Provocations for anti-racism research and practice
- This event has passed.
The Challenging Racism Project, Centre for Western Sydney and Whitlam Institute invite you to attend this showcase of cutting edge anti-racism research and practice. Facilitated by Rhonda Itaoui, the event comprises a panel discussion about current directions in anti-racism research and practice. Provocations will address synergies between research and practice, looking at how these can advance anti-racism in all spheres.
We will conclude by launching the Challenging Racism Project’s new anti-racism educational social media package.
The event will be followed by an opportunity to meet the panellists and network over a catered lunch.
Panel Discussion
Australian schools are one of the most common settings in which children experience racism. Rachel Sharples and Katie Cherrington will discuss how to develop effective anti-racism interventions in schools.
The online world is increasingly a space where racism persists, causing great harm to individuals, groups, and communities. Kevin Dunn and Stijn Denayer will discuss what we need to do to make these spaces safe and ethical, and develop strategies to tackle the pervasive threat of online hate.
The Challenging Racism Project activates its research into anti-racism training. Zarlasht Sawari will discuss how research can be activated into educational strategies that improve anti-racism literacy; the ability to recognise everyday racism and its impacts;and effective bystander interventions. Naomi Steinborner will demonstrate the application of this training to youth theatre in a regional setting.
Launch of social media tiles
We are excited to launch the Challenging Racism Project’s educational social media assets, which will be available for all to use in anti-racism activations. These were developed by Alanna Kamp and her project team in response to community recommendations emerging from the release of their report Asian Australian experiences of racism during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2021).
Contributors (in order of appearance)
Rhonda Itaoui, Director of the Centre for Western Sydney at Western Sydney University, is an expert in the geographies of racism, diversity, and multiculturalism. She advocates for inclusive development in Western Sydney, working with stakeholders to shape policies that meet community needs and authored key research that advocates for the region’s future.
Rachel Sharples is a Lecturer of Social Sciences at WSU and longstanding member of the Challenging Racism Project. Key areas of Rachel’s research include displaced persons, refugees and migrants; the construction and projection of ethnicity, culture and identity; statelessness, citizenship and belonging; and spaces of solidarity and resistance.
Katie Cherrington is a primary school teacher with over ten years’ experience teaching in schools in rural and regional NSW. Working for the NSW Department of Education as AntiRacism Education Advisor K-6 and Principal Policy Officer, Anti-Racism, Katie has a particular interest in refugee and LGBTQ+ rights, antiracism, and social justice in education.
Kevin Dunn is Provost at WSU, Professor in Human Geography and Urban Studies, and founder of the Challenging Racism Project. His areas of research include immigration and settlement; Islam in Australia; the geographies of racism; and local government and multiculturalism.
Stijn Denayer the CEO of All Together Now. He has worked internationally in the human rights field as a researcher, manager and legal/policy advisor. His interests are in systems that obstruct social justice, including racism, discrimination, white supremacy and right-wing extremism, hate speech, hate crime, and violations of minority rights and the rights of people with disabilities.
Zarlasht Sawari is a PhD candidate at WSU and member of the Challenging Racism Project (CRP). She has mobilised CRP research to anti-racism education across a wide range of sectors to develop anti-racism confidence, skills and knowledge. Her research interests are in national identity, transnationalism, immigration and multiculturalism.
Naomi Steinborner is a theatre & festivals director, dramaturg, creative producer, community facilitator and project manager. For 25 years, she has worked in partnership with culturally diverse metropolitan and regional communities to develop multi-art form community cultural development projects responding to critical local issues. Naomi project coordinated All One Under the Sun, a whole of community remedy to racism campaign, led by young people and using the arts to promote inclusion and belonging.
Alanna Kamp is Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Geography, WSU, and a lead researcher in the Challenging Racism Project. Alanna’s research focus is Australian multiculturalism and cultural diversity, experiences of migration and settlement, racism and anti-racism, national identity, and intersectional experiences of belonging/exclusion.