A/Prof. Catherine Gomes1, Edgar Gomez Cruz2, Jolyna Sinanan3
1Rmit University, Melbourne, Australia, 2UNSW, , , 3University of Sydney
Melbourne and Sydney are international student cities with large parts of the Central Business District host apartment blocks catering almost exclusively to international students. The cities of Melbourne and Sydney are ideal locations for international student accommodation, primarily because the area is home to the main campuses of Australian universities as well as a host of state colleges and private education providers. Accommodation for international students, in other words, is a vital service Melbourne and Sydney provide and become the ‘home away from home’ for them. What spaces and material possessions are significant and insignificant to international students who live in the heart of the cities of Melbourne and Sydney? Based on a pilot project conducted where we asked international students living in Melbourne and Sydney to photograph and then discuss their surroundings, this presentation provides us with indications of what international students value about where they live and what they live with. By giving a voice to international students and the visual interpretations of their ‘home away from home’, this presentation allows us to understand not only how international students create a sense of belonging for themselves in Melbourne and Sydney but also to inform international student services of the future of (accommodation) needs for international students.
Biography:
Catherine Gomes is an Associate Professor the School of Media and Communication where she teaches Asian Studies. She is leader of the Migration and Digital Media Research Lab. Catherine has worked extensively on the themes of identity, migration, ethnicity, memory, multiculturalism and transnationalism in Australia and Singapore as well as on the information-seeking behaviour of international students in Australia.