In the Wake of the Sea Peoples, In the Footsteps of Goliath: Excavating the Philistine Site of Tell es-Safi/Gath. This project brings Australian research into the current scholarly debates on Philistine identity, a quickly growing sub-discipline in Mediterranean archaeology. Marginalized in the Bible as decadent, current research sees the Philistines as a cosmopolitan culture resulting from migration from Cyprus and the Aegean, and interaction with the local Canaanite population. In addition, Au ....In the Wake of the Sea Peoples, In the Footsteps of Goliath: Excavating the Philistine Site of Tell es-Safi/Gath. This project brings Australian research into the current scholarly debates on Philistine identity, a quickly growing sub-discipline in Mediterranean archaeology. Marginalized in the Bible as decadent, current research sees the Philistines as a cosmopolitan culture resulting from migration from Cyprus and the Aegean, and interaction with the local Canaanite population. In addition, Australian collaboration and interaction with Israeli colleagues and students will contribute to a more positive perception of the Jewish community in Australia, which has been the recent target of anti-Semitic activities as a result of the Israeli government's invasion of Gaza.Read moreRead less
The Design and Decoration of Burial Chambers in Old Kingdom Egypt. This project represents a significant attempt to understand the rationale behind the evolving design and decoration of Ancient Egyptian burial chambers. The undertaking of this important research by Australian based scholars will continue to establish Australia as a leading nation in the important international discipline of Egyptology, while also continuing to forge a relationship with Egypt. During an era in which Australians h ....The Design and Decoration of Burial Chambers in Old Kingdom Egypt. This project represents a significant attempt to understand the rationale behind the evolving design and decoration of Ancient Egyptian burial chambers. The undertaking of this important research by Australian based scholars will continue to establish Australia as a leading nation in the important international discipline of Egyptology, while also continuing to forge a relationship with Egypt. During an era in which Australians have in general engaged in discourses of insecurity and threat, our project will resonate with many contemporary concerns, asserting a link between the growing sophistication of society and a concomitant sense of threat and insecurity.Read moreRead less
Historicising orientalism: the French, the Jews, and the modern world. This project will rethink the history of the relationship between East and West. It will look at the role played by interactions between Europeans and Jews in the Orient. It will break down the overly simplistic and politically-driven dialectic that governs understandings of Orientalism, offering important new insights into this phenomenon.
The Political Sociology of the Australian Jewish Community. This project will examine the internal dynamics of the Australian Jewish community, its institutional structure, and responses to internal and external pressures, including terrorism. The study will analyse the interaction of the Jewish community with the broader Australian society, including relations between the internalised norms of the community and the demands made by participation in a pluralist society. Primarily sociological a ....The Political Sociology of the Australian Jewish Community. This project will examine the internal dynamics of the Australian Jewish community, its institutional structure, and responses to internal and external pressures, including terrorism. The study will analyse the interaction of the Jewish community with the broader Australian society, including relations between the internalised norms of the community and the demands made by participation in a pluralist society. Primarily sociological and political in approach, the study will also explore previously unexamined archives. The project will develop an improved model for Jewish community leadership which may also be useful for other communities.Read moreRead less
Sephardic Jews and the Untold Mediterranean. The objective of this project is to bring Sephardic Jewish traders and their networks into mainstream history of the late 18th and early 19th century Mediterranean region. In the Mediterranean, Christianity met Islam, imperial trajectories were tested and adapted, and national identities were formed in competition with others. Sephardic Jewish traders were central to these processes. This project seeks to create transformative narratives of the histor ....Sephardic Jews and the Untold Mediterranean. The objective of this project is to bring Sephardic Jewish traders and their networks into mainstream history of the late 18th and early 19th century Mediterranean region. In the Mediterranean, Christianity met Islam, imperial trajectories were tested and adapted, and national identities were formed in competition with others. Sephardic Jewish traders were central to these processes. This project seeks to create transformative narratives of the histories of imperialism, Jewish traders, and the Mediterranean: it links early-modern Sephardic Jewish networks with the place of Jews in colonial systems, and imperialism with the colonial world. In this way, it may deepen our understanding of the imperial stories behind recent globalisation.Read moreRead less
Dwelling in the Household of God: The Spirituality of the Fourth Gospel. The household scenes in John's Gospel offer a new understanding of Johannine theology and its underlying spirituality. This study investigates the expression "The Household of God" as a major metaphor for the self-identity of the early Christian community as it is reflected in the narrative of the Fourth Gospel. The project will extend knowledge of the history and religious experience of one Christian community in the las ....Dwelling in the Household of God: The Spirituality of the Fourth Gospel. The household scenes in John's Gospel offer a new understanding of Johannine theology and its underlying spirituality. This study investigates the expression "The Household of God" as a major metaphor for the self-identity of the early Christian community as it is reflected in the narrative of the Fourth Gospel. The project will extend knowledge of the history and religious experience of one Christian community in the last three decades of the first century, particularly in the community's relationship with emerging Rabbinic Judaism.Read moreRead less
Analysing Testimonies of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. This project utilises Australia's largest collection of Holocaust videotestimonies, held in Melbourne's Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC), to examine how socio-cultural factors shaped the widely different experiences of Nazi persecution among Holocaust Jewish migrants to Australia, and how video mediates these experiences. Significant conceptual advances will be made in the study of memory, Holocaust and immigration history, class and identity deb ....Analysing Testimonies of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. This project utilises Australia's largest collection of Holocaust videotestimonies, held in Melbourne's Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC), to examine how socio-cultural factors shaped the widely different experiences of Nazi persecution among Holocaust Jewish migrants to Australia, and how video mediates these experiences. Significant conceptual advances will be made in the study of memory, Holocaust and immigration history, class and identity debates, gender analysis, oral and video history and the theory of testimony. A team of experienced CIs will analyse a broad sample of videos, while the APAI will concentrate on studying a single episode. The JHC will act as industry partner.
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