Hyderabad: Two PhD scholars from the Department of Communications at the University of Hyderabad (UOH), Vamsi Krishna Pothuru and Treesa Reena John, recently concluded a two-week study visit to the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. The visit is part of the ongoing SPARC (Promoting Academic and Research Collaboration Program) project supported by the Indian Government, titled “Community Media, Participation and Decolonization” Indigenous Knowledge System.
Their work during the journey focused on academic exchanges and on-site participation, under the guidance of Professors Pradip Thomas and Professor Elske van de Fliert, School of Communication and Arts at UQ. Treesa was guided by Professor Vinod Pavarala when Vamsi was pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Professor Kanchan K. Malik. Both scholars introduced their live-based research, such as Vamsi’s from Telangana, and Treesa from Kerala, and discussed the intersection of community broadcasting using indigenous and local knowledge. Professors Thomas and Van de Fliert also contributed to the discussion by studying the broader political and epistemological context of indigenous knowledge in India.
Scholars also presented their ongoing PhD research at a roundtable meeting involving researchers at UQ. As part of the live exposure, they visited three community radio stations in Brisbane, including 4EB 98.1 FM, Triple A 98.8 FM and 4ZZZ 102.1 FM to see how these platforms interact with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanter communities, which is rooted in programming through indigenous traditions and followers and followers.
The visit expanded to Griffith University, where scholars attended a meeting and shared their work with UOH-related scholars through previous collaborations.
