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Reconstructing Prehistoric Exchange of Volcanic Glasses in Far East Russia. This project examines competing theories to explain the causes for volcanic glass movement up to 700 kilometres from its source, in Far East Russia 18,000 years ago. As the earliest evidence in the world for long distance overland movement of materials, this case represents a significant innovation within human evolution. The project combines studies of production and consumption to test competing theories to explain wh ....Reconstructing Prehistoric Exchange of Volcanic Glasses in Far East Russia. This project examines competing theories to explain the causes for volcanic glass movement up to 700 kilometres from its source, in Far East Russia 18,000 years ago. As the earliest evidence in the world for long distance overland movement of materials, this case represents a significant innovation within human evolution. The project combines studies of production and consumption to test competing theories to explain why and how volcanic glass was transported. Analyses of geological outcrops, quarries/workshops, and locations of artifact use and discard over a large region enable a comprehensive reconstruction of changing patterns of behaviour between 18,000-2500 bp.Read moreRead less
Australia's Post World War II War Crimes Trials of Japanese Defendants. Contemporary war crimes trials regularly refer to historical precedent - particularly post-WWII war crimes trials. One virtually unknown group of trials were those conducted by Australian Military Tribunals - the primary sources for which are readily available (Australian War Memorial and National Archives) but under-studied. Australian Tribunals sat in judgment over 814 Japanese Defendants in 296 separate trials and yet th ....Australia's Post World War II War Crimes Trials of Japanese Defendants. Contemporary war crimes trials regularly refer to historical precedent - particularly post-WWII war crimes trials. One virtually unknown group of trials were those conducted by Australian Military Tribunals - the primary sources for which are readily available (Australian War Memorial and National Archives) but under-studied. Australian Tribunals sat in judgment over 814 Japanese Defendants in 296 separate trials and yet there has never been a systematic study of this chapter of Australian Legal and Military History. This project is intended to provide the first study of the trials and will also "unlock" the under-utilised but vast documentary resource for future researchers.Read moreRead less
The Taphonomy of Waterhole Faunal Death Assemblages: A model for Archaeological Contexts in the Australian Semi-Arid Zone. The fossil record provides key insights into factors governing the long term survival and distribution of animal populations. As people and climate change have been implicated in the reconfiguration of species' habitats through time, the fossil record has direct relevance to current issues of modern faunal extinctions and biodiversity. Robust interpretative frameworks develo ....The Taphonomy of Waterhole Faunal Death Assemblages: A model for Archaeological Contexts in the Australian Semi-Arid Zone. The fossil record provides key insights into factors governing the long term survival and distribution of animal populations. As people and climate change have been implicated in the reconfiguration of species' habitats through time, the fossil record has direct relevance to current issues of modern faunal extinctions and biodiversity. Robust interpretative frameworks developed in this study will provide an essential foundation to the investigation and understanding of past populations and environment.Read moreRead less
Evolvability and the Evolution of Complexity. Anyone engaging in a moment's reflection on the striking richness, diversity, and complexity of the biological world is faced with the question: how did it get here? Though natural selection is central to answering this question, important new work has identified various conditions that make some lineages of organisms "evolvable": capable of changing in ways that radically expand the range of further possible changes. This project will clarify and in ....Evolvability and the Evolution of Complexity. Anyone engaging in a moment's reflection on the striking richness, diversity, and complexity of the biological world is faced with the question: how did it get here? Though natural selection is central to answering this question, important new work has identified various conditions that make some lineages of organisms "evolvable": capable of changing in ways that radically expand the range of further possible changes. This project will clarify and integrate these various conditions using empirical examples and simple models. The resulting work from this project will provide a clearer general understanding of what biological complexity is, and how science has compelling candidates for understanding how it evolves.Read moreRead less
Racial Classifications in Transnational Context: Aborigines and Islanders in Australia, Native Americans, African Americans and Afro-Brazilians. This ongoing project seeks to develop a new and more powerful scholarly paradigm for understanding race through a comparative historical study designed to identify features which are common to concepts of race as they have emerged and shifted in the different societies studied, and to distinguish these from features which are specific to particular soc ....Racial Classifications in Transnational Context: Aborigines and Islanders in Australia, Native Americans, African Americans and Afro-Brazilians. This ongoing project seeks to develop a new and more powerful scholarly paradigm for understanding race through a comparative historical study designed to identify features which are common to concepts of race as they have emerged and shifted in the different societies studied, and to distinguish these from features which are specific to particular societies and/or eras. In addition to developing and demonstrating the approach, the project will reanalyse the racialisation of the four colonised groups, each of which have figured centrally in studies of race. One monograph and at least three major journal articles will result.Read moreRead less
The Genie in the Bottle:Science, Politics and Diplomacy in Australia's Engagement with Chemical and Biological Weapons, 1915-1995. The threat of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) is attracting increasing attention worldwide. Australia's engagement with the CBW began during the First World War. Since then, Australia has been influential in promoting CBW control regimes. However, this experience has raised many questions. This project explores Australia's historical and current response to ....The Genie in the Bottle:Science, Politics and Diplomacy in Australia's Engagement with Chemical and Biological Weapons, 1915-1995. The threat of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) is attracting increasing attention worldwide. Australia's engagement with the CBW began during the First World War. Since then, Australia has been influential in promoting CBW control regimes. However, this experience has raised many questions. This project explores Australia's historical and current response to the central issues of CBW. Using archival and contemporary sources, it analyses the interplay between science, politics and diplomacy. Combining history and political science, it assesses the implications of recent developments in CBW for Australia's role in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.Read moreRead less
Completing the Gallipoli story: Researching Turkish Archives for a More Comprehensive History. Both Australia and Turkey see the Gallipoli Campaign as a defining event. Australian perceptions of the Campaign are based on C.E.W. Bean's Official History and a number of popular publications. Yet, despite the vast collection of material held in Turkish archives, existing accounts give scant attention to Turkish operations leaving the story incomplete. This project will rectify that imbalance by loca ....Completing the Gallipoli story: Researching Turkish Archives for a More Comprehensive History. Both Australia and Turkey see the Gallipoli Campaign as a defining event. Australian perceptions of the Campaign are based on C.E.W. Bean's Official History and a number of popular publications. Yet, despite the vast collection of material held in Turkish archives, existing accounts give scant attention to Turkish operations leaving the story incomplete. This project will rectify that imbalance by locating and translating key documents-battlefield reports and signals, War Ministry communications, records of prisoner interrogations, aircraft logs and diaries. The result will be a comprehensive history that will contribute to the deepening relationship between Australia and Turkey as we approach the centenary of the Campaign. Read moreRead less
Science and Religion in Early Modern Europe. This project seeks to elucidate the nature of early modern science, early modern religion, and their relationship. A major focus will be the shift from medieval conceptions of science (scientia) and religion (religio) as inner virtues, to the modern understanding of science and religion as bodies of knowledge and sets of practices. This transformation was fundamental to the emergence of modern science and made possible a new kind of relationship be ....Science and Religion in Early Modern Europe. This project seeks to elucidate the nature of early modern science, early modern religion, and their relationship. A major focus will be the shift from medieval conceptions of science (scientia) and religion (religio) as inner virtues, to the modern understanding of science and religion as bodies of knowledge and sets of practices. This transformation was fundamental to the emergence of modern science and made possible a new kind of relationship between science and religion?one unique to the West. The project will enhance our understanding of the rise of science and identify distinctive features of modern Western culture.Read moreRead less
A Philosophical Investigation into Conditions of Conceptual Creativity. Australia as a young and striving society depends heavily on innovation and the integration of creative forces. Yet creativity can only be understood through a close analysis of its conditions. This philosophical project can contribute directly by investigating paradigm cases of successful groupings of individuals around specific clusters of related problems. It aims at exploring the nature of such structures and conditions ....A Philosophical Investigation into Conditions of Conceptual Creativity. Australia as a young and striving society depends heavily on innovation and the integration of creative forces. Yet creativity can only be understood through a close analysis of its conditions. This philosophical project can contribute directly by investigating paradigm cases of successful groupings of individuals around specific clusters of related problems. It aims at exploring the nature of such structures and conditions that determine the emergence and flourishing of conceptual creativity. Understanding the nexus between creativity, innovation and these groupings is of central importance to the promotion and maintenance of modern societies. It is central to the dynamics of societal processes and enhances creative responses in the realm of e. g. conflict solving.Read moreRead less
Methods of Topology: Boundary, Surface and the Inner/Outer in Kant and Wittgenstein. Ways of 'inclusion' vs. 'exclusion' are of basic and pivotal significance in social and political scenarios, e.g. of establishing identities and conducting intra- and transnational discourses. At the root of these discourses lies a vague and implicit 'metaphysics' of the nature of the 'internal', of distinction and discrimination, fostered by intuitions of alleged privileged access to the 'inner'. The project ha ....Methods of Topology: Boundary, Surface and the Inner/Outer in Kant and Wittgenstein. Ways of 'inclusion' vs. 'exclusion' are of basic and pivotal significance in social and political scenarios, e.g. of establishing identities and conducting intra- and transnational discourses. At the root of these discourses lies a vague and implicit 'metaphysics' of the nature of the 'internal', of distinction and discrimination, fostered by intuitions of alleged privileged access to the 'inner'. The project has direct impact on the de-mystification of these socially central notions, its institutional misapprehensions and cultural implications. The project is a paradigm case of how thorough philosophical analysis can yield concrete results, contributing to an understanding of personal, social and political boundaries and demarcations.Read moreRead less