Our Team

The UNESCO Chair of Comparative research on Cultural Diversity and Social Justice aims to act as a key bridge builder between researchers, civil society organisations and policy makers, both nationally and internationally.
We want to foster a community of researchers and partners, focussing on the critical questions of marginalisation, social exclusion, identity formation, discrimination, radicalisation, violence and security.

UNESCO Chair

Professor Fethi Mansouri

Professor Fethi Mansouri

UNESCO Chair: Cultural Diversity and Social Justice

Professor Mansouri is the Director of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University, Australia, and Alfred Deakin Research Chair in migration and intercultural studies. He is the Editor of the Journal of Intercultural Studies, founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Citizenship and Globalisation Studies and founding co-editor of the International Journal of Social Inclusion.  Since 2010, Professor Mansouri has served as an expert advisor to the UN on cultural diversity and intercultural relations and is currently the elected convenor of the UNITWIN Network for Inter-Religious Dialogue and Intercultural Understanding (IDIU).

His recent books include The Global Politics of Forced Migration: An Australian Perspective (2023), Racism in Australia Today (2021), co-authored with Amanuel Elias and Yin Paradies, L’interculturalisme à la croisée des chemins: Perspectives comparatives sur les concepts, les politiques et les pratiques (editor, 2019) and Contesting the Theological Foundations of Islamism and Violent Extremism (co-editor, 2019).

View Fethi Mansouri’s Deakin Profile

Researchers

Dr. Amanuel Elias

Dr. Amanuel Elias

Research Fellow

Dr. Amanuel Elias is a research fellow for the UNESCO Chair, Cultural Diversity and Social Justice at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. He received Masters in Economics from Monash University (2012) and Ph.D. in health economics from Deakin University (2015). His latest research estimated the economic cost of racial discrimination in Australia (BMC Public Health, 2016). Prior to his academic career, Dr. Elias worked in development projects in Eritrea where he worked for a local government until 2005. His research interests include the: socio-economic and health impacts of racial discrimination; experiences of migrants and cultural minorities; and intercultural relations and cultural diversity.

Visit Dr Elias’ Deakin Profile

Dr. Enqi Weng

Dr. Enqi Weng

Research Fellow

Dr Enqi Weng is an interdisciplinary scholar with emerging expertise in religion, ethnic relations and decoloniality. She completed her PhD from the School of Media and Communications at RMIT University in 2018 and has since published Media Perceptions of Religious Changes in Australia: Of Dominance and Diversity (Routledge, 2020). Her doctoral thesis analysed media representation of religions in Australia, and revealed that public discussions about religion were not only primarily constructed and influenced by white male perspectives, British influences also problematically continued to shape these discussions in post-colonial Australia. Her research interests include: decolonising ‘religion’; decolonising methodologies; race and religion; media and religious/social changes; cultural/religious diversity; religious literacy in journalism.

Visit Dr Weng’s Deakin Profile

Dr Taghreed Jamal Al Deen

Dr Taghreed Jamal Al Deen

Associate Research Fellow

Dr. Taghreed Jamal Al Deen is an Associate Research Fellow for the UNESCO Chair at Deakin and a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Sydney. 

Visit Dr. Jamal Al Deen’s Deakin Profile

PhD Candidates

Ms Angelique Stefanopoulos

Ms Angelique Stefanopoulos

Angelique Stefanopoulos is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Deakin University. Her PhD research is a sociological analysis of social and cultural capital of three generations of migrants and descedants of migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds. Angelique’s research interests lie in the fields of migration, class, social and cultural capital.

Visit Angelique Stefanopoulos’ Deakin Profile

Ms Scheherazade Bloul

Ms Scheherazade Bloul

Ms Scheherazade Bloul is PhD scholarship recipient for the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Research on Cultural Diversity and Social Justice. Her previous research focused on Islamic modest fashion as multi-use intermediary, specifically via digital communication technologies and representations of Muslim women in Australian media. Coming from a media background, her interdisciplinary research interests include the intersections of digital media, youth and political participation, journalism and communication studies. She is also a Director at the Australian Middle East Journalism Exchange, an organisation that facilitates tours to the Middle East and North Africa for Australian journalism students.

Visit Scheherazade Bloul’s Deakin Profile

Administrative Support

For any inquiries relating to administration, email unesco.cdsj@deakin.edu.au

Ms Maryanne Borg

Executive Assistant, ADI Director and UNESCO Chair

Dr Jasmin Chen

Digital Project Officer

Past Visiting Researchers and Interns

  • Ms Elena Pinot
  • Ms Ines Ouri
  • Ms Neda Sal
  • Ms Sali Mohsen
  • Ms Tuuli Lipiäinen