Coexisting with Coronaviruses: Rethinking the Emergence of the Pandemic. Before COVID-19 disrupted modern life, benign coronaviruses were circulating among people and animals in Southeast Asia. As medical researchers work to control the spread of this infectious disease, multispecies ethnography has a special role to play in generating basic knowledge about coronaviruses. This project aims to understand how interactions between people and multiple animal species generated a virus with pandemic p ....Coexisting with Coronaviruses: Rethinking the Emergence of the Pandemic. Before COVID-19 disrupted modern life, benign coronaviruses were circulating among people and animals in Southeast Asia. As medical researchers work to control the spread of this infectious disease, multispecies ethnography has a special role to play in generating basic knowledge about coronaviruses. This project aims to understand how interactions between people and multiple animal species generated a virus with pandemic potential. Approaches from science studies and the environmental humanities will generate conceptual innovations related to three themes: viral visibility, coexistence, and pathogen emergence. Innovations in multispecies methods should produce knowledge about viruses with broad benefits that may safeguard future health.Read moreRead less
Extinction stories: Inhabiting landscapes of loss in the Anthropocene. This project aims to explore the cultural, political and ethical dimensions of biodiversity loss in three of the world’s ‘extinction capitals’ in an age of mass extinction. Drawing on ethnographic research, philosophy and the natural sciences, the project asks how the loss of species and efforts to prevent these losses shape the contours of local people’s lives and the landscapes they inhabit. This project will also use a ser ....Extinction stories: Inhabiting landscapes of loss in the Anthropocene. This project aims to explore the cultural, political and ethical dimensions of biodiversity loss in three of the world’s ‘extinction capitals’ in an age of mass extinction. Drawing on ethnographic research, philosophy and the natural sciences, the project asks how the loss of species and efforts to prevent these losses shape the contours of local people’s lives and the landscapes they inhabit. This project will also use a series of creative storytelling interventions that aim to cultivate community understanding of why and how extinctions matter. The project also aims to benefit public environmental humanities through the development of resources.Read moreRead less
The Wealth Effect: A cultural analysis of prosperity, financialisation and everyday life in contemporary Australia. Financial and real estate markets are now central to Australian family life. But current government policies to individualise responsibility for saving and borrowing decisions often exceed the individual capacity to manage complex financial choices and unknown market risks. Growing levels of home and property ownership bring new benefits but they also increase exposure to economic ....The Wealth Effect: A cultural analysis of prosperity, financialisation and everyday life in contemporary Australia. Financial and real estate markets are now central to Australian family life. But current government policies to individualise responsibility for saving and borrowing decisions often exceed the individual capacity to manage complex financial choices and unknown market risks. Growing levels of home and property ownership bring new benefits but they also increase exposure to economic downturn. For many households the Great Australian Dream of home ownership and prosperity has now turned into a nightmare. This project responds to the pressing need for greater understanding of these developments, and will advance our understanding of this new socio-economic terrain.Read moreRead less
Reconceiving the queer public sphere: an interdisciplinary analysis of same-sex couple domesticity. Using literary, biographical and photographic sources, this project will produce a ground-breaking history of same-sex domestic environments across the twentieth century. Critically analysing queer home life, this project will transform current understandings of the relation between homosexuality, private life and the public sphere.
Australia a space-faring nation: imaginaries and practices of space futures. This project investigates the challenges, opportunities and implications of outer space as a site of economic, political, environmental and cultural interest for Australia. Combining ethnography and creative practice, the project analyses how a range of imaginaries of outer space are produced through a study of the development of Australia’s National Space Agency, the role of new venture capital firms in Australia, and ....Australia a space-faring nation: imaginaries and practices of space futures. This project investigates the challenges, opportunities and implications of outer space as a site of economic, political, environmental and cultural interest for Australia. Combining ethnography and creative practice, the project analyses how a range of imaginaries of outer space are produced through a study of the development of Australia’s National Space Agency, the role of new venture capital firms in Australia, and scientific research on alien life in terrestrial analogue sites in Australia, the U.S and Chile. Research outputs will contribute to national research capacity in social studies of science, foster opportunities for international interdisciplinary collaborations, and inspire Australian public engagement with space research. Read moreRead less
In Public / In Focus: Photography, Testimony and the Public Sphere. Photography plays an important but little understood role in the public sphere. Photographs invite viewers to identify with stories, events and others, and the ease with which photographs circulate in print and online makes them ideal for fostering discourse and debate. However, the increasing focus on testimony and witness in contemporary culture has recently altered the way that photography operates in public and raised some s ....In Public / In Focus: Photography, Testimony and the Public Sphere. Photography plays an important but little understood role in the public sphere. Photographs invite viewers to identify with stories, events and others, and the ease with which photographs circulate in print and online makes them ideal for fostering discourse and debate. However, the increasing focus on testimony and witness in contemporary culture has recently altered the way that photography operates in public and raised some significant problems for photography historians regarding the representation of events, others and the past. This project will respond to these problems, and produce a new understanding of the historical, social, cultural and political links between photography and the public sphere today.Read moreRead less
Food/body encounters: New approaches and alternative solutions to obesity prevention and policy. There is growing recognition of the need for new ways to tackle the obesity problem, and for forms of intervention that move beyond the limitations of individual behavioural changes. This project provides a paradigm for re-orientating how we have come to know obesity by investigating the cultural and institutional processes that shape everyday food and activity practices. Understanding and intervenin ....Food/body encounters: New approaches and alternative solutions to obesity prevention and policy. There is growing recognition of the need for new ways to tackle the obesity problem, and for forms of intervention that move beyond the limitations of individual behavioural changes. This project provides a paradigm for re-orientating how we have come to know obesity by investigating the cultural and institutional processes that shape everyday food and activity practices. Understanding and intervening in these dynamics of social practice are central to the challenges of reversing trends in the prevalence of obesity.Read moreRead less
Understanding collaboration between the arts and sciences. This project aims to undertake a detailed examination of how the arts and sciences can work together to address the complex challenges of contemporary life. This will be addressed by undertaking the first cultural history of the experiment. Experimentation is common to the arts and sciences, and thinking about the long history of experimental practices in both fields will help build a bridge between them. This project will examine in de ....Understanding collaboration between the arts and sciences. This project aims to undertake a detailed examination of how the arts and sciences can work together to address the complex challenges of contemporary life. This will be addressed by undertaking the first cultural history of the experiment. Experimentation is common to the arts and sciences, and thinking about the long history of experimental practices in both fields will help build a bridge between them. This project will examine in detail past and present collaboration. An expected outcome is the development of models to support solving of complex contemporary problems. It will also raise awareness about the importance of the arts to knowledge-making practices.Read moreRead less
The natural history of media: aesthetics, nature and communications technology, from telegraphy to Google Earth. This project will show how people have, since the nineteenth century, observed the Earth and experienced nature through media, and how popular communications technologies have been joined with scientific instruments to help us understand changing ecological realities.
Temporal cities, provisional citizens: architectures of internment. The expedient design, assembly and erection of Second World War internment facilities, and their subsequent transformation for post-war detention and commemoration has produced a legacy of camp environments associated with citizenship. These intense experimental sites expose racial differences, human displacements and national hostilities occurring during the Pacific War. Through comparative case studies in Australia, Singapore ....Temporal cities, provisional citizens: architectures of internment. The expedient design, assembly and erection of Second World War internment facilities, and their subsequent transformation for post-war detention and commemoration has produced a legacy of camp environments associated with citizenship. These intense experimental sites expose racial differences, human displacements and national hostilities occurring during the Pacific War. Through comparative case studies in Australia, Singapore and the United States, this project aims to examine how expertise in architecture and related fields were mobilised in their production. Resultant discourses of citizenship, community and commemoration will be studied. Their significance for understanding political, racially-inscribed and temporal environments will be explored.Read moreRead less