Red Dirt Dreaming: Re-Imagining the History of Mining in Australia. The resources boom, and slowdown, have once again placed mining at the centre of the Australian economy and consciousness. Mining is a milieu of profound paradox, with changing national/international contexts and competing interests. The story of mineral exploration and exploitation thus demands fresh assessments of its social, cultural and political impact in Australia. This timely history of Australian mining examines the comp ....Red Dirt Dreaming: Re-Imagining the History of Mining in Australia. The resources boom, and slowdown, have once again placed mining at the centre of the Australian economy and consciousness. Mining is a milieu of profound paradox, with changing national/international contexts and competing interests. The story of mineral exploration and exploitation thus demands fresh assessments of its social, cultural and political impact in Australia. This timely history of Australian mining examines the complex interactions of people, land and governments and explores historical actors previously silenced—Aborigines, women, ethnic minorities and environmentalists—thereby providing an innovative new narrative of the multiple and diverse historical protagonists and processes created by Australia’s mighty geological windfall.Read moreRead less
Representing, Debating & Protesting the Nation: The Visual Legacy of Sport. Pictures of lifesavers, cricketers, footballers, and so many others have frequently been used to represent Australia to itself and the world, while other sporting images have sparked national debates about racism, and sexism. Yet there has been no broad study of the impact and legacies of Australian sporting iconography. This history will use sporting images to enrich understandings of Australia's past and present, and i ....Representing, Debating & Protesting the Nation: The Visual Legacy of Sport. Pictures of lifesavers, cricketers, footballers, and so many others have frequently been used to represent Australia to itself and the world, while other sporting images have sparked national debates about racism, and sexism. Yet there has been no broad study of the impact and legacies of Australian sporting iconography. This history will use sporting images to enrich understandings of Australia's past and present, and in particular the roles that sport plays in shaping national pride, passions, concerns, and movements for social change. The project will lead to a major exhibition, and will also develop innovative digital education resources that assist the teaching of history to primary and secondary school students throughout Australia.Read moreRead less
Decolonisation and photography in Southeast Asia: Histories and legacies. This project aims to investigate the untold history of decolonisation in Southeast Asia through amateur soldier photographs taken on the front line of conflicts. Such photographs constitute a vast yet neglected archive that promises unique insights into encounters between combatants on all sides, and with civilians whose experiences have rarely been accessible, particularly women, children and unfree workers. The expected ....Decolonisation and photography in Southeast Asia: Histories and legacies. This project aims to investigate the untold history of decolonisation in Southeast Asia through amateur soldier photographs taken on the front line of conflicts. Such photographs constitute a vast yet neglected archive that promises unique insights into encounters between combatants on all sides, and with civilians whose experiences have rarely been accessible, particularly women, children and unfree workers. The expected outcomes of this project are to produce new understandings of violence in decolonisation and the long-term legacies of colonialism in Southeast Asia. This project also intends to provide a critical historical framework for understanding the meaning and impact of photographs taken in war.Read moreRead less
Modernism, cosmopolitanism and consumer culture. This project aims to investigate the department store as a significant site for the transnational dissemination of modernism and cosmopolitanism in the first half of the 20th century. Through a primary focus on Sydney, with comparative studies of Tokyo and New York, the project expects to advance important knowledge of the department store’s vital role in driving new forms of creative engagement, consumer knowledge and social interaction that shap ....Modernism, cosmopolitanism and consumer culture. This project aims to investigate the department store as a significant site for the transnational dissemination of modernism and cosmopolitanism in the first half of the 20th century. Through a primary focus on Sydney, with comparative studies of Tokyo and New York, the project expects to advance important knowledge of the department store’s vital role in driving new forms of creative engagement, consumer knowledge and social interaction that shaped the aspiring cosmopolitan city. The expected outcomes include an understanding how the department store enhanced the public's engagement with modernism. This will benefit current initiatives using the arts to revitalise commercial and urban space.Read moreRead less
The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reas ....The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reason. The project will analyse the cultural and intellectual history of inebriation with the aim of changing appreciation of how medieval thinkers inherited and transformed pagan classical ideas about drinking. Inebriation provides a hitherto unexplored path to rewriting the history of reason, urging us to consider our culturally-ingrained reactions to drinking.Read moreRead less
Indigenous Governance Under Colonisation. The project aims to advance knowledge and scholarship in the fields of ethnohistory and Indigenous writing by prioritising Native American voices to reveal Indigenous strategies for negotiating between assimilation and tradition. It will have direct relevance for Australia’s understanding of its own Indigenous strategies. The project expects to provide a new perspective on Indigenous history by viewing Native writing as evidence of agency rather than dwi ....Indigenous Governance Under Colonisation. The project aims to advance knowledge and scholarship in the fields of ethnohistory and Indigenous writing by prioritising Native American voices to reveal Indigenous strategies for negotiating between assimilation and tradition. It will have direct relevance for Australia’s understanding of its own Indigenous strategies. The project expects to provide a new perspective on Indigenous history by viewing Native writing as evidence of agency rather than dwindling Nativeness and will treat them as endeavours to define indigenous political modernities. Expected outcomes include significant international collaboration and results that will inform research and policy on Indigenous peoples internationally.Read moreRead less
A Reception History of Early Modern Landscape Design. This project aims to address the problem of how to develop a reception history of designed landscapes. It expects to generate new knowledge in the area of landscape history through an innovative history of early modern gardens focused on reception rather than design, a detailed case study of the experiential dimensions of the Sacred Wood in Bomarzo (Italy), and the initiation of a global reception history of gardens. Expected outcomes of this ....A Reception History of Early Modern Landscape Design. This project aims to address the problem of how to develop a reception history of designed landscapes. It expects to generate new knowledge in the area of landscape history through an innovative history of early modern gardens focused on reception rather than design, a detailed case study of the experiential dimensions of the Sacred Wood in Bomarzo (Italy), and the initiation of a global reception history of gardens. Expected outcomes of this project include new methods and techniques for the analysis of landscape and enhanced capacity to build international collaborations. This should provide significant benefits for the understanding of the socio-cultural uses and preservation of heritage landscapes by both scholars and the public.Read moreRead less
Popular Petitioning and Mass Democracy in the United States: a History. This project aims to investigate the neglected history of popular petitioning in the United States. Across the long nineteenth century, activists organised mass petition campaigns in support of causes as diverse as antislavery, suffrage and immigration restriction. In the twentieth century, however, petitioning dwindled. The project draws on this rich archive of activism to assess the role, impact and evolution of petitionin ....Popular Petitioning and Mass Democracy in the United States: a History. This project aims to investigate the neglected history of popular petitioning in the United States. Across the long nineteenth century, activists organised mass petition campaigns in support of causes as diverse as antislavery, suffrage and immigration restriction. In the twentieth century, however, petitioning dwindled. The project draws on this rich archive of activism to assess the role, impact and evolution of petitioning as a democratic tool. The expected outcome is a new perspective on a vital development: the emergence of mass democracy. Furthermore, the project should provide a critical historical framework for assessing modern-day claims about the digital petition and its power to bridge the gulf between citizens and government. Read moreRead less
Tracing connection and change in deep-time landscapes. This project aims to develop new insights into Australia’s past by telling the story of Aboriginal people’s long-term connections and changing relationships with prominent places. Building on new discoveries in the northwest arid zone, the project will conduct archaeological research at landforms in the eastern Pilbara. The project will analyse rock art and excavated materials from key sites to learn how they acted as beacons through time to ....Tracing connection and change in deep-time landscapes. This project aims to develop new insights into Australia’s past by telling the story of Aboriginal people’s long-term connections and changing relationships with prominent places. Building on new discoveries in the northwest arid zone, the project will conduct archaeological research at landforms in the eastern Pilbara. The project will analyse rock art and excavated materials from key sites to learn how they acted as beacons through time to structure and shape people's movements, encounters and connections with others. This is expected to promote Indigenous connection with cultural heritage, help facilitate cultural education programs in remote areas, and offer new insights into the relationship between cultural heritage and Indigenous health and well-being.Read moreRead less
Graphic Encounters: Colonial Prints and the Inscription of Aboriginality. This project plans to collate the archive of prints depicting Indigenous Australians, from national and international collections, to ask how people's place in this newly encroached territory was inscribed by colonial prints. Before the 1890s, prints (engravings, etchings and lithographs) were the principal means of reproducing images. Prints disseminated imagery of Indigenous people and determined how they were 'put in th ....Graphic Encounters: Colonial Prints and the Inscription of Aboriginality. This project plans to collate the archive of prints depicting Indigenous Australians, from national and international collections, to ask how people's place in this newly encroached territory was inscribed by colonial prints. Before the 1890s, prints (engravings, etchings and lithographs) were the principal means of reproducing images. Prints disseminated imagery of Indigenous people and determined how they were 'put in the picture' of settlement. Our colonial-era cultural heritage includes many prints (engravings, etchings, lithographs, etcetera) of Aborigines, yet they have been overlooked and the story of their production, dissemination and consumption is untold. This project aims to collate and trace this visual archive of Indigenous Australians and present its imagery to all Australians, including descendants, in an exhibition and conference, catalogue, monograph and online database.Read moreRead less