2025
This public forum shared findings with community members from ‘Young People’s Mobilities, Relationships and Place-Making in Rural Australia’, and a second project funded by the Scanlon Foundation led by Dr Makiko Nishitani (La Trobe University). This forum was an opportunity to report back on research findings, thank contributors, and showcase the voices and important work of young people from migrant families building strong rural futures in the region.
Rose and Makiko were joined in person for a Q&A with Nazareth Filimone, a young research participant from Robinvale College, and Dean Wickham, Engagement Manager with the Pacific Asia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme in the Solomon Islands (via Zoom). Makiko and Nazareth were also interviewed by ABC Mildura.
2024
‘Young People’s Rural Mobility Trajectories’, ADI Conference 2024 – Remaking Futures: Justice, Equality and Global Flourishing, Deakin University.
‘Young People’s Career Mapping and Reflections’, Swan Hill Rural City Council, Robinvale (with Dr Makiko Nishitani)
‘Young People’s Online Workshop: Pacific Role Models’, Swan Hill Rural City Council, SuniTAFE Skills & Jobs Centre, and Select Harvest (with Dr Makiko Nishitani & Dr Maryanne Pale).
‘Vocational Pathways and Opportunities for Rural Pacific Youth Workshop’, Swan Hill Rural City Council, SuniTAFE Skills & Jobs Centre, and Robinvale Community Hub, Robinvale (with Dr Makiko Nishitani).
‘Migration, Class and Rural Colonial Legacies: Young People’s Rural Mobilities in Settler Australia’, Migration Research Group Seminar, Sheffield University, UK.
‘Class and Migration in Australia Workshop’, Deakin University.
This 2-day workshop, led by Dr Rose Butler (Deakin) and Dr Sylvia Ang (Monash University), brought together leading Australia-based scholars in both class and migration studies to develop a new Australia-focused edited collection at the intersection of these two fields. Participants included A/Prof Christina Ho (University of Technology Sydney), Dr Taghreed Jamal Al-deen (La Trobe University), Dr Catriona Stevens (Edith Cowan University), Dr Alexandra Coleman (Western Sydney University), Prof Anita Harris (Deakin), Prof Megan Watkins (Western Sydney University) and Prof Greg Noble (Western Sydney University). This edited collection is forthcoming in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2025).
2023
‘Situating Class and Power in Rural Australia’, Aberystwyth University, Wales.
This co-presentation by Dr Victoria Stead (Deakin) and Dr Rose Butler examined intersections of class with race, migration, coloniality and other axes of power in rural sociology. It shared two case studies from south-eastern Australia and was supported by the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) and the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society.
‘Race, Class and Colonialism in the Global Countryside Workshop’, Aberystwyth University, Wales.
This half-day workshop was convened by Prof Michael Woods in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University. It included presentations from Prof Woods, Dr Rose Butler and Dr Victoria Stead, and was supported by WISERD and the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society.
2021
‘Race and Place-Making in the Rural Global North International Workshop (Virtual)’, Deakin University.
This international workshop was led by Dr Victoria Stead, Dr Rose Butler, Dr Christopher Mayes and Dr Magdalena Arias Cubas. It included contributions from Prof Sandrina de Finney (University of Victoria, Canada), A/Prof J. T. Roane (Rutgers University), Prof Michael Woods (Aberystwyth University), Prof Barbara Pini (Griffith University), Dr Laura Rodriguez-Castro (Southern Cross University), Lorayma Taula (Deakin), Mellisa Silaga (community leader), A/Prof James Oliver (RMIT) and Shiraz Bayjoo (artist and filmmaker). A Special Issue developed from this workshop was published in the Journal of Rural Studies in 2023.
Critical Rural Studies Reading Group, Deakin University.
2020
‘Contemporary Approaches to Race, Class and Youth Cultures’, International Youth Studies Seminar, University of Newcastle Youth Studies Centre and Deakin University.
‘Young People’s Place-Making Focus Groups’, Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council, Mildura.
2019
‘Theorising Rural Multicultures: Mobilities, Social Relations and Rural Colonial Legacies’, Beyond the Quick Fix: Migration, Multi- and Interculturalism in Regional and Rural Australia, La Trobe Bendigo.
‘Rural Youth Futures: Social Relations within Young People’s Rural Multicultures’, Rural Issues Symposium: The Future of Rural Sociology in Australia, La Trobe Bendigo.
‘Rural Youth Futures: Social Relations within Young People’s Rural Multicultures’, The Australian Sociological Association Annual Meeting.
‘Rural Colonial Legacies: Thinking Through Young People’s Social Relations in the Transforming Rural Present’, Journal of Youth Studies International Conference, University of Newcastle.
