Imagining histories of love: the making of textual worlds in Taiwan romance fiction. This project examines the crucial question of how romantic love is imagined in contemporary Chinese societies. It innovates by analyzing the images of love presented in Taiwan romance fiction, a major genre of unstudied texts that provides knowledge of the emotional worlds of tens of millions of people worldwide. Its novel methodology approaches romantic narratives as documents of a history of love, producing ne ....Imagining histories of love: the making of textual worlds in Taiwan romance fiction. This project examines the crucial question of how romantic love is imagined in contemporary Chinese societies. It innovates by analyzing the images of love presented in Taiwan romance fiction, a major genre of unstudied texts that provides knowledge of the emotional worlds of tens of millions of people worldwide. Its novel methodology approaches romantic narratives as documents of a history of love, producing new concepts of Taiwan and Chinese society and history in which love is envisioned as the central experience of human life. Major outcomes will be a substantial monograph, an edited volume and several scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Digital dissent in the People's Republic: the language of protest and criticism in Sino-cyberspace. As Australia's relations with China continue to deepen, it is vital for Australia to acquire in-depth knowledge of how rapidly China is changing as a consequence of digital information flows. The project provides that knowledge through its analysis of digital dissent. The project explores how non-state players in the People's Republic respond and react to urgent problems in their midst. It will ....Digital dissent in the People's Republic: the language of protest and criticism in Sino-cyberspace. As Australia's relations with China continue to deepen, it is vital for Australia to acquire in-depth knowledge of how rapidly China is changing as a consequence of digital information flows. The project provides that knowledge through its analysis of digital dissent. The project explores how non-state players in the People's Republic respond and react to urgent problems in their midst. It will also shed light on present-day tensions in China between state and civil society. More specifically, the project will deepen Australia's critical engagement with China by focussing on such issues of consequence as censorship, corruption, environmental pollution, governance reform and calls for democracy and human rights.Read moreRead less
Ethnoecology and the State in Regional China. This project will enhance Australian knowledge about diversity amongst Han Chinese communities in the way that they have adapted to their environment, a diversity that underpins the responsiveness of Chinese populations to environmental transformation in the contemporary period. It will also strengthen Australia¡¯s reputation as a centre for the study of regional cultures within the Chinese landmass, provide additional insights into the lower Yangzi ....Ethnoecology and the State in Regional China. This project will enhance Australian knowledge about diversity amongst Han Chinese communities in the way that they have adapted to their environment, a diversity that underpins the responsiveness of Chinese populations to environmental transformation in the contemporary period. It will also strengthen Australia¡¯s reputation as a centre for the study of regional cultures within the Chinese landmass, provide additional insights into the lower Yangzi delta, which is one of the most affluent regions of China today, and build up Australia¡¯s capacity to train postgraduates with an understanding of China¡¯s great regional diversity.Read moreRead less
Peking opera, epitheatre and writing in nineteenth-century Beijing. Employing the neglected 'flower-guide' booklets of nineteenth-century Beijing, this project explores the role theatre-based popular literature played in the formation of the capital city's emerging public sphere. Establishing epitheatre as a new field, it opens new horizons in the history of modern China, social history and literary criticism.
Mindful things: cross-cultural perspectives on the criteria for intelligence. This project will bring contemporary theories on artificial intelligence into conversation with ancient Greek and Indian philosophy. Turing proposed that a machine that could imitate a human's conversational abilities would count as thinking. The ancient Greeks and Indians supposed that there were mindful things, like the cosmos as a whole, that would not pass such a test. Why is there such disagreement? We will learn ....Mindful things: cross-cultural perspectives on the criteria for intelligence. This project will bring contemporary theories on artificial intelligence into conversation with ancient Greek and Indian philosophy. Turing proposed that a machine that could imitate a human's conversational abilities would count as thinking. The ancient Greeks and Indians supposed that there were mindful things, like the cosmos as a whole, that would not pass such a test. Why is there such disagreement? We will learn something about our own conception of the mind by examining their reasons for supposing that such things had minds. One objective is to question the degree to which the idea of a mind is culturally constructed.Read moreRead less
Intercultural Approaches to Teaching Chinese: A basis for pedagogical innovation. The nation in general will benefit by having a better prepared and more competent population of Chinese teachers, learners and professionals, whose exposure to Chinese language and culture will encompass the multiplicity of identities in a contemporary, multicultural society. This research will establish Australia as a major innovator in Chinese language pedagogy and will equip Australians to better understand our ....Intercultural Approaches to Teaching Chinese: A basis for pedagogical innovation. The nation in general will benefit by having a better prepared and more competent population of Chinese teachers, learners and professionals, whose exposure to Chinese language and culture will encompass the multiplicity of identities in a contemporary, multicultural society. This research will establish Australia as a major innovator in Chinese language pedagogy and will equip Australians to better understand our region and our world. A unique feature of the project is the provision for assessment of cultural awareness derived from study of language, ensuring that students who do not persevere with Chinese language will have a 'surrender value' declaration, recording competency in knowledge of Chinese culture.Read moreRead less
Production and testing of novel bioactive honeys and honey-based cosmetic formulations. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the entire spectrum of plant bioactive compounds that are transferred to the honey and develop novel bioactive honeys with enhanced antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This project will also develop new honey-based cosmetic products like creams, gels and foams.
The Old Zhuang Script: a Vernacular Character Script from Southern China. The Zhuang are a Tai-speaking people and the most populous of China's minority peoples. Traditionally they used a modified version of the Chinese character script. The aim of this project is to provide the wherewithal for a decipherment of the old Zhuang character script, to present evidence for the age of the script, and to describe the social and political conditions that gave it birth and influenced its development.
The combined use of proteomics and small molecules for target identification and pathway analysis. This project intends to investigate how a series of new small molecules identified from our research to improve the metabolic effects of insulin. This project will integrate medicinal chemistry with proteomics and metabolic biology to identify the cellular targets and their mechanism of action.