A History of Women's Political Thought in Europe 1700-1800. This research will contribute to Australia's reputation for innovative scholarship on women and feminism and foster the development of models of active female citizenship and political participation by deepening our knowledge and understanding of the contribution that women made to political philosophy in the pre-revolutionary period.
Scalded memory: violence, gender and the Irish, 1169-1923. The history of the Irish at home and abroad from the medieval period has been extraordinarily violent. While historians have studied wars and rebellions in terms of heroic political narratives, there has been no systematic analysis of what a poet has termed Ireland's 'scalded memory?: the meanings of violence in the lives of ordinary Irish women and men. This project will undertake an extremely ambitious interrogation of violence and ge ....Scalded memory: violence, gender and the Irish, 1169-1923. The history of the Irish at home and abroad from the medieval period has been extraordinarily violent. While historians have studied wars and rebellions in terms of heroic political narratives, there has been no systematic analysis of what a poet has termed Ireland's 'scalded memory?: the meanings of violence in the lives of ordinary Irish women and men. This project will undertake an extremely ambitious interrogation of violence and gender in Ireland and the Irish diaspora. It will promote collaboration between Irish and Australian universities, provide training for a PhD student and help foster Irish Studies in Australia. Read moreRead less
Mapping Matrons: Women's Cultural Patronage Networks in Seventeenth Century Northern Italy: from Maria Cristina of Savoy to Vittoria della Rovere. This project adds an important historical dimension to contemporary debates concerning social capital and female leadership. It retrieves women's significant public engagement and community building in the realm of public taste. Historical precedents show how female networks and agency contribute to the community and public sector. Women's networks of ....Mapping Matrons: Women's Cultural Patronage Networks in Seventeenth Century Northern Italy: from Maria Cristina of Savoy to Vittoria della Rovere. This project adds an important historical dimension to contemporary debates concerning social capital and female leadership. It retrieves women's significant public engagement and community building in the realm of public taste. Historical precedents show how female networks and agency contribute to the community and public sector. Women's networks of taste shaped human creativity then...and now. This study will illuminate how our culture (and democracy) emerged in gendered networks of cultural exchange. The project also contributes to Australia's international reputation for high-quality scholarship on early modern Europe, and adds another dimension to cultural and gender studies in this country. Read moreRead less
The sexual cultures of Thai men; implications for Australia's international HIV/AIDS strategy. This project contributes to safeguarding Australia's national interests by supporting the implementation of AusAID's international HIV/AIDS strategy laid out in the policy document 'Meeting the Challenge: Australia's International HIV/AIDS Strategy' (2004). This project directly addresses research priorities identified in the analytical report for the White Paper on Australia's AID program, 'HIV/AIDS i ....The sexual cultures of Thai men; implications for Australia's international HIV/AIDS strategy. This project contributes to safeguarding Australia's national interests by supporting the implementation of AusAID's international HIV/AIDS strategy laid out in the policy document 'Meeting the Challenge: Australia's International HIV/AIDS Strategy' (2004). This project directly addresses research priorities identified in the analytical report for the White Paper on Australia's AID program, 'HIV/AIDS in the Asia Pacific Region' (AusAID 2005): (1) the cultural, economic, and political dynamics driving the HIV epidemic in Asia; (2) the nexus between HIV/AIDS, economic activity, and development; and (3) the Asian experience of feminisation and gender impacts as factors in the epidemic HIV in the region.Read moreRead less
Women and self-development in French history; implications for Australian women's experience. Our culture values individualism for all but assigns women more responsibility than men for caring for others. Women are caught in a double bind between two conflicting roles, self-development and self-sacrifice. We seek to historicise the development of the self for women in nineteenth-century France, a period which has had an immense impact on contemporary gender roles and the way we understand the ge ....Women and self-development in French history; implications for Australian women's experience. Our culture values individualism for all but assigns women more responsibility than men for caring for others. Women are caught in a double bind between two conflicting roles, self-development and self-sacrifice. We seek to historicise the development of the self for women in nineteenth-century France, a period which has had an immense impact on contemporary gender roles and the way we understand the gendered self today. We will produce an international comparative history of women's self-hood which demonstrates its importance for women today.Read moreRead less
Beyond access: women, higher education and the quiet revolutions of the 1950s. This project challenges the standard narrative of women in the 1950s through a study of the intersections of higher education, gender and place. By studying women graduates in Australia and the United States within the context of demographic, employment and cultural change, it develops life histories of graduate women over several decades of their post-universtiy lives, drawing on comparative sources. It offers a new ....Beyond access: women, higher education and the quiet revolutions of the 1950s. This project challenges the standard narrative of women in the 1950s through a study of the intersections of higher education, gender and place. By studying women graduates in Australia and the United States within the context of demographic, employment and cultural change, it develops life histories of graduate women over several decades of their post-universtiy lives, drawing on comparative sources. It offers a new framework for women's educational history, one that goes beyond access and focuses on the new identities that were formed as graduate women negotiated the contradictions of higher education and the dominant femininity of the period.Read moreRead less
INVENTING PERFECT AUSTRALIAN WOMANHOOD: THE MISS AUSTRALIA QUEST AND THE ROLE OF DISABILITY IN POSTWAR AUSTRALIA. The Miss Australia Quest articulated the concept of perfect white womanhood in the postwar era. Sponsored by a major charity, the Spastics League, the Quest sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood yet who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue. Bodily and moral perfection ran counter to the sponsoring organisation which dealt with the severely disabled. ....INVENTING PERFECT AUSTRALIAN WOMANHOOD: THE MISS AUSTRALIA QUEST AND THE ROLE OF DISABILITY IN POSTWAR AUSTRALIA. The Miss Australia Quest articulated the concept of perfect white womanhood in the postwar era. Sponsored by a major charity, the Spastics League, the Quest sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood yet who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue. Bodily and moral perfection ran counter to the sponsoring organisation which dealt with the severely disabled. With competitions held throughout the Commonwealth, the finalists were designated by their state of origin. Hence both regions and then states competed alongside individuals. The broadcast of the Quest was a major television event until 1986. An analysis of the Quest allows interrogation of the role of fundraising for charity, the construction of celebrity, the nature of idealised young womanhood and interstate rivalries. Scholarly articles and a book alongside a projected exhibition at the new National Museum of Australia are anticipated.Read moreRead less
Affect and Expression in Women's Art in Art Movements of the 1960s and 70s. Through a study of four artists, this project will constitute a major revision of the way art history understands the key art movements of the 1960s and 70s. The study will focus on four women artists?each representing a key movement of the period: Hesse (minimalism), Clark (conceptualism), Cha (conceptualism), Mendieta (land art)?and will demonstrate that their approach to affective expression is the key to understandin ....Affect and Expression in Women's Art in Art Movements of the 1960s and 70s. Through a study of four artists, this project will constitute a major revision of the way art history understands the key art movements of the 1960s and 70s. The study will focus on four women artists?each representing a key movement of the period: Hesse (minimalism), Clark (conceptualism), Cha (conceptualism), Mendieta (land art)?and will demonstrate that their approach to affective expression is the key to understanding their contribution to the development of late-modern art. In the process it will reveal the shortcomings of existing art historical interpretations that see these movements as aiming to eliminate expression and subjectivity.Read moreRead less
How to Feel Safe at the End of the World. This project aims to provide the first history of how early modern families created conditions to feel safe in times of crisis, revealing how ideas of safety, security and hope for the future were conceived and put into practice. Its innovative research focus explores how histories, personal and national, inform psychosocial conditions of safety and security for families and build resilience within the next generation. Expected outcomes highlight the rol ....How to Feel Safe at the End of the World. This project aims to provide the first history of how early modern families created conditions to feel safe in times of crisis, revealing how ideas of safety, security and hope for the future were conceived and put into practice. Its innovative research focus explores how histories, personal and national, inform psychosocial conditions of safety and security for families and build resilience within the next generation. Expected outcomes highlight the role of families as agents of historical change and help parents, teachers, children and youth to manage anxiety, build hope and improve life opportunities. This historical perspective on a contemporary problem has the benefit of supporting families struggling with today's changing world.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