Expecting the Unexpected: Learning Complex Temporal and Rhythmic Relations. Music is one of the most accessible routes to experience, and to learn about, cultures other than our own. A new implicit method for learning complex rhythm and underlying metre promotes inter-group understanding and communication. We hypothesize that implicit learning (IL) of unfamiliar complex metres through music generalizes to spoken language built on similar metres; IL facilitates segmentation of previously unfamili ....Expecting the Unexpected: Learning Complex Temporal and Rhythmic Relations. Music is one of the most accessible routes to experience, and to learn about, cultures other than our own. A new implicit method for learning complex rhythm and underlying metre promotes inter-group understanding and communication. We hypothesize that implicit learning (IL) of unfamiliar complex metres through music generalizes to spoken language built on similar metres; IL facilitates segmentation of previously unfamiliar spoken language and enhances recognition of English spoken with the stress pattern of a 'foreign' metre. Future intervention programs based on implicit learning of temporal relations will benefit people with reading difficulties or timing problems characteristic of cerebellar and basal ganglia patients.Read moreRead less
Medieval Irish law texts: scholarly, legal and social development. This interdisciplinary project focuses on a vast collection of Irish law texts. Those texts reflect developments in the Gaelic culture of Ireland over the entire medieval period. This project will bring a clearer understanding of the development of Celtic culture, which has been a strong factor in the creation of an Australian cultural identity.
The Language of Old Norse Poetry, an important intellectual achievement of the Western Middle Ages. Old Norse poetry, produced from the Viking Age until the end of the Middle Ages, is one of the most important achievements in European literature. Thematically, it ranges from praise of Viking kings to Christian devotion; in metre and style it is extremely elaborate. It has applied value to a range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, linguistics and religious studies. This project will ....The Language of Old Norse Poetry, an important intellectual achievement of the Western Middle Ages. Old Norse poetry, produced from the Viking Age until the end of the Middle Ages, is one of the most important achievements in European literature. Thematically, it ranges from praise of Viking kings to Christian devotion; in metre and style it is extremely elaborate. It has applied value to a range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, linguistics and religious studies. This project will make Norse poetic language more accessible to scholars and the general public by providing new resources in the English language for its understanding, superseding previous studies because of the use of fully revised primary data.Read moreRead less
Old Norse-Icelandic Poetry, Poetics and Myth. I will investigate three central issues in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, leading an international team in reediting skaldic verse,writing a book on Norse poetry and poetics and concluding my study of myth in medieval Icelandic fantasy literature.The edition will provide a benchmark for specialists and, together with my analytical overview, make this important collection of medieval poetry accessible to non-specialists. The study of myth will show h ....Old Norse-Icelandic Poetry, Poetics and Myth. I will investigate three central issues in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, leading an international team in reediting skaldic verse,writing a book on Norse poetry and poetics and concluding my study of myth in medieval Icelandic fantasy literature.The edition will provide a benchmark for specialists and, together with my analytical overview, make this important collection of medieval poetry accessible to non-specialists. The study of myth will show how a neglected genre belongs within the literature of fantasy. Expected outcomes: a new edition of Norse skaldic poetry; two books, on Norse poetry and poetics, and myth in Icelandic fantasy literature.Read moreRead less