Slovenian Community

Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria Inc

Viktorijski Institut za slovenistiko

Founded in November 1976 by Aleksandra Ceferin as Slovenian Teachers’ Association of Victoria, it was reconstituted in 1998 with extended activities:
ISSV acts for the promotion, maintenance of Slovenian language and presentation of Slovenian cultural heritage, for the English-speaking global web community with a further focus on the needs of descendants of Slovenian immigrants. E-learning Slovenian language materials have been developed according to the Victorian state education guidelines for language learning within the framework of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), Australia. In 2003 -2004 ISSV initiated the first secondary students exchange between a Slovenian and Australian school.

The projects encourage intracultural dialogue, in recognition of cultural diversity. ISSV engages in cultural projects with institutions in Slovenia. It organized the Melbourne programme of four venues for “The Australian Reading Tour of Five Slovenian Authors” in 2001, in cooperation with the Association of Slovene Writers. In 2006, with the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum, Ljubljana, ISSV has co-produced Slovenian handicrafts in Victoria exhibition.

Since its establishment in 1998 The Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria has initiated web publishing with the website Thezaurus.com as its main and pivotal project. The aim was to reach the widely dispersed Slovenian community by the means of fast developing communication technology.

For the first 3 years the project was funded by the Victorian Department of Education, Australia. After 2000 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry for Culture of the Republic Slovenia have co-financed Thezaurus project. Since 2005 one of the chief sponsors has been the Office for Slovenes Abroad.

Thezaurus projects were planned to provide support for teachers and students of Slovenian. In 1999 the first published sections were Slovenian Language Resources, Forums and Sloveniana Webzine with articles on Slovenian history and unique ethnographic features. In 2001 Webclassroom was published, making use of Slovenian web resources. Galeria Sloveniana was launched in 2002. In 2007 it has been extended to include a series of photo galleries. In the same year we launched the Literator, founded on the anthology of Slovenian post-1945 modern literature by Aleš Debeljak.

Forums are the interactive section of Thezaurus - for posting news about: Slovenian language, courses, events, announcements, and articles. It provides the opportunity for commentary, and views on current issues.

Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria Inc
2/43 Stockdale Avenue, North Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
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