#1 Open Lecture: Sliding Doors: The Crypto-Christians of Pontus & the Negotiation of Ethno-Religious Identity

Location: Level 1, The Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 
Date: WEDNESDAY 16/5/2018 @ 7:00pm
Presenter: Dean Kalimniou

Language of Presentation: English | R.M.L.G.*: 0 (No knowledge of Greek Required).
Entry: FREE

Synopsis

This talk, part of the Greek Community of Melbourne Greek History and Culture Seminars in conjunction with Pontiaki Estia, will focus on the fascinating case of two communities, the Kromlides and the Stavriotes, who periodically belonged to the Orthodox and Muslim communities during Ottoman times and were compelled to negotiate through prevailing expectations and stereotypes, along with a discriminatory legal system poised upon reform, at a time of great political foment and change.

The talk is given as part of the many community events organised by the Co-ordinating Committee for the Commemoration of the Pontian Genocide, for the weekend culminating in the 19th May, which is Pontian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Bio

Dean Kalimniou is a well-known poet and short story writer within the Greek community. As a journalist he is popular within the Greek community of Australia through his column in the Melbourne Greek newspaper Neos Kosmos, entitled Diatribe, which has been running since 2001. He has published six poetry collections and has also translated numerous works of prominent Greek-Australian authors from Greek into English. In November 2007, Dean Kalimniou was awarded a Government of Victoria Award for Excellence in Multicultural Affairs.

Sponsors

We thank this lecture's donors: Kostas & Vicky Dimaras, Roma Siachos in memory of Olga Siranidou.

During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice. 

You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722.

We also thank the following corporate sponsors:

#2 Open Lecture: Panel Discussion: War, personal stories and the landscape of memory: Forgotten narratives of war

Location: Mezzanine Level, The Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 
Date: THURSDAY 17/5/2018 @ 7:00pm
Facilitator: Prof. Joy Damousi

Language of Presentation: English | R.M.L.G.*: 0 (No knowledge of Greek Required).
Entry: FREE

Synopsis

Personal stories can illuminate the past but the process is fraught with trauma and anxiety. To tell the story is to relive the past and narratives are, more often than not, punctuated by silences. In cases of war, where experiences are dominated by violence, loss, conflict and survival, the sharing of memories present many challenges for the person who tells the story and those who receive it. In many cases those who have lived through war and conflict prefer the security of silence as a means of dealing with the effects of war experiences.

In the case of WW2, when Australians fought in mainland Greece and then Crete, the narrative includes a cultural dialogue that influenced post war migration to Australia and still continues. The panel will discuss the above issues as well as the challenges of creating a context for war memories, of reconstructing personal stories and bringing to light forgotten narratives of the Greek campaign of 1941, the Battle of Crete and the formation of the second ANZAC Corp.

Facilitator Bio

Joy Damousi is Professor of History at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in the field of Australian cultural history. She has written on sport and popular culture, the impact of the two World Wars, women's history, post-war migration, the history of oratory and speech, and on the history of psychoanalysis. Her publications include Footy Passions, (co-written with John Cash, UNSW Press 2009); Freud in the Antipodes: A Cultural History of Psychoanalysis in Australia (UNSW 2006; Winner of the Ernest Scott Prize 2006); Colonial Voices: A Cultural History of English in Australia 1840-1940 (Cambridge 2010; Shortlisted for the NSW Premiers History Prize 2011).

Currently, she is working on Greek War Stories, an examination of the place of war stories in the memories of Greek immigrants to Australia after 1945. She is also undertaking a project on sport and migrants, examining the role of sport as a force of exclusion and inclusion in Australian society, post 1945.

Panelists Bio

Dina Gerolymou is a journalist and the author of the book “The Battle of Crete: the untold stories” which stemmed from her investigative report on the lack of recognition for Australian World War 2 veterans who fought in Greece. She has postgraduate qualifications in history and has an interest in historical methodology, oral history and the documentation and preservation of Hellenic history in Australia. Dina is fascinated by personal stories and has interviewed a number of Greek-Australians who experienced WW 2, Australian veterans who took part in the Greek campaign in 1941 and their descendants. She is currently a senior producer with the Greek Program of SBS Radio.

Dr Peter Ewer is an Australian historian and author. He has published in internationally renowned academic journals the Journal of Military History (University of Virginia), where he published a research article in 2011 on British planning for the campaign in Greece which shed new light on the ANZAC contribution to the defence of the country. He is the author of Forgotten Anzacs: the campaign in Greece, 1941, published in 2008.

Scottish-born Jim Claven is a trainedhistorian, holding both Bachelor and Masters Degrees from Melbourne’s Monash University. A former adviser on Veteran’s Affairs and Tourism, Jim is a freelance writer and published author. He has been researching the Anzac trail in Greece across both World Wars since 2011, with a particular focus on the Island of Lemnos and its link to the Gallipoli campaign and Australia’s Anzac story.

Sponsors

We thank this lecture's donor: Battle of Crete and Greece Commemorative Council.

During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice. 

You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722.

We also thank the following corporate sponsors: