CCCS 2022 Seed Funding Winning Projects

A Study of Chinese residents' and workers’ attitudes toward both Chinese and Pacific customary land.

Project Introduction

This project will develop the research skills of a Chinese speaker and insert Chinese insights in the ongoing conversation about Pacific cities.  One problem my work has identified, is that Australian aid projects can misunderstand customary land management, which makes aid less effective than it could be, e.g., Day (2020), Day (2022).  Customary land management in the Pacific has many parallels with Chinese village land management. This project seeks the ideas about customary ownership that Chinese people bring with them when they arrive in Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital city.  Chinese investors are frequently caught in the intractable land disputes that also exist between indigenous landowners, or between customary tenants and landowners.  The Chinese perspective on resolving these issues could be powerful.

This project could be impactful for understanding China-Pacific-Australian aid relations.  China’s recent security pact with the neighboring Solomon Islands has upset the political balance that the United States and Australia presumed was in place.  The Chinese influence on the culture of the Pacific Islands will increase in the coming years.  Those who understand Chinese thought when it comes to land management will be prepared for deeper research on Chinese influence.

Bio

Dr. Jennifer Day is an Associate Professor in Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne.  In both China and the Pacific, she has worked on the issue of urban displacement and evictions due to development, issues interconnected with climate change and disaster displacement. She is CI on the ARC Discovery Project with which this CCCS project is affiliated: Communities, Kava, Court Orders: The Ways of Possessing the Pacific City.

Australian Indigenous knowledge is unique to an Australian study experience. Unfortunately, most international students do not have the opportunity to engage with the Australian Indigenous knowledge in meaningful ways, although universities are actively looking for ways to include indigenous perspectives into curricular. This Chinese student Indigenous orientation study aims to help Chinese international students engage in a meaningful learning experience of Australian Indigenous cultures.

This research will take a qualitative ethnographic methodology. Data collection will take place in Melbourne University (UniMelb) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

This project will offer Chinese international students an opportunity of a meaningful experience with Indigenous cultures.  It will contribute to the literature with updated information about Chinese international students’ perspectives indigenous learning. This seed project will serve as a pilot of a larger project to development an online indigenous orientation program for international students in Australia. The collaboration will also foster inter-institutional collaboration between the two universities and bring together a diversity of First Nations knowledge from two geographical regions of Victoria and Queensland.

Dr. Dongmei Li is Lecturer Diversity and Internationalisation at Arts Teaching Innovation, Faculty of Arts, University of Melboure. Mei’s researcher interests include internationalisation of the curriculum, decolonisation in higher education, and international students’ learning experiences.

Dr Pranit Anand is a Lecturer, Learning Design at Queensland University of Technology. His research includes inclusive assessment practices, internationalisation of curriculum, student engagement and educational technology. He is an acclaimed higher education teacher having awarded numerous awards at various universities.

COVID-19 has a long-lasting effect on Australia’s higher-education system. Almost one third of international students remain abroad and are taking online courses, even though the Australian government and universities have taken active measures to bring them back to campus following the removal of border restrictions in late 2021. So what makes them hesitant to return? How have motivational and constraining factors been traded-off in their decision-making process?

This mixed-methods study uses survey and interview data to explore the motivations and mobility of Chinese international students during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. A Master program offered at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute is selected as a case study. This study can help Australian universities to better understand the expectations of their international student population and work to maximise students’ learning experiences and well-being. It can also provide an empirical basis for policymaking and provide insights into the core tasks facing Australian universities.

Winning Project

Queer Taiwan, Then and Now

Even before the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2019, Taiwan was a regional and global leader in queer literature and art, as well as a forerunner in addressing societal issues related to gender and sexuality. This research group considers the development of these aspects of Taiwan’s art and society through a reading group focusing on texts from Taiwan, examining them in comparison with the development of similar movements in Australia and the West. In early 2023, we will host a workshop on the writing and translation of queer literature in collaboration with colleagues from Taiwan.

Winning Project

[Community Symposium] Dragon: Preserving the oldest surviving complete processional dragon in the world