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Out of Africa: human prehistory in southwestern China. This project aims to establish the timing and processes of human settlement in East Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Through studying a series of key archaeological sites in southwest China using the most recent innovative scientific approaches in luminescence dating, sedimentary DNA and lithic analysis, we expect to provide new insights into the human prehistory of East Asia over the last 300,000 years. This should provide signi ....Out of Africa: human prehistory in southwestern China. This project aims to establish the timing and processes of human settlement in East Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Through studying a series of key archaeological sites in southwest China using the most recent innovative scientific approaches in luminescence dating, sedimentary DNA and lithic analysis, we expect to provide new insights into the human prehistory of East Asia over the last 300,000 years. This should provide significant contribution to addressing major debates about the timing, rate and route of dispersal of modern humans out of Africa, across south Asia and into Australia. Read moreRead less
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
The emergence of farming beyond the Fertile Crescent at Boncuklu Höyük, Central Turkey. International collaborative research at Boncuklu Höyük will identify when farming first spread beyond Asia's Fertile Crescent 10,500 years ago. In answering whether migrating farmers caused this key event in global history it will refine our knowledge of the link between migration and culture change relevant to understanding both past and present.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200208
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$265,000.00
Summary
Universities and Postwar Recovery 1943-57. This project aims to investigate the impact and transformative effect of the university education-led recovery in postwar Australia from 1943 to 1957. It will do so by undertaking a collective biographical survey of 6,500 ex-service men and women university graduates funded under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. It expects to generate new knowledge in the area of Australian history, especially the history of war repatriation, the develop ....Universities and Postwar Recovery 1943-57. This project aims to investigate the impact and transformative effect of the university education-led recovery in postwar Australia from 1943 to 1957. It will do so by undertaking a collective biographical survey of 6,500 ex-service men and women university graduates funded under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. It expects to generate new knowledge in the area of Australian history, especially the history of war repatriation, the development of the professions and the history of higher education. Expected outcomes include understanding the qualities of an education-led recovery and the worth of public investment in higher education. Benefits include increased research capacity in 20th century Australian history.
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Australia: the search for a foundational history. The first history of Australia's search for a foundational past, this project examines the historical debates that have divided Australian society since the late twentieth century. Set against the background of Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of history and place, it provides a groundbreaking study of history in Australian culture.
How archaeology can transform living in space. This project aims to investigate human engagement with material culture in the extreme environment of space by applying archaeological methods to the habitation design of the International Space Station. The project will use NASA data to record astronaut interactions with objects and spaces over time. The project expects to remedy deficiencies in previous psychological and engineering design research by taking a deep-time perspective on how a cultur ....How archaeology can transform living in space. This project aims to investigate human engagement with material culture in the extreme environment of space by applying archaeological methods to the habitation design of the International Space Station. The project will use NASA data to record astronaut interactions with objects and spaces over time. The project expects to remedy deficiencies in previous psychological and engineering design research by taking a deep-time perspective on how a culture develops in a microgravity environment. The results are intended to identify how humans adapt to space technology and can be applied in the future design of long duration space missions to maximise both survival and efficiency.Read moreRead less
A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, an ....A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, and economic policy. Through a closer, long term understanding of multinationals – their magnitude, motives to settle here, corporate structures, and adaptation to local conditions – our findings will inform public debate and policy about the roles of foreign investment and foreign enterprises in the Australian economy today.Read moreRead less
The unknown ‘Ice Age’ artists of Borneo. This project aims to shift the focus of the search for art’s origins onto important new horizons. Who were the first artists? When and why did it become second nature for humans not simply to exist within the natural world, but to encode it with images of things both real and imagined? The discovery of cave paintings in Sulawesi and more recently in Borneo dating to at least 40,000 years ago has altered our understanding of the origins and spread of the f ....The unknown ‘Ice Age’ artists of Borneo. This project aims to shift the focus of the search for art’s origins onto important new horizons. Who were the first artists? When and why did it become second nature for humans not simply to exist within the natural world, but to encode it with images of things both real and imagined? The discovery of cave paintings in Sulawesi and more recently in Borneo dating to at least 40,000 years ago has altered our understanding of the origins and spread of the first painting traditions. This project will build upon these breakthrough discoveries by constructing the first detailed portrait of the cultural and symbolic worlds of the unknown artists of Pleistocene Borneo. By doing so, it will further our knowledge about the process of the emergence of figurative art, one of the most fundamental cultural developments in the evolution of humankind.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100890
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,082.00
Summary
Rapid climate change, early modern human dispersal, and Neanderthal demise. Why are we the only surviving human species? This project aims to investigate whether seasonal environmental changes associated with rapid climate change events played a role in the expansion of our own species and the demise of Neanderthals between 60,000-30,000 years ago. The project will generate quantitative, sub-seasonal records of past climate variability using novel multi-proxy analyses from key archaeological sit ....Rapid climate change, early modern human dispersal, and Neanderthal demise. Why are we the only surviving human species? This project aims to investigate whether seasonal environmental changes associated with rapid climate change events played a role in the expansion of our own species and the demise of Neanderthals between 60,000-30,000 years ago. The project will generate quantitative, sub-seasonal records of past climate variability using novel multi-proxy analyses from key archaeological sites, offering a framework for understanding early human responses to extreme climate fluctuations. This may inform our strategies for coping with future extreme scenarios. These unparalleled records will also provide data to test and refine climate models, enabling a better understanding of Earth’s climate system. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101731
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Oceanic crossings: cultures of trans-Pacific passenger shipping in the age of steam, circa 1880-1960. This project investigates the connections between images of the Pacific, transoceanic mobility and shipboard cultures in the wake of the industrial transport revolution. It will come to a new understanding of the ways in which links were forged and sustained between Australia, the Pacific Islands and North America throughout the twentieth century.