Multiculturalism the topic of discussion at Alumni Speaker Series
Monash welcomed our alumni, staff and friends to The Pavilion at the Arts Centre Melbourne for the second Alumni Speaker Series of 2017 in July.
Three esteemed panellists tackled the question, “It has been said that Australia is the most successful multicultural society in the world. To what extent is this true of Australia today and can it be true tomorrow?”
Councillor Drew Jessop, Mayor of the City of Hume, Professor Andrew Markus, Monash University’s Pratt Foundation Research Chair of Jewish Civilization, and Mr Abdiaziz Farah, Manager of the Himilo Project in Heidelberg discussed the present and future of multiculturalism in Australia.
The panel discussion was led by Monash alumna Anthea Hancocks (1980 Bachelor of Science), Chief Executive Officer of the Scanlon Foundation – the thought leader in Australia on questions of diversity, dynamism and social cohesion.
The latest edition of the Scanlon Foundation’s annual Mapping Social Cohesion survey, produced in conjunction with Monash University, found that 83 per cent of respondents agreed that multiculturalism is good for Australia, but that the number of respondents that had experienced discrimination in the past year was rising.
Professor Markus advised the audience that while there were a lot of positives and buy in into multiculturalism in Australia, there were also significant points of tension.
After discussing the challenges facing multiculturalism in Australia, the panellists held an informative and enlightening Q&A session with the highly engaged audience.
The Monash Alumni Speaker Series is designed to inform, entertain and inspire through thought-provoking lectures, forums and panel presentations while also giving our alumni and friends an opportunity to reconnect and broaden their networks.
The next event in the Alumni Speaker Series takes place on 19 November 2017. To make sure you don’t miss out on this and other Monash alumni events, keep your alumni profile up to date by visiting the Alumni update your details page. You’ll need your Alumni ID which can be found at the bottom of any alumni email that we’ve sent you, otherwise call the Alumni Engagement team on (03) 9903 4602.