SAAA STUDENT TRAVEL GRANT SLOVENIA 2018: AWARDED WINNER

The Slovenian Australian Academic Association (SAAA) is happy to announce the awarded winner of the SAAA Student Travel Grant Slovenia 2018 being Damon Rousis.

Damon is awarded 2,000 EUR equivalent to attend a 2-week course within the 37th Summer School of Slovene Language 2018 held at the Faculty of ArtsUniversity of Ljubljana in the capital city of Slovenia.

The grant is supported by the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Slovenians Abroad. The 8-member Commission has selected one winner among 10 highly competitive applicants. We would like to thank all the applicants for their submissions as well as for their passion for Slovenian language and culture.

Damon Rousis has held a passion for the Slovenian language since teen years. Despite his Italian-Greek heritage, Damon has visited many Slovenian societies and clubs around Australia. From becoming a member and leading actor in plays performed by the Slovenian Drama Group Melbourne to the Slovenian Australian Social and Sports Club ‘Jadran’, Damon’s passion for our green homeland beneath the Julian Alps is unprecedented.

Currently, Damon is a student at the University of Melbourne with Honours in Italian. The topic of his dissertation is the current position of the Slovenian minority in Trieste, which combines his interests in international relations, the Italian language and especially the Slovenian language. He is mainly engaged in the language policy of the Friulian government, the legal protection of communities, international relations and Slovenian cultural institutions in the city. His supervisor is SAAA member, Prof John Hajek, head of Italian Studies.

It is wonderful to have received Damon’s application with an outstanding personal and research interest in the Slovenian language and active engagement with the Slovenian community in Australia. This makes him justifiably a top candidate for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We wish Damon all the success in the course and travels and look forward to his interview, published on saaa.si, upon his return.

UPDATE: Damon’s report

CONTACTS
SAAA Student Travel Grant Manager
Ms Mateya Slobodnik
mateya.slobodnik@saaa.si
+61404131621