Community celebration of student excellence in languages and cultures
The school presented a total of 67 scholarships and prizes at the University’s MacLaurin Hall on Thursday 30 March in the presence of family, friends, valued donors and distinguished guests from the local and global community.
The evening hosted officials including the Honourable Consul-General Abdul Nazar of the Republic of Indonesia and the Deputy Consul-General Karl-Heinz Schmitz of the Federal Republic of Germany, representatives from the diplomatic corps and cultural institutions of France, Greece, Italian, Japan and Korea, as well as leaders from the Buddhist, Greek, Italian and Japanese communities and foundations.
The event was opened by Uncle Michael West from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council who gave a Welcome to Country. Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Professor Lisa Adkins welcomed all in attendance and acknowledged the School of Languages and Cultures’ contribution to the University’s first-place position in Australia for Arts and Humanities in the recent 2023 QS World University Rankings*.
Head of School Professor Yixu Lu applauded all scholarship and prize winners on their achievements of excellent results and the “courage in choosing language-based disciplines”. She highlighted the importance of language learning and authentic cross-cultural competence in light of the world’s pressing challenges from climate change to geopolitical tensions.
“The ability in understanding different cultures can bring people together,” Professor Lu said in her address to award recipients. “You will become the driving force for promoting peace and understanding between nations and cultures. The future of our planet will be shaped by your knowledge and effort.”
We are very proud of the wealth of languages we offer and its long tradition of teaching languages – with the very first subjects offered to students over 160 years ago. Our diversity encompasses major languages of Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Professor Lu also expressed thanks to consular and business partners, donors, as well as students’ family and friends whose generosity and support enable high-achieving students to be recognised and to continue the path of language studies.
Master of Ceremonies Professor Vrasidas Karalis added that the continuing generosity of donors enables the celebration of academic ethos and student excellence, as well as the progress of intellectual curiosity and advancement at the University that lay the foundations for future careers.
He also acknowledged the school’s academics and teaching staff “whose continuous and tireless involvement in teaching and pedagogy helped maintain the highest standards of learning and teaching in the whole of Australia.”
As a signature of the school’s award ceremonies, this year’s cultural performance featured music and language students Ella Orehek-Coddington as mezzo-soprano and Jamie-Lee Xu on piano. Operatic songs included "Der Engel" and "Schmerzen" from Richard Wagner's 'Wesendonck Lieder' with text by Mathilde Wesendonck, "Nacht und Träume" by Franz Schubert with text by Matthäus von Collin and "Erlkönig" by Franz Schubert with text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
For recent Bachelor of Arts (Honours) graduate and University Medallist Vivienne Goodes, who received a total of six prizes and scholarships during the course of her undergraduate studies, the awards gave her the boost in confidence to achieve academically.
“I’m grateful for the support I’ve received during my degree,” shared Vivienne. “It’s so rewarding to receive recognition for the effort and thought put into my studies.”
Having majored in area studies, which focuses on past and present societies of a particular region, Vivienne reflected on the importance of multilingualism and study of diverse cultures:
Studying languages and cultures gives people access to a variety of human experiences and different ways of seeing the world. Effective communication with people from diverse cultural backgrounds is rightly seen as a valuable employability asset in today’s interconnected world.
“A genuine interest in other cultures is important in so many situations. It comes with respect, open-mindedness and a willingness to listen to others’ stories,” said Vivienne.
Ranked first in the state and top 40 globally for Modern Languages*, the University of Sydney's School of Languages and Cultures offers a wide range of languages and in-depth studies of the world's cultures.
Warm congratulations to our scholarship recipients and prize winners for the 2022 academic year:
| Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences | |
| Helen Chen Dannii Hudec |
|
| Emanuela Canini Josephine Goldman Anam Haq Jungeun Ji David Potter Gavin Waldron Jinming Yuan |
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Doctoral Research Travel Grant Scheme |
| Eva Boleti | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Scholarship |
| School of Languages and Cultures | |
| Pip Boge Ming En Vivienne Kew |
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Languages) Exchange Scholarship |
| Leo Barry Vanessa Caspersz Xun Chen Eleanor Edstrom Arina Filippovich Caitlin Flint Sam Law Amelia Milne Rebecca Ren Claire Thom Lachlan Van Der Heyde-Schreuder Eliza Woolnough |
Language Student Travel Scholarship |
| Arabic Language and Cultures |
|
| Genevieve Peters Eliza Vandersman Thomas Youkhanis |
|
| Raeesah Rana Danielle Rifahi |
PD Jack Prize |
| Asian Studies | |
Lingxuan Zhu |
Khyentse Foundation Award for Excellence in Buddhist Studies |
Dorjee Wangdi |
|
| Chinese Studies |
|
| Junzhe Li Ye Tian Samantha Xu Jinming Yuan Hongye Zhao |
AR Davis Postgraduate Research Memorial Scholarship |
Edmond Liang |
Li Zuoji Prize in Chinese Language |
Heidi Xing |
|
Axel Melkonian |
|
| Yunjie Hu Leon Liu |
The Raymond Hsu Scholarship |
Rachael Ouyang |
Winston G Lewis Prize in Chinese History |
| European Studies | |
Vivienne Goodes |
EU Ambassadors Prize |
| Michael Benedict Feeney Cameron Anthony Hamann |
Robert Schuman Prize |
| Sarah Dezsenyi | The European Studies Konrad Adenauer Prize |
| French and Francophone Studies | |
| Eamonn Murphy | Anne Bates Memorial Scholarship for French |
| Therese Briganti | Banque Nationale de Paris Prize for French |
| Tabitha Sides | Garton Scholarship No I for French |
| Yongtong Chen | Graham Jones Prize for French |
| Eamonn Murphy | Ian David Armfield Memorial Prize (French) |
| Lindsey Stevenson | Margaret Ann Bailey Memorial Prize for Honours in a Modern European Language |
| Lindsey Stevenson | Peter Edward Moran Memorial Prize for French |
| Olivia Loukas | Ronald Horan Prize for French |
| Yijia Zhang | Sonia Marks Memorial Prize for French |
| Yijia Zhang | French Embassy Prize I |
| Therese Briganti | French Embassy Prize II |
| Olivia Loukas | French Embassy Prize III |
| Germanic Studies | |
| Liam Driscoll Nina Ulrika Power |
Austrian Embassy Prize |
| Harry Wagstaff | Enid Watson Memorial Scholarship in Germanic Studies |
| Ula Chan | Garton Scholarship No IV for German |
| Ivy Johnston | Garton Scholarship No V for German |
| Daniel Cherepinskiy | Ian David Armfield Memorial Prize (German) |
| Peter Anthony Stephens | Goethe Prize in German Studies for German Honours |
| Peter Anthony Stephens | Emilie M Schweitzer Scholarship in French and Germanic Studies |
| Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies | |
| Eveline Handby | Bernard and Lotka Ferster Scholarship for First Year Beginners’ Modern or Classical Hebrew |
| Roland El-Khoury | The Bernard and Rodia Ferster Prize |
| Lior Yoffe | The Bernard and Rodia Ferster Prize |
| Crystal Hong Aviva Winton |
John Rector Scholarship in Jewish Studies |
| Charlene Zulman | The Percy Joseph Marks Prize for Advanced (3000 Level) Modern Hebrew |
| Eveline Handby | The Percy Joseph Marks Prize for First Year Beginner’s Classical or Modern Hebrew |
| Matthew David Anthonisz | The Percy Joseph Marks Prize for Senior Classical Hebrew |
| Genevieve Ball | The Percy Joseph Marks Prize for Intermediate (2000 Level) Modern Hebrew |
| Indonesian Studies | |
| Olivia Tilocca | Asian Students’ Council’s 1963 Festival of Asia Prize for Proficiency in Indonesian Studies Second Level |
| Joanna Vogeley | Carole Muller Award (Fieldwork) |
| Taryn Cameron Xinhang Christine Du |
FH van Naerssen Memorial Prize for Indonesian Studies |
| Italian Studies | |
| Georgia Clunas | Countess EM Freehill Prize No I for First Year Italian |
| Tabitha Sides | Countess EM Freehill Prize No II for Second Year Italian |
| Alexandra Zogopoulos | Rosina Tedeschi Memorial Prize for Italian Conversation |
| Amelia Milne | The Frances Merenda Travelling Scholarship |
| Jack Woods | The Judith Russell Ryan Scholarships in Memory of Signora Tedeschi |
| Japanese Studies | |
| Seohyun Kim | AL Sadler Prize for Excellence in Japanese Studies |
| Luke Cromer | AR Davis Postgraduate Research Memorial Scholarship |
| Cecilia Cheng Silvia Liu Emily Machin |
The Sakuko Matsui Australia-Japan Friendship Scholarships |
| Cindy Purvis | Sakuko Matsui Prize for Excellence in Japanese Literature |
| Korean Studies | |
| Kimia Nassaj Yun-Shiow Tsai |
Korean Education Centre Prize |
| Jungeun Ji | The Frank Coaldrake Scholarship |
| Songyao Li Hiu Ching Tang |
Top Media Prize |
| Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies | |
| Olympia Thea Nelson | Modern Greek Foundation Award |
| Anargyros Kallos | Order of the Australian Hellenic Education Progressive Association Scholarship in Modern Greek |
| Aidan Limnios | Robert William Henderson Memorial Prize |
| Anna Chrysanthou | The Modern Greek Studies Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 2 |
| Christie Lucas | The Modern Greek Studies Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 3 |
| Anna Chrysanthou Pandora Ktenas Nelly Sempsis |
The Politis Family Scholarship in Modern Greek and/or Byzantine Studies |
Information for scholarships and prizes listed above are provided where their respective pages are available on the University's website at the time of this article's publication.
Browse the 2023 School of Languages and Cultures Awards Ceremony photo album on Facebook.