The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly ....The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly profile in the emerging field of animal studies. It will also contribute to the international renown of Australian scholarship in traditional literary studies by producing the first theoretically informed reassessment of the literary genre of the fable.Read moreRead less
The Image of Thought: Literature as a way of thinking. The idea that the arts offer important ways of thinking has, to an extent, recently fallen from view. A failure to recognise the value of the arts as distinct modes of thought, which challenge us to think and feel, impoverishes the community. Scholarly activity can build foundations upon which renewed recognition of this value becomes possible. So too, academics have a duty to communicate with the general community. To this end, this project ....The Image of Thought: Literature as a way of thinking. The idea that the arts offer important ways of thinking has, to an extent, recently fallen from view. A failure to recognise the value of the arts as distinct modes of thought, which challenge us to think and feel, impoverishes the community. Scholarly activity can build foundations upon which renewed recognition of this value becomes possible. So too, academics have a duty to communicate with the general community. To this end, this project will include the endeavour to produce newspaper reviews propagating ideas developed through scholarship, and the promotion of the role of literature through the organization of public forums.Read moreRead less
Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anx ....Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anxieties about AI and (2) how literary and scientific writers after Darwin rethink the future of the human species by imagining the co-evolution of humans, animals and machines. Expected outcomes of the project include conceptual resources to understand the human-nonhuman relation and the future of AI.Read moreRead less