Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the ....Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the world’s first mass medium of communication to consolidate their power, and how competing interests used the theatre to share, limit or challenge that power.Read moreRead less
Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its gi ....Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its girls were enslaved in the civil war, this project could offer insight into defences against slavery, and the slave trade’s legacies. This could inform the fight against human trafficking today and Australia’s response to trafficking.Read moreRead less
The rediscovery of Senecan tragedy in 14th century Europe. This project aims to provide a new understanding of the emergence of classical tragedy by reassessing how classical Latin drama was revived in 14th century Europe after a long period of neglect. Classical tragedy, which incorporates the myths of the Graeco-Roman world in its fabric, was virtually unknown from late antiquity until the high middle ages when the tragedies of Seneca became popular. In the early 14th century, commentaries by ....The rediscovery of Senecan tragedy in 14th century Europe. This project aims to provide a new understanding of the emergence of classical tragedy by reassessing how classical Latin drama was revived in 14th century Europe after a long period of neglect. Classical tragedy, which incorporates the myths of the Graeco-Roman world in its fabric, was virtually unknown from late antiquity until the high middle ages when the tragedies of Seneca became popular. In the early 14th century, commentaries by Albertino Mussato and Nicholas Trevet allowed a new readership access to these complex ancient works; this analysis also provides new insights into trends of popularity across the ages. Using recent advances in digitisation technology and scholarship, the project will establish a model for research into the history of the book, the image, and text.Read moreRead less
The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mech ....The Vandal Renaissance: Latin Literature in Post-Roman Africa (435-534CE). The project aims to investigate the Latin literature of the Vandal kingdom of North Africa. It expects to identify a vibrant literary culture that celebrated multicultural diversity, embraced the Classical tradition, and contributed to Christian theology, while helping form a distinct Vandal identity. Expected outcomes include a more detailed understanding of the intellectual influences on Vandal African authors, the mechanics of Vandal court patronage, and the breadth of these authors' contribution to the history of Latin literature. The project will benefit Australian culture by providing a detailed historical example of the benefits and challenges of a multicultural society.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,204.00
Summary
The Female Voice in Ancient Philosophical Dialogues. This project aims to conceptualise and communicate how a major innovation was accepted in the ancient world, when women for the first time began to serve as intellectual role-models for both men and women. This project will create a ground-breaking narrative of female intellectuals over 800 years of history. The expected outcome is a new history of the role women played in the intellectual life in the ancient world, and a new understanding of ....The Female Voice in Ancient Philosophical Dialogues. This project aims to conceptualise and communicate how a major innovation was accepted in the ancient world, when women for the first time began to serve as intellectual role-models for both men and women. This project will create a ground-breaking narrative of female intellectuals over 800 years of history. The expected outcome is a new history of the role women played in the intellectual life in the ancient world, and a new understanding of how their voices were used as authorities on certain issues in philosophy and the good life. In addition, reflection on how this innovation was accepted historically will help modern attempts to advance the social cohesion of men and women, especially in the intellectual life. Read moreRead less
The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reas ....The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reason. The project will analyse the cultural and intellectual history of inebriation with the aim of changing appreciation of how medieval thinkers inherited and transformed pagan classical ideas about drinking. Inebriation provides a hitherto unexplored path to rewriting the history of reason, urging us to consider our culturally-ingrained reactions to drinking.Read moreRead less
Finding friendship in early English literature. This project aims to provide extensive new knowledge about the long story of friendship by reconceptualizing the ways in which this bond was lived and imagined in early medieval literature. The project expects to make an innovative contribution to our understanding of this fundamental human relationship through a case study of early English texts. Expected outcomes of this project include an unprecedented comprehensive study of friendship in an ea ....Finding friendship in early English literature. This project aims to provide extensive new knowledge about the long story of friendship by reconceptualizing the ways in which this bond was lived and imagined in early medieval literature. The project expects to make an innovative contribution to our understanding of this fundamental human relationship through a case study of early English texts. Expected outcomes of this project include an unprecedented comprehensive study of friendship in an early medieval society through its writing, and with this develop a model for the engaged humanities. The project offers significant benefit for a range of academic disciplines, and also includes important benefit beyond the academy through engagement with a critical issue in contemporary society. Read moreRead less
Medical Internationalism: Cuba and Eastern Europe, 1959-1999. This project aims to understand the history of medicine as an instrument of soft power during and after the Cold War. Taking Cuba as a case study, it expects to generate new knowledge about the socialist East's fight to win ‘hearts and minds’ in the global South by analysing the professional and interpersonal relationships that developed among Cuban, Soviet, and Czechoslovak medical students, clinical practitioners, researchers and pu ....Medical Internationalism: Cuba and Eastern Europe, 1959-1999. This project aims to understand the history of medicine as an instrument of soft power during and after the Cold War. Taking Cuba as a case study, it expects to generate new knowledge about the socialist East's fight to win ‘hearts and minds’ in the global South by analysing the professional and interpersonal relationships that developed among Cuban, Soviet, and Czechoslovak medical students, clinical practitioners, researchers and public health officials. Expected outcomes include refined methods of transnational history and medical history. This should provide significant benefits, such as enhancing Australia's visibility as a site of historical discovery and innovation, and offering historical context for contemporary diplomacy.Read moreRead less
The Elephant in the Study: Working Latin Literature for the Enslaved. Roman histories, speeches, and plays are conventionally regarded as the works of individual elite male authors such as Cicero, Vergil, and Livy. This project aims to transform our understanding of Roman literature by showing that it was actually written in collaboration with enslaved workers, generating new insights into the creative processes that shaped the Classical literary canon. Expected outcomes include a new approach f ....The Elephant in the Study: Working Latin Literature for the Enslaved. Roman histories, speeches, and plays are conventionally regarded as the works of individual elite male authors such as Cicero, Vergil, and Livy. This project aims to transform our understanding of Roman literature by showing that it was actually written in collaboration with enslaved workers, generating new insights into the creative processes that shaped the Classical literary canon. Expected outcomes include a new approach for understanding how authors work and the discovery of untold stories about the enslaved population of Rome. This should lead to significant benefits for communities, including improved education outcomes and better-informed public debate. Read moreRead less
The Ancient Today: Living Traditions of Classical Language Education. This project aims to compare, for the first time, ancient language education across world cultures with ‘classical’ literatures. It expects to illumine the purpose and value of classical language education in Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit historically and within global education systems today by comparing pedagogic ideals and practices across times and cultures. It aims to test the potential of inclusive classical langua ....The Ancient Today: Living Traditions of Classical Language Education. This project aims to compare, for the first time, ancient language education across world cultures with ‘classical’ literatures. It expects to illumine the purpose and value of classical language education in Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit historically and within global education systems today by comparing pedagogic ideals and practices across times and cultures. It aims to test the potential of inclusive classical language learning to boost educational outcomes for disadvantaged students. Other expected outcomes include two books, scholarly articles, education policy reports, and PhD student training. This should strengthen intercultural understanding and benefit school students, educators, policy makers and the wider public.Read moreRead less