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Facing new worlds: comparative histories of Australasia and North America. This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of com ....Facing new worlds: comparative histories of Australasia and North America. This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of complex indigenous-settler relations across "New World" sites. The expected outcomes of this project are to promote a deeper appreciation of Australia’s place in a Pacific world with as yet unexplored links to the Americas, and also to model new ways for art history and socio-cultural history to come together to explicate a shared, complicated past.Read moreRead less
Sexual ageing in the history of medicine, 1774-2018. This project aims to provide an account of the different historical periods in changing medical concepts of menopause, andropause and the 'critical age' since the end of the eighteenth century. Understanding how questions of ageing and sexuality have changed across history will help to nuance our current understandings, relevant to an increasing number of people in ageing populations. This project will provide an integrative history of the nex ....Sexual ageing in the history of medicine, 1774-2018. This project aims to provide an account of the different historical periods in changing medical concepts of menopause, andropause and the 'critical age' since the end of the eighteenth century. Understanding how questions of ageing and sexuality have changed across history will help to nuance our current understandings, relevant to an increasing number of people in ageing populations. This project will provide an integrative history of the nexus of modern concepts about sexual aging. It will combine rigorous consultation of overlooked historical sources with consultation of current scientific evidence. Outcomes of the project will be aimed at historical readers, but also at clinicians and the general public.Read moreRead less
Popular Petitioning and Mass Democracy in the United States: a History. This project aims to investigate the neglected history of popular petitioning in the United States. Across the long nineteenth century, activists organised mass petition campaigns in support of causes as diverse as antislavery, suffrage and immigration restriction. In the twentieth century, however, petitioning dwindled. The project draws on this rich archive of activism to assess the role, impact and evolution of petitionin ....Popular Petitioning and Mass Democracy in the United States: a History. This project aims to investigate the neglected history of popular petitioning in the United States. Across the long nineteenth century, activists organised mass petition campaigns in support of causes as diverse as antislavery, suffrage and immigration restriction. In the twentieth century, however, petitioning dwindled. The project draws on this rich archive of activism to assess the role, impact and evolution of petitioning as a democratic tool. The expected outcome is a new perspective on a vital development: the emergence of mass democracy. Furthermore, the project should provide a critical historical framework for assessing modern-day claims about the digital petition and its power to bridge the gulf between citizens and government. Read moreRead less
The Idea of American Exceptionalism: A Cultural and Social History. This project addresses current debates over American Exceptionalism (United States historical development considered outside the normal path of history), treating the topic not as a set of substantive empirical propositions to be challenged, but as the cultural and social history of an idea. It aims to show how Exceptionalism evolved, how a cluster of sub-concepts mutually reinforced it and how its attractiveness and its religio ....The Idea of American Exceptionalism: A Cultural and Social History. This project addresses current debates over American Exceptionalism (United States historical development considered outside the normal path of history), treating the topic not as a set of substantive empirical propositions to be challenged, but as the cultural and social history of an idea. It aims to show how Exceptionalism evolved, how a cluster of sub-concepts mutually reinforced it and how its attractiveness and its religious, economic and political content changed over time. This approach analyses the historical conditions promoting (and challenging) Exceptionalism as belief and national identity. It bypasses difficult dichotomies between myth and reality and rancorous political arguments for and against the concept.Read moreRead less
Motoring On? A New History of the U.S. Car Industry since 1900. This project aims to provide a new history of the U.S. car industry between 1900 and 2020. America was the industry’s birthplace, and the car is integral to national identity and history. Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. was the world's biggest auto market, and today it has almost as many cars as people. For decades, the auto sector was central to policy-making; today it is integral to Climate Change. The intended outcome ....Motoring On? A New History of the U.S. Car Industry since 1900. This project aims to provide a new history of the U.S. car industry between 1900 and 2020. America was the industry’s birthplace, and the car is integral to national identity and history. Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. was the world's biggest auto market, and today it has almost as many cars as people. For decades, the auto sector was central to policy-making; today it is integral to Climate Change. The intended outcome is the first comprehensive history that blends the perspective of business and labor, rather than treating them separately, and the first history that covers the domestic and foreign-owned sectors. Its central question interrogates how this industry assumed - and maintained - a prominent place in American life.Read moreRead less
Familial Separation, Emotions, and Jewish Child Refugees, 1933-1945. Drawing upon largely untapped wartime sources from refugee youth, this project aims to produce the first sustained study of the lived experiences and memories of Nazi era Jewish unaccompanied child refugees to the United States. It expects to generate new knowledge by tracing the links between children, emotions, and mobility; the role of ideas about the family in shaping immigration policies; and the emergence of Holocaust su ....Familial Separation, Emotions, and Jewish Child Refugees, 1933-1945. Drawing upon largely untapped wartime sources from refugee youth, this project aims to produce the first sustained study of the lived experiences and memories of Nazi era Jewish unaccompanied child refugees to the United States. It expects to generate new knowledge by tracing the links between children, emotions, and mobility; the role of ideas about the family in shaping immigration policies; and the emergence of Holocaust survivor identities. The expected benefit of this work includes advancing academic and public understanding of how age, emotions and mobility can broaden our understanding of the Holocaust experience, child migration, and familial separation. Read moreRead less
Extinction, Survival, Resurgence: Indigenous and colonial histories. This project aims to investigate the histories of Indigenous communities deemed extinct by Europeans in the wake of settler colonisation but who maintain they have survived with renewed cultures. With a focus on Tasmania and Newfoundland, Canada, the project examines archival material alongside the lived experiences of Indigenous communities to advance understandings of extinction and survival at a time of rapid environmental c ....Extinction, Survival, Resurgence: Indigenous and colonial histories. This project aims to investigate the histories of Indigenous communities deemed extinct by Europeans in the wake of settler colonisation but who maintain they have survived with renewed cultures. With a focus on Tasmania and Newfoundland, Canada, the project examines archival material alongside the lived experiences of Indigenous communities to advance understandings of extinction and survival at a time of rapid environmental change. Outcomes include enhanced capacity to build collaborations with international first nation communities, institutions and researchers. New digital tools making historical materials accessible to Indigenous Australians and cultural institutions will significantly benefit cultural and language renewal.Read moreRead less
Black America and the Korean War: Race, War, and Desegregation. This project aims to provide the first detailed analysis of African Americans in the Korean War. In so doing it will generate new knowledge on the Korean War, the African American military experience, the Black struggle for civil rights, and the complex relationship between race and US foreign policy. Along with a deeper understanding of a conflict that has been overshadowed in popular memory by World War 2 and the Vietnam War, but ....Black America and the Korean War: Race, War, and Desegregation. This project aims to provide the first detailed analysis of African Americans in the Korean War. In so doing it will generate new knowledge on the Korean War, the African American military experience, the Black struggle for civil rights, and the complex relationship between race and US foreign policy. Along with a deeper understanding of a conflict that has been overshadowed in popular memory by World War 2 and the Vietnam War, but which remains a source of international tension, expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of the intersection between the African American military experience and US international power. These outcomes will be disseminated via a scholarly monograph, journal articles, and a popular, non-scholarly book. Read moreRead less
War stories and the meaning of the American Revolution. This project aims to understand the role of memory and war in nation-making, particularly in the founding of the United States. The American Revolution defined the American nation. The common view of it is dominated by images of patriotic citizens rising up together against the yoke of British tyranny to establish a democracy. However, it was also a protracted, divisive and bloody War for Independence and many contemporaries called it a civ ....War stories and the meaning of the American Revolution. This project aims to understand the role of memory and war in nation-making, particularly in the founding of the United States. The American Revolution defined the American nation. The common view of it is dominated by images of patriotic citizens rising up together against the yoke of British tyranny to establish a democracy. However, it was also a protracted, divisive and bloody War for Independence and many contemporaries called it a civil war. This project will examine the neglected memoirs of ordinary Americans in the early republic. Understanding how participants made sense of this conflict can show how war, memory and history create nations and sustain and enrich citizenship in democracies.Read moreRead less
Slavery, Sugar, Race: Australia’s South Sea Islander Labourers. This project aims to recover and make usable the history of Caribbean sugar as a labour migration model, cultural repertoire and source of investment for the early Australian sugar industry. Working with international slave studies centres and Australian South Sea Islander organisations, we will use methodologies from four disciplines to explore the question of Pacific labour from every perspective. The latest digital humanities tec ....Slavery, Sugar, Race: Australia’s South Sea Islander Labourers. This project aims to recover and make usable the history of Caribbean sugar as a labour migration model, cultural repertoire and source of investment for the early Australian sugar industry. Working with international slave studies centres and Australian South Sea Islander organisations, we will use methodologies from four disciplines to explore the question of Pacific labour from every perspective. The latest digital humanities techniques will be utilised to create a database of Pacific Voyages. This will further understandings of Australia’s place in global labour and race history, create new resources for research and teaching in history, literature and sociology, and further Islander community initiatives.
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