Fostering Women Leaders Through Educational Exchange, 1930-1980. This project plans to explore what makes it possible for women to exercise leadership. This project is a transnational study of women from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines who participated in educational exchange programs with the United States in the mid-20th century. The project asks how these cross-cultural encounters and international networks facilitated and transformed the practices of leadership in the Unite ....Fostering Women Leaders Through Educational Exchange, 1930-1980. This project plans to explore what makes it possible for women to exercise leadership. This project is a transnational study of women from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines who participated in educational exchange programs with the United States in the mid-20th century. The project asks how these cross-cultural encounters and international networks facilitated and transformed the practices of leadership in the United States, Asia and the Pacific. The project, in partnership with the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, aims to provide a historical perspective on leadership which can inform contemporary debates on the conditions for fostering women as leaders.Read moreRead less
Understanding Balinese paintings: collections, narrative, aesthetics and society. This project will use digital tools, fieldwork and formal analysis to link a major collection of Balinese paintings held in Australia to collections elsewhere in the world, and to the current practices of Balinese artists. The project increases the capacity of Australia to analyse the cultures of Indonesia and to contribute to regional heritage preservation. The outcomes will provide a basis for future public exhib ....Understanding Balinese paintings: collections, narrative, aesthetics and society. This project will use digital tools, fieldwork and formal analysis to link a major collection of Balinese paintings held in Australia to collections elsewhere in the world, and to the current practices of Balinese artists. The project increases the capacity of Australia to analyse the cultures of Indonesia and to contribute to regional heritage preservation. The outcomes will provide a basis for future public exhibitions of paintings and web-based resources linking Australian public institutions and Balinese communities.Read moreRead less
Unlocking Australia’s Chinese archive: the political organisation and social experience of the Chinese Australian community, 1909-1939. Australia's social and economic fabric will be strengthened by incorporating the organisations and experiences of the inter-war Chinese Australian community into Australia's history of citizenship and civic participation. This will foster the Chinese community's sense of inclusion in the national story and will make that story available to non-Chinese Australian ....Unlocking Australia’s Chinese archive: the political organisation and social experience of the Chinese Australian community, 1909-1939. Australia's social and economic fabric will be strengthened by incorporating the organisations and experiences of the inter-war Chinese Australian community into Australia's history of citizenship and civic participation. This will foster the Chinese community's sense of inclusion in the national story and will make that story available to non-Chinese Australians, thus contributing to the social cohesion in multicultural Australia. It will also illuminate the impact of the White Australia Policy on a significant minority group which will benefit Australia as it responds to the legacy of this policy. It will also strengthen Australia's understanding of its historical engagement with the regional Chinese diaspora and with China.Read moreRead less
Hazards, Tipping Points, Adaptation and Collapse in the Indo-Pacific World. The project aims to provide a new understanding of Indo-Pacific history post-1000 based on an improved understanding of the interrelationship between natural environmental cycles and events, and social and political cycles and events. By employing specialists and methodologies in both the social and natural sciences, the project aims to identify tipping points or thresholds beyond which both social and natural systems ch ....Hazards, Tipping Points, Adaptation and Collapse in the Indo-Pacific World. The project aims to provide a new understanding of Indo-Pacific history post-1000 based on an improved understanding of the interrelationship between natural environmental cycles and events, and social and political cycles and events. By employing specialists and methodologies in both the social and natural sciences, the project aims to identify tipping points or thresholds beyond which both social and natural systems change irrevocably. The anticipated outcome of the project highlights the importance of natural hazards as potential catalysts of historical change. Current societies might learn from these experiences to better understand disaster risk reduction in the context of anticipated climate variability.Read moreRead less
Determining the age and origins of Indonesian and Indian trade textiles: multidisciplinary research in art history and conservation science. The National Gallery of Australia holds a world-renowned collection of Asian textiles and Australian art historians, conservators and curators are international leaders in the field of research, conservation and exhibition of Asian textiles. On this project they join forces to advance international understanding of the antiquity and identity of historical ....Determining the age and origins of Indonesian and Indian trade textiles: multidisciplinary research in art history and conservation science. The National Gallery of Australia holds a world-renowned collection of Asian textiles and Australian art historians, conservators and curators are international leaders in the field of research, conservation and exhibition of Asian textiles. On this project they join forces to advance international understanding of the antiquity and identity of historical production centres in India and Indonesia through selected carbon dating and physical analysis of key textile types from museum collections and the field. The results will assist in the reliable, inexpensive and non-intrusive guidelines for other collecting institutions to assess the age and origins of textiles in their care.Read moreRead less
Couples: depictions of sexuality in South and Southeast Asian art. This collaborative project between the University of Sydney and the Art Gallery of NSW will explore a central element in the art and society of South and Southeast Asia, the couple, whether divine or mortal. The project explores the nature of partnerships and sexual power primarily through image based research, to establish new contexts for interpreting their history, depiction and representation. The variety in images of couples ....Couples: depictions of sexuality in South and Southeast Asian art. This collaborative project between the University of Sydney and the Art Gallery of NSW will explore a central element in the art and society of South and Southeast Asia, the couple, whether divine or mortal. The project explores the nature of partnerships and sexual power primarily through image based research, to establish new contexts for interpreting their history, depiction and representation. The variety in images of couples illustrates complex and changing ideas about relationships between the sexes. Equally complex are depictions of the goddess, androgynous figures such as the form of Shiva as half male, half female, and same sex partnerships. Expected outcomes are a major publication, a symposium and an exhibition.Read moreRead less
Beyond Allied Histories: Dayak Memories of World War II in Borneo. Western histories of wars focus overwhelmingly on the experiences of European participants. This project explores World War II in Borneo, a highly significant but little-known Australian wartime site, by focusing on the marginalised memories of the island’s indigenous Dayak peoples. By juxtaposing Dayak memories of the war with those of Australian soldiers and prisoners-of-war, the project aims to both advance scholarly understan ....Beyond Allied Histories: Dayak Memories of World War II in Borneo. Western histories of wars focus overwhelmingly on the experiences of European participants. This project explores World War II in Borneo, a highly significant but little-known Australian wartime site, by focusing on the marginalised memories of the island’s indigenous Dayak peoples. By juxtaposing Dayak memories of the war with those of Australian soldiers and prisoners-of-war, the project aims to both advance scholarly understanding of Dayak codes of otherness and relatedness, and cast new light on the war itself.Read moreRead less
Southeast Asia's global economy, climate and the impact of natural hazards from the 10th to 21st centuries. This project's scope is uniquely broad and multidisciplinary, comprising collaborations between historians, archaeologists, seismologists and others. The aim is to analyse the development of south east Asia's vast and sophisticated economic system within the context of human-environment interactions, over a scale and time period which has been inadequately investigated.
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.
Treating Criminals from Shore to Ship: Public Health, Humanitarianism and Convict Transportation. This project aims to explore the impact that penal reforms had on the diet and health of convicts on land and at sea. It intends to establish the extent to which the remarkable record of health amongst prisoners transported to Australia (monthly death rates were half those for fare paying trans-Atlantic passengers) can be attributed to their treatment prior to embarkation. The project aims to resul ....Treating Criminals from Shore to Ship: Public Health, Humanitarianism and Convict Transportation. This project aims to explore the impact that penal reforms had on the diet and health of convicts on land and at sea. It intends to establish the extent to which the remarkable record of health amongst prisoners transported to Australia (monthly death rates were half those for fare paying trans-Atlantic passengers) can be attributed to their treatment prior to embarkation. The project aims to result in new ways of communicating history to diverse audiences using innovative data visualisations.Read moreRead less