CURRENT PROJECTS
‘The Asian (Non)menstruating Body: Inclusive Health Communications about Perimenopause and Menopause’
Project team: Dr Enqi Weng, Dr Charishma Ratnam, Dr Paula Muraca, Dr Jasmin Chen and Yika Gu (Deakin University)
Funding: The Alfred Deakin Institute ‘Mobility, Diversity and Multiculturalism’ Research Stream Funding
The proposed research aims to investigate Asian migrant women’s experiences with, discussions about, and understandings of, perimenopause and menopause. Specifically, we are interested in Asian migrant women’s unique experiences of perimenopause and menopause in everyday life, including their working life. There are traditionally cultural silences, stigmas and taboos around discussions of health issues specific to the female body within non-Anglo communities (Ussher et al., 2019; Amini & McCormack, 2019). In professional contexts, these cultural silences may intersect with workplace dynamics where they are perceived as youthful or younger than their Anglo/Caucasian peers and, as a consequence, experience various forms of disadvantages and barriers (Ang, 2022). Such perceptions can create additional barriers to having open dialogue about age-related health concerns in such spaces.
‘(Dis)locating Coloniality: Lived and Digital Religious Flows across the Indian and Pacific Oceans’
Project team: Dr Enqi Weng (Deakin University), Dr William Abur (University of Melbourne), A/Prof. Anna Halafoff, Prof. Yin Paradies (Deakin University) and Dr Monika Winarnita (University of Melbourne).
Funding: The Alfred Deakin Institute ‘Mobility, Diversity and Multiculturalism’ Research Stream Funding
This research project aims to investigate the transnational flows of religions across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands. As part of this project, we organised a two-day workshop that centred First Nations perspectives, that brought together local and international scholars and practitioners to critically reflect on the place, presence and infusion of coloniality in historical and contemporary religious experiences, and to locate sites of resistance in lived and digital transnational lifeworlds. In particular, we are interested in transnational flows of religions across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Through dialogue with scholars and practitioners, we aim to work towards (dis)locating the place of coloniality in studies of religion, and building a more inclusive future, in policies and practice.
Recorded lectures from the project can be found here. A Journal Special Issue is in progress.
‘In Our Language: Community Media & Migrants' Social Resilience in Times of Crisis’
Project team: Dr Monika Winarnita (University of Melbourne), Dr Enqi Weng, Prof. Pam Nilan, Dr Melathi Saldin (Deakin University), Dr Ashleigh Haw (University of Canberra).
Funding: The Alfred Deakin Institute ‘Mobility, Diversity and Multiculturalism’ Research Stream Funding
This research project aims to investigate the critical role that community language media play especially in times of crisis in garnering the trust of Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, with a focus on the Indonesian community. We interviewed media producers and key community members from the Indonesian community to understand how language-specific news reported the global pandemic and how government directives on containment measures are disseminated and received in the community through social media interaction.