Endeavour scholarship extends Islamopohbia research to San Francisco

Endeavour scholarship recipients- Rhonda Itaoui pictured right of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

Western Sydney University PhD student and Endeavour scholarship recipient Rhonda Itaoui has met the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Senator Richard Colbeck at a gala event in Canberra.

The special programme was held for Endeavour Scholarship recipients preparing to travel overseas to further develop their research projects.

Under the scholarship, Ms Itaoui will be based at the University of California, Berkeley in San Francisco in America to expand her research project examining how experiences of Islamophobia impact the way Muslim youth use public spaces.

"The endeavour scholarship will allow me to connect and compare the way experiences of Islamophobia affect the mobility of young Muslims living in Sydney, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area," says Ms Itaoui.

"I will be collecting around 300 web-based surveys and 40 interviews from Sydney and San Francisco to understand how Muslim youth experience Islamophobia."

"By undertaking a comparison of the two cities, the research can encourage place-based policy practice, public campaigns and initiatives that alleviate the negative impacts of racism." 

Funded by the Federal Government, Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships are internationally competitive, merit-based scholarships that support citizens around the world to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia, and for Australians to do the same overseas.

Ends

26 November 2015

Media contact