Elsa Demetriou

Elsa Demetriou is currently completing her PhD in sociology at Monash University where she also worked as an assistant lecturer between 1991-1995. She was also awarded a Commonwealth Postgraduate Research Award for her PhD. Her research interests include, construction of identity/ies, ethnic relations and Australian immigration and multiculturalism policies.

During 1989-1990 she worked as a research assistant on the fourth stage of a longitudinal project researching the settlement patterns and adaptation experiences of Greek immigrants in Australia. This project began in 1964 under the co-ordination of Professor RT Appleyard from the University of Western Australia. This fourth stage included a survey of the children of initial respondents - it explored issues of identity and Greekness and mobility. Results of this survey were presented in a report to the Office of Multicultural Affairs in 1991 titled, Education and Social Mobility of second generation Greeks in Australia, by Appleyard, R, Amera, A, and Demetriou, E.

Ms Demetriou has been involved in a number of activities: served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Intercultural Studies (1994-1996); secretary for the Centre for Migrant and Intercultural Studies, Monash University (1993-1994); organiser and convenor of Conference on Greek-Australians, Monash University (1992); co-editor and contributor to Mozaic, a Greek Australian University Student Journal (1989-1992); workshop convenor for the Mediterranean Women's conference (1988). She has also served on the Board of the Antipodes Festival in Melbourne (1992-1994) and has been active in a range of Greek Community activities.

Presently Ms Demetriou works part time as an Hellenic Heart Health Project Manager at the Heart Research Centre.

Selected presentations at conferences and seminars::

The Use of Ethnicity and `Race' as Variables in Health Research - Heart Research Centre, Seminar Series, Melbourne, October 1997.

Constructions of Cultural and Ethnic differences in Australian Official Discourses - Postgraduate Conference, Dept of Anthropology & Sociology, Monash University, December 1995.

Multi-pl(a)ying Identities - Australian Hellenic Youth Conference: Searching for Identity, Melbourne, November 1994.

Ethnic Identity and Greek Immigrants in Australia. - Conference on Greek Australians, Centre for Migrant & Intercultural Studies, Monash University, June 1992.

Issues of Identity Among First and Second Generation Greek-Australians: Some Preliminary Observations from the Fourth Stage of a Longitudinal Study - UNESCO-CMDS workshop on the Adaptation of Migrants, University of Western Australia, October 1990