Using music, media and arts practices as a pathway to social acceptance for
marginalised youth worldwide will be the aim of Australian Research Council Linkage
- International Fellowship winners at the University of South Australia.
UniSA's chief investigators Dr Gerry Bloustien and Dr Margaret Peters, with Dr Sarah
Baker, all from the School of Communication, Information and New Media, and Dr
Shane Homan from Newcastle University, will be joined by International Fellow Dr
Bruce Cohen, from Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, who will work with the
research team at sites in Adelaide's northern and southern suburbs.
This fellowship builds on a successful collaborative project already in place that
compares how youth from different countries engage in popular music using local
cultural resources outside of formal schooling, according to Dr Bloustien.
The International research partners in the project are from Surrey and London
Universities, UK; and MIT and the Watson Institute, Brown University, Boston, US; as
well as Humboldt University.
"Our research centres particularly on music because music is something that young
people feel they own, it is portable and many produce their own music. Many of our
young participants also perform in public," Dr Bloustien said.
"It's not simply about listening to or playing music but how music provides a pathway
to a whole range of other skills including self esteem, confidence building, leadership,
management issues, employment possibilities, commercialisation and legal issues,
which are part of working with peers to learn about music and its related industries.
"As an interdisciplinary team, we are working with young people themselves, enabling
them to reflect on what they're learning and what resources they draw on in the
community. We are also looking at what resources are available to young people to
help them access skills pathways and how the level and range of resources might be
affected by policy decisions," Dr Bloustien said.
Dr Bloustien believes the outcomes of this Fellowship will significantly enhance
Australia's leadership in international best practice for developing and implementing
policies and programs for marginalised youth.
The International Fellowships, awarded by the Commonwealth government, enable
Fellows from overseas research institutions to work in Australia with UniSA
researchers on specific projects for up to one year, giving UniSA researchers the
chance to build strong ongoing collaborations with international researchers and
centres of excellence.
Director of Research Services, Dr Mark Hochman, says the University's success in
winning a total of $156,988 for the two applications submitted (out of 46 applications
received from universities Australia-wide), places UniSA in ninth position among
universities nationally.
see http://www.unisa.edu.au/news/2004/290704.asp
