA/37/10                                                                             28 May 2010

High Commissioner announces Australian Studies Fellowship winners
Australian multiculturalism a focus of studies

The Australian High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, has announced the winners of the 2010 Australia-India Council (AIC) Australian Studies Fellowships. A total of five fellowships were awarded, two in the senior category (for university faculty) and three in the junior (for research scholars).

Announcing the awards in New Delhi, Varghese said “these awards will lift the understanding of Australia and Australian society among Indian university faculty and research scholars. Australia and India have much to learn from each other through collaborative research and these awards will expand the scope of that collaboration. I congratulate the awardees and wish them well with their travels and research.”

Australia’s multiculturalism and cultural coexistence were underlying themes among successful applicants this year. Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) will work on the challenge of managing diversity, Ms Lovepreen Kaur from Max Healthcare plans to research the experience of Indian students in Australia. Professor Caldeira from the University of Goa, a 2010 awardee, will use her fellowship to draft a Master’s course on 'Multimedia Readings of Australia'.

The AIC fellowships provide an excellent opportunity for awardees to extend their knowledge of Australia and Australian Studies, and to develop collaborations with scholars in Australia. The fellowships are part of the AIC Australian studies program to promote academic linkages.

“First hand exposure to the nation has made me totally restructure the course I had initially designed” said Professor Caldeira, a 2009 awardee currently in Adelaide.

Since the introduction of the fellowships in 2003, 17 senior and 18 junior fellows have undertaken the 6 – 10 week visit to Australia, spending time at participating universities. Many of the awardees have continued their strong interest in Australia, and several have become champions of Australian studies at their home institutions.

Successful awardees for 2010 include:

Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya, Malaviya Centre for Peace, Banaras Hindu University will conduct a research on “Managing Diversities Peacefully: Learning Experiences from Multicultural Cities in India & Australia”

Research topic for Dr Nidhi Singh, Department of English, University of Rajasthan at Jaipur is “Making Connections: South-Asian Immigrant’s Search for Cultural Coexistence”

Mr Arindam Das, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata will work on the theme “Indo-Australian Dialogue: Indian Diasporic presence and the rethinking of culture, economy and politics”

Dr Parmod Kumar, Dept. of English, IGNOU will examine “Writings from the Fringe: A comparative study of Australian Aboriginal and Indian Aborigines (dalits) through their autobiographies, memoirs et al”

Ms Lovepreen Kaur, Department of Mental Health, Max Health Care, will study “perceptions of safety and the acculturation experience among Indian students in Australia: A pilot study of North Indian and Punjabi Students in Melbourne and Sydney”

In its seventh year of operation, the fellowships program is being managed by a consortium of Australian Universities, on behalf of the AIC. The consortium is led by Monash University, and includes the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Queensland and the University of South Australia.

The Australia-India Council was established by the Australian Government in 1992 to promote linkages between Australia and India in a range of areas, including Australian studies.