Angulimala walks - from understanding violence in Cambodia to building cultural competence in Australian international development. The purpose of this project is to make sure that people affected by violence in formerly war-torn countries like Cambodia (including those who migrated to Australia) are helped in culturally appropriate ways. The project will lead to a framework for 'cultural competence' to be used by Australia's international development and health sectors.
Pacific Islanders in regional Victoria: visitors, migrants and overstayers. This project aims to understand the socio-economic situation of Pacific Islanders living in regional Victoria, including visitors, permanent residents, seasonal workers and undocumented migrants. The aim is to investigate the impact of these different statuses on access to public services, interactions within and across ethnic groups, and trans-local and transnational practices. Working with partner organisations involve ....Pacific Islanders in regional Victoria: visitors, migrants and overstayers. This project aims to understand the socio-economic situation of Pacific Islanders living in regional Victoria, including visitors, permanent residents, seasonal workers and undocumented migrants. The aim is to investigate the impact of these different statuses on access to public services, interactions within and across ethnic groups, and trans-local and transnational practices. Working with partner organisations involved with migrant populations in the area, the project seeks to shed new light on Australian regional migration and bring marginalised regional populations into discussions of migration and transnationalism. Intended outcomes include scholarly publications, policy-focused reports and an open access project website.Read moreRead less
The Nakanai Caves Cultural Heritage Project. This project aims to document and integrate the natural and cultural values of the Nakanai Caves in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, in preparation for a cultural landscape World Heritage nomination. The project’s novel methodology incorporates community knowledge with archaeological and anthropological evidence to link natural and cultural values and define the landscape from local perspectives. Local input into the research will be prioritised. B ....The Nakanai Caves Cultural Heritage Project. This project aims to document and integrate the natural and cultural values of the Nakanai Caves in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, in preparation for a cultural landscape World Heritage nomination. The project’s novel methodology incorporates community knowledge with archaeological and anthropological evidence to link natural and cultural values and define the landscape from local perspectives. Local input into the research will be prioritised. By emphasising local participation and management of World Heritage listing processes the project aims to address an identified gap in World Heritage methodologies. This project allows for a subtle, nuanced definition of cultural landscapes under the World Heritage Convention.Read moreRead less
Situating care: Addressing obesity in disadvantaged communities . The project aims to drive an urgently needed shift from top-down interventions that focus on obesity as an individual problem of diets and exercise, to collective solutions of care generated by families for families, empowering social change at a local, community level. In collaboration with Australia’s leading designers of social innovation, this anthropology project expects to generate new knowledge about care and food practic ....Situating care: Addressing obesity in disadvantaged communities . The project aims to drive an urgently needed shift from top-down interventions that focus on obesity as an individual problem of diets and exercise, to collective solutions of care generated by families for families, empowering social change at a local, community level. In collaboration with Australia’s leading designers of social innovation, this anthropology project expects to generate new knowledge about care and food practices in disadvantaged communities, and to construct new digital, policy, and program frameworks for broader adaptation. The advances are likely to have a strong bearing on how obesity interventions, and more equitable health policy and practice, evolve in Australia and internationally. Read moreRead less
Italians in Western Australia: A cultural history and archive of migrants and migration. This project brings together the interdisciplinary skills and international reputations of experts on Italian migration, peak State Government institutions and international and local Italian communities and institutions to redress a significant absence in the study of Western Australian Italian migration. An accessible history and archive of the Italian presence in WA urban, rural and transnational contexts ....Italians in Western Australia: A cultural history and archive of migrants and migration. This project brings together the interdisciplinary skills and international reputations of experts on Italian migration, peak State Government institutions and international and local Italian communities and institutions to redress a significant absence in the study of Western Australian Italian migration. An accessible history and archive of the Italian presence in WA urban, rural and transnational contexts will be produced. An exhibition will display this heritage to audiences across the State. Fine-grained historical research will provide valuable ethnographic evidence to inform pressing intellectual debates regarding migration, racism, multiculturalism, nationalism and transnationalism.Read moreRead less
Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability in the Context of Melanesian Mining Projects. This is an interdisciplinary study of Melanesian understandings of socio-economic and environmental sustainability in the context of mining projects. It entails research into traditional ecological knowledge and assessment of ways that local understandings and expectations compromise programs based on Western scientific principles. It will examine local ideas about land use and food security, and the ....Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability in the Context of Melanesian Mining Projects. This is an interdisciplinary study of Melanesian understandings of socio-economic and environmental sustainability in the context of mining projects. It entails research into traditional ecological knowledge and assessment of ways that local understandings and expectations compromise programs based on Western scientific principles. It will examine local ideas about land use and food security, and the social and cultural factors that determine responses to impacts of mining projects. The project will involve collaborative, interdisciplinary research, integrating social and cultural analysis and environmental and agrarian studies. It will contribute to current debates on environmentalism, mining impact and sustainable development.Read moreRead less
The invisible parents project - exploring the barriers to effective parental and community involvement in three Northern Territory Schools. Education outcomes in the Northern Territory, particularly for Indigenous students, lag far behind those of other Australians, to the point that the situation can be considered a national emergency. This research program will explore ways to improve parental involvement. This will inform the Smith Family's efforts to undertake early intervention for children ....The invisible parents project - exploring the barriers to effective parental and community involvement in three Northern Territory Schools. Education outcomes in the Northern Territory, particularly for Indigenous students, lag far behind those of other Australians, to the point that the situation can be considered a national emergency. This research program will explore ways to improve parental involvement. This will inform the Smith Family's efforts to undertake early intervention for children who are at risk of education failure. It will provide benefits to the rural and regional communities who feed schools in Darwin and Katherine and provide national benefits through making a significant contribution of anthropologically-informed knowledge on the determinants of successful school outcomes.Read moreRead less
Lifespan learning and literacy for young adults in remote Indigenous communities. Engagement with learning across the lifespan and increased literacy skills among early school leavers and other young adults will have direct benefits to remote Indigenous communities and to the nation. These include the increased ability of this next generation of Indigenous adults to develop the skills and confidence required to actively build stable and self-reliant institutions, improve social and economic circ ....Lifespan learning and literacy for young adults in remote Indigenous communities. Engagement with learning across the lifespan and increased literacy skills among early school leavers and other young adults will have direct benefits to remote Indigenous communities and to the nation. These include the increased ability of this next generation of Indigenous adults to develop the skills and confidence required to actively build stable and self-reliant institutions, improve social and economic circumstances and enhance the health of their families and communities. Additional benefits will flow from the enhanced capacity of individuals to participate effectively in the national economy and from more positive spending of public funds on evidence-based programs that work rather than ongoing problem alleviation.Read moreRead less
Visual Anthropology of settlement among newly arrived refugee youth. The majority of refugees currently arriving in Australia are youth from the middle-East and the Horn of Africa. These young people face major challenges to successful settlement, often having histories of little or no schooling, exposure to violence, and long-term residence in refugee camps. There is a lack of evidence to inform policy and practice on how to best support these young people. This project will give refugee youth ....Visual Anthropology of settlement among newly arrived refugee youth. The majority of refugees currently arriving in Australia are youth from the middle-East and the Horn of Africa. These young people face major challenges to successful settlement, often having histories of little or no schooling, exposure to violence, and long-term residence in refugee camps. There is a lack of evidence to inform policy and practice on how to best support these young people. This project will give refugee youth the opportunity to learn technical, creative and interpersonal skills, enabling them to share their stories with both researchers and the general public and producing understandings about how they cope with the resettlement process. Read moreRead less
Home Lands: Displaced youth and the development of positive transnational identities in a supportive local context. Home Lands will provide insights into how service providers working with refugee youth can best capitalise on the existing skills and knowledge of displaced youth to assist them in developing positive identities and futures. This will facilitate more positive relationships between refugee youth and the Australian community, and enable Australia to more quickly benefit from the exis ....Home Lands: Displaced youth and the development of positive transnational identities in a supportive local context. Home Lands will provide insights into how service providers working with refugee youth can best capitalise on the existing skills and knowledge of displaced youth to assist them in developing positive identities and futures. This will facilitate more positive relationships between refugee youth and the Australian community, and enable Australia to more quickly benefit from the existing cultural and social capital of new arrivals who currently experience marginalisation. The investigation of the process will also contribute to improved community development and refugee service delivery.Read moreRead less