A study of travel writing in Australian colonial history. Travel writing is a key mechanism by which readers learn about other peoples and cultures, a genre that is crucial to the formation of identities, ideologies, and ideas. Australian travel writing provided foundational texts for those emigrating to the colony. This project positions Australian texts within an international comparative sphere. It will advance the understanding of colonial culture in Australia, and of the perceptions and val ....A study of travel writing in Australian colonial history. Travel writing is a key mechanism by which readers learn about other peoples and cultures, a genre that is crucial to the formation of identities, ideologies, and ideas. Australian travel writing provided foundational texts for those emigrating to the colony. This project positions Australian texts within an international comparative sphere. It will advance the understanding of colonial culture in Australia, and of the perceptions and values of those who settled colonial Australia. It will make available to Australian and international students and researchers a rich archive of texts that have not been previously mapped. Australians are keenly interested in travel and its literature, and this project brings colonial travel texts to public attention.Read moreRead less
Reconfiguring intimate life: Gender and sexuality as sites of national redefinition in Australia since 1996. This project opens up current thinking about the nature of change in twenty-first century life in Australia by focusing on issues of gender and sexuality. It draws critical attention to a field of contest and re-negotiation of national identity and belonging, thus far not identified, that has far-reaching effects for the national fabric. It provides opportunities for thinking about sexual ....Reconfiguring intimate life: Gender and sexuality as sites of national redefinition in Australia since 1996. This project opens up current thinking about the nature of change in twenty-first century life in Australia by focusing on issues of gender and sexuality. It draws critical attention to a field of contest and re-negotiation of national identity and belonging, thus far not identified, that has far-reaching effects for the national fabric. It provides opportunities for thinking about sexual and reproductive relationships in ways that can be open to voices, stories and forms of belonging that signal a more generous, sustainable and healthy non-violent future.
The impact of the project will be on professional and scholarly training, teaching and research across a variety of disciplinary areas, as well as public debate. Read moreRead less
Creatures of the Ice: A Cultural Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Antarctica. Perceptions of animals in the world's largest wilderness, Antarctica, have changed dramatically over history: once seen primarily as commercial resources, whales, seals and penguins are now environmental icons. As few people ever travel to Antarctica, their views of its animals are usually dependent on written and visual texts. Combining expertise in the humanities and sciences, this project examines the ways in w ....Creatures of the Ice: A Cultural Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Antarctica. Perceptions of animals in the world's largest wilderness, Antarctica, have changed dramatically over history: once seen primarily as commercial resources, whales, seals and penguins are now environmental icons. As few people ever travel to Antarctica, their views of its animals are usually dependent on written and visual texts. Combining expertise in the humanities and sciences, this project examines the ways in which humans have narrated their encounters with animals in Antarctica over the last two centuries. Australia is custodian of forty-two percent of Antarctica; this project provides a cultural context through which to understand current attitudes towards its fragile ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Travelling Home: A Study of Walkabout, Australia's Geographic Magazine (1934-74). Walkabout was one of mid-twentieth century's most popular magazines with a focus on inland Australia, as well as the Pacific region. It graced suburban lounge rooms, doctors' and dentists' surgeries, railway waiting rooms, ministerial offices, and school libraries. Walkabout's mixture of entertainment and education ensured its influence across a spectrum of readers: across age, class, and educational boundaries. Th ....Travelling Home: A Study of Walkabout, Australia's Geographic Magazine (1934-74). Walkabout was one of mid-twentieth century's most popular magazines with a focus on inland Australia, as well as the Pacific region. It graced suburban lounge rooms, doctors' and dentists' surgeries, railway waiting rooms, ministerial offices, and school libraries. Walkabout's mixture of entertainment and education ensured its influence across a spectrum of readers: across age, class, and educational boundaries. This project explores the role of Walkabout in the development of a modern national identity. Walkabout deliberately cultivated one of Australia's key modern economic foundations-the travel industry-and did so whilst also influencing knowledge formation and circulation. Read moreRead less
Heritage and Reconciliation. This project will re-conceptualise heritage from a standpoint of reconciliation. In doing so, it will generate new understandings about how heritage and its management can contribute to reconciliation processes. The project will combine Aboriginal, Maori and Western intellectual traditions in order to advance theoretical understandings of heritage and to examine its reconstructive power. It will produce models for practical implementation, including new conservation ....Heritage and Reconciliation. This project will re-conceptualise heritage from a standpoint of reconciliation. In doing so, it will generate new understandings about how heritage and its management can contribute to reconciliation processes. The project will combine Aboriginal, Maori and Western intellectual traditions in order to advance theoretical understandings of heritage and to examine its reconstructive power. It will produce models for practical implementation, including new conservation and management protocols. The project's investigation of a new approach to heritage has the potential for profound social benefit.Read moreRead less
The drowned: cultural and political geographies. This project aims to reveal and critically analyse the geographies of drowning and the drowned. Drowning is the third most common cause of death worldwide, and a subject of universal interest that is relatively limited in specifically cultural and political geographical research, policy, and debate. The project will be significant by rectifying that gap and investigating shared concerns about drowning’s abiding, widespread, profound effects. The e ....The drowned: cultural and political geographies. This project aims to reveal and critically analyse the geographies of drowning and the drowned. Drowning is the third most common cause of death worldwide, and a subject of universal interest that is relatively limited in specifically cultural and political geographical research, policy, and debate. The project will be significant by rectifying that gap and investigating shared concerns about drowning’s abiding, widespread, profound effects. The expected outcomes will include public debate about drowning and its cultural and political reach and management generated from a book, articles, and blog. Benefits will include new fundamental knowledge and practical insights about how to rethink risks and disasters in rapidly changing environments.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
Beyond Extinction: Reconstructing the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Archive. This project aims to tell a global story about extinction as a human problem, by reconstructing the individual biographies of a selection of thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) specimens. Through transforming these specimens into grieveable lives the project expects to facilitate scholarly and public engagement with the cultural history of extinction, advancing the foundation for a sustainable and informed response that may help ....Beyond Extinction: Reconstructing the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Archive. This project aims to tell a global story about extinction as a human problem, by reconstructing the individual biographies of a selection of thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) specimens. Through transforming these specimens into grieveable lives the project expects to facilitate scholarly and public engagement with the cultural history of extinction, advancing the foundation for a sustainable and informed response that may help prevent further extinctions. In bringing together the zoo and the museum as key sites for the development of public environmental sentiment, this project has the potential to generate new and globally-relevant resources for engaging with conservation and extinction, through these institutions and beyond.Read moreRead less
The 'paper war': Missionary Textuality and Early Nineteenth-Century Australian Colonial Culture. Early nineteenth-century Australian texts reverberate with the anxieties and controversies surrounding colonisation. The morality of colonisation and indigenous-settler relationships were hotly debated in a proliferation of books, pamphlets, letters, and editorials, and in this religious personnel, including missionaries, played a pivotal role. Yet no critical analysis of colonial missionary writing ....The 'paper war': Missionary Textuality and Early Nineteenth-Century Australian Colonial Culture. Early nineteenth-century Australian texts reverberate with the anxieties and controversies surrounding colonisation. The morality of colonisation and indigenous-settler relationships were hotly debated in a proliferation of books, pamphlets, letters, and editorials, and in this religious personnel, including missionaries, played a pivotal role. Yet no critical analysis of colonial missionary writing exists. This project conducts archival research into texts produced by a linked network of religious/missionary figures, focusing on the Lake Macquarie mission run by Lancelot Threlkeld, and analyses these through theories of colonial discourse and textuality. Research outcomes include original, innovative contributions to Australian literary/cultural studies and international colonial/postcolonial studies.Read moreRead less
Privatising neighbourhoods? Governance and social life in master-planned residential estates. Australian residential neighbourhoods are changing in the face of growing privatisation and privatism, with major implications for the strength of the social and economic fabric of cities. Master planned residential estates are emblematic of this change. This project empirically investigates the extent and nature of privatisation and privatism in these new residential environments. It will provide a rig ....Privatising neighbourhoods? Governance and social life in master-planned residential estates. Australian residential neighbourhoods are changing in the face of growing privatisation and privatism, with major implications for the strength of the social and economic fabric of cities. Master planned residential estates are emblematic of this change. This project empirically investigates the extent and nature of privatisation and privatism in these new residential environments. It will provide a rigorous analysis necessary to growing national debates about creating and sustaining urban social cohesion, and on the importance of social ties between people for producing a more prosperous Australia.Read moreRead less