Prof. Vinod Pavarala completes his visiting stint in Australia |

Prof. Vinod Pavarala, Senior Professor of Communication and the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, successfully completed his two-week stint as the George Watson Visiting Fellow at University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane, Australia during August 2024. The fellowship was awarded to him by the School of Communication and Arts at UQ.

At a classroom session for Master’s students at UQ

One of the highlights of Prof. Pavarala’s visit was the George Watson Public Lecture on “Media and Democracy in India” delivered by him at the newly restored Avalon Theatre in Brisbane. The lecture, chaired by the Head of School, Prof. Bronwyn Lea, was well-attended by students and faculty of University of Queensland and Griffith University, apart from journalists, press freedom advocates, and the general public.

During the visit, Prof. Pavarala had intensive interactions with faculty of the UQ Centre for Communication & Social Change, including Prof. Elske van de Fliert, Prof. Pradip Thomas, and Dr. Jagadish Thaker, and conducted classroom sessions for Master’s students in communication and social change. He also presented his ideas on “Studying Intangible Outcomes in Communication for Social Change” to a Master Class organized for doctoral students, postdoctoral scholars, and early-career researchers, on Critical Methodologies in Communication for Social Change Research.

A classroom session at Griffith University on health communication

Prof. Pavarala was also invited to Griffith University in Brisbane, where he gave a talk on the “Development Radios of South Asia,” organised by the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research.

At the 4EB, ethnic broadcasting station in Brisbane

He also participated in a research roundtable organised by the Director of the Centre, Prof. Susan Forde, where discussions were held on research areas of mutual interest and the possibility of undertaking collaborative research projects.

At the recording of a student podcast at Griffith University

He also did a classroom session for students of health communication on the role played by community radios around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. Later, students interviewed him for a podcast.

During an on-air interview at 4ZZZ radio station

During his visit, Prof. Pavarala also had the opportunity to visit two community radio stations in Brisbane – 4ZZZ, a 50-year-old station, where he was interviewed during a live show by Griffith University faculty member, Dr. Heather Anderson, and 4EB, one of Australia’s oldest ethnic broadcasting stations, that broadcasts in 48 different languages spoken by the residents of Brisbane.

Audience at the Public Lecture

Faculty colleagues at University of Queensland are also partners in an ongoing SPARC (Government of India) project on Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Community Media, with Prof. Pavarala, Prof. Kanchan K. Malik, and Prof. Vasuki Belavadi as participants from University of Hyderabad.