Category: Research Reflections
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Incompatible memories?
This week I’ve been working on a paper for a workshop on War and Memory. I read back through my writing on memorials I visited last year in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including this one for killed children; I wondered about my friend Amar who lives in Banja Luka, in Republika Srpska, and works so […]blogs-test.unimelb.edu.au/childrefugees-test/2017/02/10/incompatible-memories
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Historical Childhoods and Histories of Emotion
Earlier this week, Mary (Tomsic) and I attended the Australasian Society for the History of Children and Youth Conference, called ‘(Re)Examining Historical Childhoods’ at the Australian Catholic University. The opportunity to engage with scholars working in the field of childhood and children’s history—from literary, legal, and arts-based perspectives—provided interesting perspectives from which to consider our […] -
Supporting Refugee Education
Conflict has been an overarching burden in the lives of many refugee children now living in Australia. There are a number of additional barriers, as a result of adjustment into the schooling system, that contribute to the difficulties some children have excelling in the mainstream Australian schooling system. For many refugee children in Australia, school […]blogs-test.unimelb.edu.au/childrefugees-test/2016/11/02/supporting-refugee-education
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Creating New Knowledge
The topic of refugees is one of the most significant discussions shaping the world today; we hear about the plight of refugees on the news almost every day, read about the politics of refugee resettlement, witness images of suffering children, and share personal views with friends and family. Academics in refugee studies have a critical […]blogs-test.unimelb.edu.au/childrefugees-test/2016/10/23/creating-new-knowledge
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Australian picture books: Humanising and thoughtful depictions of displaced children
My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald & Freya Blackwood was selected for the ‘Read for Australia’ event on Friday 2 September 2016 where school students around the country read the same book as part of National Literacy and Numeracy Week. My Two Blankets tells the story of a young girl who is making a new […]blogs-test.unimelb.edu.au/childrefugees-test/2016/09/14/australianpicturebooks
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Photographs, favours and mango leaves.
Each time I set out to collect an oral history I prepare for an adventure, not only because of the narrative that awaits my attention but also the excitement of travelling to the interview location and observing the setting. Why is the interview setting or sense of place important in collecting oral history? I often […]blogs-test.unimelb.edu.au/childrefugees-test/2016/09/01/photographs-favours-and-mango-leaves
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I didn’t see the footprints: memorials for children in Bosnia and Hercegovina
“The footprints! They’re all over the fountain. They make my heart break.” “I didn’t see them”. I was in Sarajevo, Bosnia, to attend a summer school called “Learning from the past: transitional justice”. The footprints were part of a memorial to children killed during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992-1995. I was at the summer […] -
‘Never had a chance’ – child refugees and health in postwar Australia
Standards of care that exist for child refugees within a receiving country are integral to their successful settlement. And yet, specific questions regarding health and wellbeing have rarely been considered in histories of migration to Australia, despite the obvious trauma and subsequent physical ailments that can afflict those fleeing from their homes. How has Australia historically […] -
‘special attention’ on refugee children
In 1994 the UNHCR released a document entitled Refugee Children: Guidelines on Protection and Care. This document – which updated a 1988 document, and incorporated ideas from a UNHCR policy document produced in 1993 – remains the standard set of guidelines for protection regimes and measures for refugee children from the UNHCR. All of the […]blogs-test.unimelb.edu.au/childrefugees-test/2016/09/01/special-attention-on-refugee-children