Everyday Obligations: Households and Economic Change in the British Isles 1650-1850. The project will develop scholarship about the history of family and households in the British Isles during industrialisation and associated changes. The resulting published work will advance our knowledge of the social implications of demographic change; the relationship between people and environment; the impact of industrialisation on demography as well as the micro-economies of past households and families. ....Everyday Obligations: Households and Economic Change in the British Isles 1650-1850. The project will develop scholarship about the history of family and households in the British Isles during industrialisation and associated changes. The resulting published work will advance our knowledge of the social implications of demographic change; the relationship between people and environment; the impact of industrialisation on demography as well as the micro-economies of past households and families. An innovative aspect will be the use of Australian historical sources, particularly for Van Diemen's Land, to cast light on the history of Britain before 1850.Read moreRead less
The Courtroom, Lawyers and the Press: Negotiating Justice in the Age of the Public Sphere. The origins of modern Australian systems of justice are derived from institutions and cultures developed in Britain, and this project will contribute a deeper understanding of their nature and provenance. It will illuminate the roots of the modern trial as an instrument of governance that involves largely symbolic, rather than substantive, popular participation, and trace its equally significant role as a ....The Courtroom, Lawyers and the Press: Negotiating Justice in the Age of the Public Sphere. The origins of modern Australian systems of justice are derived from institutions and cultures developed in Britain, and this project will contribute a deeper understanding of their nature and provenance. It will illuminate the roots of the modern trial as an instrument of governance that involves largely symbolic, rather than substantive, popular participation, and trace its equally significant role as a form of popular entertainment. Besides their obvious relevance to questions about active citizenship in modern Australia, scholarly studies of these issues will contribute in a major way to Australia's international reputation for producing high-quality scholarly contributions to British studies.Read moreRead less
Cistercian Nuns in England c.1150-1550AD: A Gendered History of a Monastic Institution. This project re-writes the history not just of the previously ignored medieval Cistercian nun but of the medieval Cistercian monastic institution more broadly. Using English Cistercian women as case studies, it will produce two major breakthroughs. First, it will demonstrate that the history of the Cistercian religious order looks very different when analysed with issues of gender to the fore. Second, it will ....Cistercian Nuns in England c.1150-1550AD: A Gendered History of a Monastic Institution. This project re-writes the history not just of the previously ignored medieval Cistercian nun but of the medieval Cistercian monastic institution more broadly. Using English Cistercian women as case studies, it will produce two major breakthroughs. First, it will demonstrate that the history of the Cistercian religious order looks very different when analysed with issues of gender to the fore. Second, it will reconfigure our understanding of this classic monastic institution according to the principles of centre-periphery relations. Both outcomes produce new strategies for creating histories of marginalised groups that are not premised on the histories of the dominant groups.Read moreRead less
Transatlantic slavery, the African diaspora and the unfree settlement of Australia, 1750-1850. This project breaks new ground in historical research and will open up areas of demographic and cultural history rarely understood by historians. By reading penal transportation as an aspect of the international traffic in unfree labour and its use as a form of control throughout the British colonies, as well as examining penal systems in relationship to coercive labour management in the Atlantic world ....Transatlantic slavery, the African diaspora and the unfree settlement of Australia, 1750-1850. This project breaks new ground in historical research and will open up areas of demographic and cultural history rarely understood by historians. By reading penal transportation as an aspect of the international traffic in unfree labour and its use as a form of control throughout the British colonies, as well as examining penal systems in relationship to coercive labour management in the Atlantic world, the project will make a significant contribution to research into the African Diaspora, slavery and colonial history. It will also facilitate an understanding the complexities of race-relations in Australia and help untangle contentious issues concerning Aboriginality.Read moreRead less
The impact of solitary confinement on convicts, 1817-1853. This project aims to explore the impact of solitary confinement on the health and well-being of 72,500 convicts transported to Australia between 1817 and 1853. It will do so by linking detailed life course histories for these men and women to psychiatric admission data for Tasmanian 19th century institutions. The project results will inform policy as well as increasing on-line access to Australia's UNESCO Memory of the World registered c ....The impact of solitary confinement on convicts, 1817-1853. This project aims to explore the impact of solitary confinement on the health and well-being of 72,500 convicts transported to Australia between 1817 and 1853. It will do so by linking detailed life course histories for these men and women to psychiatric admission data for Tasmanian 19th century institutions. The project results will inform policy as well as increasing on-line access to Australia's UNESCO Memory of the World registered convict records. The project outcomes will help to contextualise the risks associated with different types and rates of solitary confinement exposure.Read moreRead less
The global vaccination revolution: a transnational and comparative perspective. A study of first global immunization campaign will provide a historical dimension to contemporary concerns about pandemic disease, vaccination and bio-terrorism, and generate new insights into the factors determining the success and failure of public health initiatives. The project relates directly to national research priorities in health and safeguarding Australia. It has more specific relevance to Australia. Small ....The global vaccination revolution: a transnational and comparative perspective. A study of first global immunization campaign will provide a historical dimension to contemporary concerns about pandemic disease, vaccination and bio-terrorism, and generate new insights into the factors determining the success and failure of public health initiatives. The project relates directly to national research priorities in health and safeguarding Australia. It has more specific relevance to Australia. Smallpox decimated the Aboriginal population, and quarantine and vaccination have loomed large in Australian history. It builds on Australia's strong scholarship in the fields of virology and immunology and the history of disease and public health.Read moreRead less
The World Arm-to-Arm: The Spread of Smallpox Vaccination and Global Networks of Knowledge and Power, 1799-1805. This project will document the rapid spread of Jenner's vaccine around the world between 1799 and 1805. It will address matters neglected in the existing literature, including the logistics of the global transmission of the vaccine, often literally arm-to-arm; the promotion and reception of vaccination in different social and cultural contexts; and the networks of power and knowledge ....The World Arm-to-Arm: The Spread of Smallpox Vaccination and Global Networks of Knowledge and Power, 1799-1805. This project will document the rapid spread of Jenner's vaccine around the world between 1799 and 1805. It will address matters neglected in the existing literature, including the logistics of the global transmission of the vaccine, often literally arm-to-arm; the promotion and reception of vaccination in different social and cultural contexts; and the networks of power and knowledge that made the Jennerian revolution possible. The project will result in a book and articles, interventions in the literature on globalisation and the adoption of innovation, and a deeper and broader perspective on issues of burning relevance to the world today.Read moreRead less
The Construction of Race and Racial Identity at the Antipodes of Empire, 1788-1840. The view that Australia was always a racially based society, pursuing racial policies to the detriment of indigenous Australians and our Asian neighbours, is subject to rancorous national debate. Polemical assertion by high profile journalists that race was never a driving force in Australian history is not conducive to understanding complex history, nor are derogatory attacks on historians helpful in explaining ....The Construction of Race and Racial Identity at the Antipodes of Empire, 1788-1840. The view that Australia was always a racially based society, pursuing racial policies to the detriment of indigenous Australians and our Asian neighbours, is subject to rancorous national debate. Polemical assertion by high profile journalists that race was never a driving force in Australian history is not conducive to understanding complex history, nor are derogatory attacks on historians helpful in explaining the past to our neighbours. Whether colonial Australia was a race-based society remains to be established. With indigenous uncertainty over the demise of ATSIC and rising antagonism among our Islamic neighbours, there is need, as never before, for dispassionate scholarship to provide a complex interpretation of Australia's past.Read moreRead less
Intergenerational Transmission of Inequality. There is a growing interest in the ways in which biological and socioeconomic heritage can shape vulnerabilities to disease. Once viewed as primarily a product of recent conditions such as lifestyle choices, it is now evident that health outcomes can also be shaped by intergenerational mechanisms. Analysis of these in current populations is impractical given the considerable time it would take for a prospective study to unfold. The analysis of histor ....Intergenerational Transmission of Inequality. There is a growing interest in the ways in which biological and socioeconomic heritage can shape vulnerabilities to disease. Once viewed as primarily a product of recent conditions such as lifestyle choices, it is now evident that health outcomes can also be shaped by intergenerational mechanisms. Analysis of these in current populations is impractical given the considerable time it would take for a prospective study to unfold. The analysis of historical populations, however, presents an opportunity to circumvent this obstacle. Using data for male and female convicts and their descendants, this project seeks to determine the extent to which disadvantage experienced by one generation impacted on the life expectancy of those that followed.Read moreRead less
A cultural history of food safety from Singapore. This project aims to trace how ordinary people’s thinking about food safety has changed over time; from this, we can investigate food safety techniques and practices by government and industry. In studying Singapore, which has always imported nearly all food, the project expects to generate new lessons from Singapore's history that may widely apply in an era of globalisation and contemporary food system complexity. Benefits of the project include ....A cultural history of food safety from Singapore. This project aims to trace how ordinary people’s thinking about food safety has changed over time; from this, we can investigate food safety techniques and practices by government and industry. In studying Singapore, which has always imported nearly all food, the project expects to generate new lessons from Singapore's history that may widely apply in an era of globalisation and contemporary food system complexity. Benefits of the project include assisting food exporters and other food safety stakeholders in Australia to better understand the origins and complexity of food safety thinking.Read moreRead less