Transnational Mobility in the Asia Pacific Family, Friends, Facebook Symposium 3 November 2016 RMIT University Travelling internationally for work, study, humanitarian and lifestyle reasons has become a global phenomenon and commonplace in the Asia-Pacific. Facilitated by cheaper and more frequent modes of travel together with varied degrees of desire, determination and desperation, the past few decades has seen greater and increasing numbers of people leaving their countries of origin and families to pursue better and improved lives for themselves. The normality of transnational mobility also means that people have prior, if not frequent experience living outside the country of origin. Transnational mobility however does not mean a loss of connectivity to family and friends left behind due to the vast improvements in media and communication technologies. Social media which has grown rapidly in less than a decade has become an embedded part of everyday life. Social media has changed the landscape of communication. We are now able to communicate with family, friends and acquaintances en masse and privately, constantly and in real time wherever we are and in whatever we are doing. More than just presenting us with various ways of communicating with each other, social media has also expanded the social groups we communicate with. While social media is a platform of choice for everyday communication with people we know, it also allows us to broadcast our thoughts, opinions, ideas and ideologies with a broad audience – across state and national lines. Discussing the intersections of transnational mobility with new communication technologies and their impact on familial and social networks and relations, this symposium brings together cutting edge research from scholars across disciplines. Keynote address: Prof Brenda Yeoh, National University of Singapore Convenor: Dr Catherine Gomes This event is funded by the RMIT Foundation, International Visiting Fellowship, Digital Ethnographic Research Centre and Asia@RMIT Registration is FREE Website: https://tmapsite.wordpress.com/ -- Dr Catherine Gomes Senior Lecturer School of Media and Communication RMIT University GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC, 3001 Australia Room: 9.2.03 (city campus) tel: + 61 3 9925 5068 fax: + 61 3 99259730 email: catherine.gomes@rmit.edu.au Staff website <http://www1.rmit.edu.au/staff/catherinegomes> Leader, Migration and Digital Media, Digital Ethnography Research Centre (DERC) <http://www.digital-ethnography.net/> Founding Editor, Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration <http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=252/view,page=0/> Transient Migrant project website <http://translatingimpermanence.org/> (Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship) Symposium: Transnational Mobility in the Asia Pacific: Family, Friends, Facebook <https://tmapsite.wordpress.com/> Forthcoming books: Catherine Gomes, Transient Mobility and Middle Class Identity: Media and Migration in Australia and Singapore <http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789811016387> Catherine Gomes (Ed.), *The Asia Pacific in the Age of Transnational Mobility: The Search for Community and Identity on and through Social Media*, London, NY, Delhi: Anthem Press. Recent book: Multiculturalism through the Lens: A Guide to Ethnic and Migrant Anxieties in Singapore <https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/multiculturalism-through-the-lens-a-guide-to-ethnic-and-migrant-anxieties-in-singapore> CRICOS Provider Code: 00122A This message contains privileged and confidential information intended for the use only of the addressee named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that you must not disseminate, copy or take any action in relation to it. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender at the above address.