[Edited extract from public address]
A joint initiative of the Hellenic Museum and Victoria University: Two of Melbourne’s cultural institutions join forces to provide a suite of educational programs that explores, celebrates and utilises the wide range of Indigenous, immigrant and ethnic populations in Australia
Cultural diversity is a feature of the modern world that has long historical roots. Indigenous traditions have very ancient foundations, tens of thousands of years old. The idea of ‘the West’, with its origins in ancient Athens, is another important cultural tradition. Like all traditions it has elements of both change and continuity within it. It has evolved in combination with the equally powerful stories that derive from East Asia and the Middle East.
Cultural diversity grows from those moments in world history, such as the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean, the spread of Islam across Africa and parts of Europe, or the British settlement of Australia, that bring peoples into contact and reshape how they think of themselves and the world around them. When the Spanish conquered Mexico in the 1500s they made astonishing discoveries that challenged their view of themselves and their God: they encountered animals that had not sailed with Noah on his Ark, and yet here they were!
Museums are repositories of the objects that inform our understanding of our own culture and those of others. Looking at these objects through a cultural lens we gain insights into the very diversity that connects us as humans – how we live, as women and men, as warriors or peacemakers, as newcomers and original inhabitants, as farmers or factory workers.
The Hellenic Museum is one of Australia’s pre-eminent research institutions in the field of multicultural museums, opening in 2007. It owes its origins to the generosity and vision of the late Spiro Stamoulis, who emigrated from Greece as a 13-year-old in the 1950s, and wanted ‘to inspire a passion for Greek history, art and culture’. A decade later, the Museum uses exhibitions and events to reveal new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.
Victoria University is an Australian university with the highest proportion of students whose home language is not English, and arguably one of the most culturally diverse education providers in the sector, is ideally placed to promote cultural diversity across the full range of its educational, research and community endeavours. A key research focus for Victoria University is Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities, with a focus on social and cultural diversity as part of its remit.
The Museum and the University’s adjacent facilities in Queen Street will provide one of the sites for the School’s work. The core focus of the School is a range of educational programs across the Hellenic Museum and all levels of the University’s teaching, including vocational education, undergraduate education, higher degree research training, and professional executive programs. It will draw on the expertise of teachers, administrators and researchers across both institutions, invited to participate in its programs as required by the School.
Although these programs will be undertaken at different levels, and by quite different groups of participants, they will share key characteristics that are part of the University’s trademark style:
- The new four-week ‘block mode’ will be standard, enabling participants to undertake courses of study in a timely and efficient manner
- Community-based programs will be a feature of the School’s work, based on the University’s experience in Work Integrated Learning and other community or industry outreach programs
- Resources will be drawn from museums across Melbourne and abroad, together with resources from local historical societies, professional associations and community cultural groups
- Place-based curricula will include walking tours, site visits, internships, and study tours
- Augmented, virtual and mixed reality and other technology-enabled experiences will connect learners in the School’s programs with resources from other places, nationally and internationally
- Exhibitions and museum displays, on-premises and potentially virtual also
- Auspicing and accreditation, including micro-credentialling, will be provided by the Victoria University Academic Board, potentially in conjunction with other stakeholders/industries
- Multi-campus offerings as appropriate, including Queen Street, St Albans, Footscray Nicholson and other campuses
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Hellenic Museum Melbourne (HMM)
Website: https://www.hellenic.org.au