Goodbye Sydney, annyeonghaseyo Seoul!
ACU Professor Melissa Bellanta has been appointed as the inaugural Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Seoul National University (SNU).
Melissa is spending a year in Seoul gathering stories of Korean history and culture and spreading the word about life in Australia. The position, which is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australia-Korea Foundation and Woodside Energy, is designed to promote knowledge of Australian culture and democratic values to Korean students. It’s also intended to become a pathway to new research collaborations between the two countries.
Melissa is a researcher in the National School of Arts and Humanities at ACU. She says her overarching goal for the year-long appointment is to strengthen Australia’s relationship with South Korea, Australia’s fourth-largest trading partner.
“My primary aim is to promote understanding of Australian society and culture broadly, as well as in the university context, so that’s encouraging people in the Republic of Korea to see our two societies’ futures as interlinked,” she says. “There has always been talk of our two countries being underappreciated allies, but I think that’s going to change. The Australia-Korea relationship that’s going to be increasingly significant, and the appointment of this new role is an example of the Australian Government leaning into that opportunity.”
Melissa’s role involves teaching, research and engagement activities, including delivering an Australian studies seminar for students of the Master of International Studies (she describes the course as “a multidisciplinary introduction to Australian politics, culture and history.”)
While students are largely Korean, the SNU Graduate School of International Studies also welcomes master’s candidates from across the Indo-Pacific region. Melissa will also support new research connections in the social sciences and humanities. This includes expanding her own research remit to launch a new project on fashion diplomacy, which she will present as part of the university’s longstanding Global Prominence series.
Source: ACU