Diversity & Inclusion Small Grants Program

Overview

The Faculty of Arts is committed to fostering a culture that promotes diversity and inclusion. Our vision is to be home to a dynamic, diverse and inclusive community of staff and students who are committed to achieving our full potential by working together and with our partners in a spirit of courageous generosity by 2025.

In keeping with this vision, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee is pleased to announce a small grants program to support staff and students who are interested in hosting or coordinating initiatives that further the vision of the Faculty.

The grant will be up to $3,000AUD and will be allocated on a competitive basis. Efforts will be made to support grant activities across Schools and Institutes in the Faculty.

Application information

Applications for the 2024 Small Grants Program have now closed.

Who can apply?

Applicants must be a student or member of staff in the Faculty of Arts, who will be enrolled and/or in a continuing or fixed term position until at least 31 December 2025. Applications may come from an individual or a group.

Please note: Interested student applicants must first contact the D&I committee (arts-diversityandinclusion@unimelb.edu.au) before preparing their application, to discuss their plans and feasibility of their project.

Staff (including professional staff) and students from diverse religious, cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, people with disability, Indigenous Australians and LGBTIQA+ staff and students are especially encouraged to apply.

Types of initiatives encouraged

Funding will be given to projects such as film screenings, workshops, panel discussions, cultural performances and other activities that build awareness, create space for all students and staff members to mark occasions of cultural significance, and create an inclusive and welcoming environment across the Faculty. Accessible initiatives that facilitate wide participation are especially encouraged. Events must be completed by 30 November 2025.

Costs covered by the grant

The grant can be used for the payment of any goods or services that support the project outlined in your application. This may include*:

• Venue and equipment hire
• Printing / stationery / graphic design
• Advertising
• Payment of domestic guest speakers/performers
• Travel costs associated with the activity
• Exhibition costs

The grant cannot be spent on:

• Goods and services provided by overseas suppliers
• Goods and services provided by grant applicants
• Salaries or teaching buyout
• Activities/projects that will charge participation fees
• Research
• Learning and teaching projects
• Retrospective funding for projects already underway or completed
• The purchase of equipment

*Funding for catering is limited in 2025.

2024 Awarded Projects

• Negotiating Dis/Connections: The Role of Philippine Youth in Constructing Transnational Futures (Ian Ramirez, School of Culture and Communication, and Kidjie Saguin, School of Social and Political Science)

A dynamic event that blended academia and culture, and brought together Filipina/x/o scholars and artists in a panel discussion on youth futures. The event included diasporic artists Caleb Ribates and Bea Rubio-Gabriel, and scholars Ian Ramirez, Camille Mendoza, and Kidjie Saguin. The panel discussion explored the role of Philippine youth towards constructing just and inclusive futures, and was followed by a Filipino fiesta of food and film screenings. 4 October 2024.

From left to right:  Camille Mendoza, Ian Ramirez (project lead), Bea Rubio-Gabriel, Caleb Ribates, and Kidjie Saguin (project supervisor).

• Mental Health Wellness Week (Lulu Chen, School of Languages and Linguistics, in collaboration with Arati Nair from the Faculty of Engineering and IT)

From October 7th to 11th, students and staff participated in diverse events, including mindfulness sessions, cultural therapy seminar, and vibrant cultural performances. The week fostered mental health awareness, encouraged well-being, and strengthened community bonds. Organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering and IT.

From left to right: Arati Nair (FEIT Student Intern, Co-organiser), Nasalifya Namwinga (Founder of Pola Practice, Senior Clinical Psychologist), Anushka Phal (Founder of Umeed Psychology, Psychologist), Lulu Chen (SOLL Student Intern, Co-organiser).

• Mid-Autumn Festival: Diversified celebrations in China and around the world (Jessica Rockwell, Asia Institute)

An opportunity for University of Melbourne students and staff to learn about the origins of China's Mid-Autumn Festival and the various ways it is honoured throughout China and the world. This includes differences and similarities between Northern and Southern China, among various Chinese ethnic groups inside China, and throughout the world. Speakers included Wanyi Xue, Dongyang Mi, and Leiheng Wang. 17 September 2024.

Dongyang Mi  (President's Doctoral Researcher at the University of Manchester, and PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne) presenting on the Miao ethnic minority.

Leiheng Wang (PhD candidate at the Asia Institute) presenting on the legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Wanyi Xue (PhD candidate in Contemporary Chinese Studies, Asia Institute) speaking at the event next to a table with mooncakes.

• Reconciliation Week 2024 Free Breakfast and Talk (Ashley Michailaros, School of Languages and Linguistics)

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. This event featured Thomas Watson, Industry Fellow, Australian Indigenous Languages. Watson presented on the Revitilisation of the Gangulu language. 29 May 2024.

• The Sights and Sounds of Maluku: Eastern Indonesia's Spice Island (Dr Monika Winarnita, Asia Institute)

Through musical performance and dialogue that promotes interfaith and intercultural relationships, hip-hop artist Presiden Tidore (a.k.a Bams Conoras) brought The Sights & Sounds of Maluku to The University of Melbourne by sharing cultural practice, music, and cloth weaving. His music draws on the traditions and history of his home island, Tidore in North Maluku the eastern part of Indonesia, and calls for greater recognition of the complex and vibrant contemporary cultures that lie away from the main centres of Indonesian culture in Java and Bali. Indonesian postgraduate students from various faiths and religions attended the event and celebrated together with Australian multicultural local and international students studying Indonesian language, staff and members of the Indonesia Forum, as well as the Indonesian consulate’s cultural attache staff. 24 May 2024.

From left to right: Angus Baranikow (Australia Indonesia Youth Association Victoria Chapter President), Presiden Tidore (Hip Hop Artist from Maluku Island), Jesslyn GIovanni Mulyanto (Indonesia Forum Postgraduate Rep), Longgina Novadona Bayo (Indonesia Forum Postgraduate Rep), and Dr Monika Winarnita (Indonesia Forum Convenor and Lecturer in Indonesian Studies).

2023 Awarded Projects

• A Wasteland of Malaysian Poetry in English (Brandon K. Liew, School of Culture and Communication)

A special evening of poetry readings, panel discussions, and debut recordings that celebrate A Wasteland of Malaysian Poetry in English, an audio-archive of over 300 poems by Malaysian poets stemming from the 1950s. This event marked the first and only international iteration of the Wasteland to date as it moved back to Penang to premiere at the Georgetown Literary Festival in November 2023. The Melbourne reading featured the writings of Lee Kok Liang, and was read alongside contemporary work from emerging and established Malaysian and Southeast Asian poets.

• Mid-Autumn Festival & Traditional Vietnamese Children's Games (Tess Do, Trang Nguyen, and Vu Lan Anh Pham, School of Languages and Linguistics)

A beloved children's festival that showcases Vietnam's most cherished folk games, through a colorful display of artifacts.

Organizers Tess Do, Trang Nguyen, and Vu Lan Anh Pham, with several Vietnamese students who participated at the event.

• Supporting Refugee Students in Tertiary Education, A Conversation (Ali Reza Yunespour, School of Social and Political Sciences)

This panel considered gaps of inclusion in universities and pathways to tertiary education for current and prospective students with a refugee background.

Panel discussants Dr Claire Loughnan (University of Melbourne), Dr Ali Reza Yunespour (University of Melbourne), Ms Lana Formoso (Deputy Mayor of Dandenong City Council), Dr Karen Dunwoodie (Deakin University), and Sana Gulistani (University of Melbourne).

• Sarod Performance to Celebrate Eid al-Adha (Nadeem Malik, School of Social and Political Sciences)

A musical evening featuring performances with the Sarod (a stringed musical instrument widely used in South Asian music traditions) and the Tabla (a South Asian percussion drum) to celebrate Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha is the Muslim festival marking the culmination of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham.

Leading Australian Sarod player, Abyasachi (Saby) Bhattacharya, performing on the Sarod, with Dr Nadeem Malik (University of Melbourne) accompanying on the Tabla.

Other awarded projects:

• Myanmar's Diverse Cultures (Mary Aung, School of Social and Political Sciences)
• Culture from Seven Sea (Zolbayar Ochirbat, Australia Awards)