The Opening the Multilingual Archive (OMAA) Conference was held over two days in the Quad Refectory on 2-3 December 2024. The program opened with a keynote address by Professor Joy Damousi who talked about the importance of digitising migrant archives, and how these provide new perspectives on the migration experience and transnational histories of migration. This was followed by 18 presentations over two days. Highlights included the presentations by ICLS 1200 Bachelor of Languages students showcasing how they used material from OMAA to create teaching material to engage high-school language learners and the launch of a special issue of Australian Historical Studies dedicated to multilingual Australia by Professor Joseph Lo Bianco. The conference concluded with a Roundtable considering how language diversity can equip scholars, policymakers and the public to confront the challenge of cultural pluralism today.
Pictured: The Roundtable discussion chaired by Professor Charles Forsdick (left) with Elizabeth Rechniewski, Francesco Ricatti and Mei-Fen Kuo