Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor. This project examines the dynamics of a 'return to custom’ in post-conflict East Timor: a set of practices connecting ancestral house communities with complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. Drawing on extensive background experience and detailed comparative studies, the project plans to consider the contribution of custom and its inter-generational legacies to the development of sustainabl ....Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor. This project examines the dynamics of a 'return to custom’ in post-conflict East Timor: a set of practices connecting ancestral house communities with complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. Drawing on extensive background experience and detailed comparative studies, the project plans to consider the contribution of custom and its inter-generational legacies to the development of sustainable social and environmental policies of governance. The project is designed to be both a timely study of social renewal in post-conflict societies, and a contribution to the possibilities of sustainable environmental and resource management in East Timor and the wider region.Read moreRead less
Time and timelessness in Aboriginal societies as exemplified in Ngarinyin body-imagery. My project is an investigation of northern Kimberley trading practices, arguing against some pervasive views in the Aboriginalist literature which cast Aboriginal people and cultures as emphasising timelessness and de-emphasising human creativity. Kimberley trading/sharing practices, I suggest, show that exchanges (at various levels of formality) between groups and individuals are locally experienced as an ac ....Time and timelessness in Aboriginal societies as exemplified in Ngarinyin body-imagery. My project is an investigation of northern Kimberley trading practices, arguing against some pervasive views in the Aboriginalist literature which cast Aboriginal people and cultures as emphasising timelessness and de-emphasising human creativity. Kimberley trading/sharing practices, I suggest, show that exchanges (at various levels of formality) between groups and individuals are locally experienced as an active and ongoing participation in the creation of the bodies of kin and of the country itself. This is done in a way which actively participates in, rather than merely reproduces, the creative travels of the first ancestral beings. Phenomenology and psychoanalysis theoretically inform my approach.Read moreRead less
Violence, Religion and Well-being in Contemporary Burma (Myanmar): A Medical Anthropological Study of Everyday Life Under Dictatorship. For 40 years, Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship with human rights abuses occurring daily. Terror and political violence are used as tools of repression. An in-depth ethnographic study will be conducted into the relationship between emotional/psychological distress and the violence and fear that pervades everyday Burmese life. The project will ....Violence, Religion and Well-being in Contemporary Burma (Myanmar): A Medical Anthropological Study of Everyday Life Under Dictatorship. For 40 years, Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship with human rights abuses occurring daily. Terror and political violence are used as tools of repression. An in-depth ethnographic study will be conducted into the relationship between emotional/psychological distress and the violence and fear that pervades everyday Burmese life. The project will test the hypothesis that religion plays an important role in mediating responses to fear. No other study has been conducted of everday life under this dictatorship, or of survival strategies created to alleviate fear. Outcomes will include refereed articles, a major monograph on the subject and the development of a new methodology appropriate for aiding victims of terror and torture.Read moreRead less
Sonic practice in Japan: sound in everyday life. This anthropological project focuses on 'sonic practice' - a way of understanding how sound is made significant to people in their everyday life - and its impact on social relations in Japan.
Body, Language and Socialisation across Cultures. This project aims to advance the understanding of how people learn languages, and in the process become socialized into particular cultures and communities. To that end, it will bring together an international team of leading experts in the field, and focus in new ways on the interplay of speech and sign with other bodily forms of communication in a wide variety of cultures. Expected outcomes include improved understanding of multimodal communica ....Body, Language and Socialisation across Cultures. This project aims to advance the understanding of how people learn languages, and in the process become socialized into particular cultures and communities. To that end, it will bring together an international team of leading experts in the field, and focus in new ways on the interplay of speech and sign with other bodily forms of communication in a wide variety of cultures. Expected outcomes include improved understanding of multimodal communication and language socialization, and enhancement of Australian research capacity in these fields. This should lead to significant practical benefits, improving Australia's ability to adapt to cultural diversity and to counteract its disadvantages in schools and everyday life.Read moreRead less
Social engagement in Spiritualism. This project aims to investigate the sociological, anthropological and historical dimensions of Spiritualism in Australia, a small but highly influential religious movement. 19th century Spiritualist ideas about the afterlife have shaped many citizens’ beliefs that individual personality survives death in a family-centred spirit realm. Combining both sociological and anthropological approaches, the project will map the production and effect of belief on family, ....Social engagement in Spiritualism. This project aims to investigate the sociological, anthropological and historical dimensions of Spiritualism in Australia, a small but highly influential religious movement. 19th century Spiritualist ideas about the afterlife have shaped many citizens’ beliefs that individual personality survives death in a family-centred spirit realm. Combining both sociological and anthropological approaches, the project will map the production and effect of belief on family, civic participation and ethics. This project aims to give scholars a fuller, more accurate view of religious dynamics in Australia.Read moreRead less