Understanding the concept and meaning of freedom in Western history. This project directly engages with current political and social debate and particularly with the National Research Priority 'Safeguarding Australia'. The priority goal 'Understanding our region and the world' is at the heart of the project because it addresses the principal political problem following from September 11, 2001: namely, the price of freedom. The project's principal national benefit will be to use history to chal ....Understanding the concept and meaning of freedom in Western history. This project directly engages with current political and social debate and particularly with the National Research Priority 'Safeguarding Australia'. The priority goal 'Understanding our region and the world' is at the heart of the project because it addresses the principal political problem following from September 11, 2001: namely, the price of freedom. The project's principal national benefit will be to use history to challenge our very understanding of the nature of freedom. The project questions the paradox that freedom can be assured by compromises made in the name of security and that, in this sense, freedom has a 'price'.Read moreRead less
The culture of war: private life and sentiment in Australia 1914-18. This study has the potential to place Australia at the forefront of a new theoretical approach to civilian agency in total war, and enhance the national reputation for important scholarship in a field dominated by international scholars. Also, while war has been central to Australian notions of identity, our sense of 'war' is intimately connected to the front-line, and not to the homefront. This study will help reorient academi ....The culture of war: private life and sentiment in Australia 1914-18. This study has the potential to place Australia at the forefront of a new theoretical approach to civilian agency in total war, and enhance the national reputation for important scholarship in a field dominated by international scholars. Also, while war has been central to Australian notions of identity, our sense of 'war' is intimately connected to the front-line, and not to the homefront. This study will help reorient academic and popular attention back to the importance of the homefront in Australia's experience of 1914-18. At a time when Australians are increasingly interested in family links with the war, this project will provide a greater appreciation of the war's effects on Australia nationally and on the most personal levels.Read moreRead less
Place, taste and tradition: A history of ideas about heritage in Western Australia as a foundation for change. This project aims to provide an agenda for change in heritage practice and legislation in Western Australia. It will do this through exploring a history of ideas about heritage and the built environment to trace a genealogy of a growing awareness of heritage in a variety of forms in Western Australia, and the more recent history of the heritage movement through the National Trust in We ....Place, taste and tradition: A history of ideas about heritage in Western Australia as a foundation for change. This project aims to provide an agenda for change in heritage practice and legislation in Western Australia. It will do this through exploring a history of ideas about heritage and the built environment to trace a genealogy of a growing awareness of heritage in a variety of forms in Western Australia, and the more recent history of the heritage movement through the National Trust in Western Australia. This project will provide historical understanding to current practice, an agenda for legislative and practical change within the heritage arena, a history of the National Trust of Western Australia and several scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
A matter of history: possession, colonialism and Batman's treaties. Australia continues to be possessed by its dispossession of the Aboriginal owners of this country. Settler Australians declare the past is past but dispossession continues to be a matter of history in another sense. By considering the only treaty ever made between settlers and Aborigines, this research investigates why Aboriginal rights to land were denied by the governments in Australia, and what histories settlers and Aborigin ....A matter of history: possession, colonialism and Batman's treaties. Australia continues to be possessed by its dispossession of the Aboriginal owners of this country. Settler Australians declare the past is past but dispossession continues to be a matter of history in another sense. By considering the only treaty ever made between settlers and Aborigines, this research investigates why Aboriginal rights to land were denied by the governments in Australia, and what histories settlers and Aborigines have told to legitimise their rights to that land. Since the moral basis of any nation lies in true stories, this research seeks to advance a truer history than the ones we have.Read moreRead less
Dispossession, history and restorative justice: a comparative study of three settler societies. By comparing how the property rights and sovereignty of aboriginal people were treated in British colonies of settlement in Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the nineteenth century, how this process was understood and registered in stories narrated by contemporaries and their descendants, and how the settler societies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada have tried to deal with the consequences of ....Dispossession, history and restorative justice: a comparative study of three settler societies. By comparing how the property rights and sovereignty of aboriginal people were treated in British colonies of settlement in Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the nineteenth century, how this process was understood and registered in stories narrated by contemporaries and their descendants, and how the settler societies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada have tried to deal with the consequences of their histories in the last thirty or so years, this project will shed new light on Australian history and contribute to ongoing debate about this country might best tackle the work of restorative justice.Read moreRead less
The Empire of New Idealism?: Civilisation and Australian New Idealism, 1850-1950. Philosophies, like people and commodities, travel the globe. This project traces the movement of British 'New Idealist' philosophy to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, its transformation into 'Australian New idealism', and return to Britain. It shows how the hopes of these first Australian philosophers for a global community overlapped with politicians and policy makers, and uncovers their shaping role in th ....The Empire of New Idealism?: Civilisation and Australian New Idealism, 1850-1950. Philosophies, like people and commodities, travel the globe. This project traces the movement of British 'New Idealist' philosophy to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, its transformation into 'Australian New idealism', and return to Britain. It shows how the hopes of these first Australian philosophers for a global community overlapped with politicians and policy makers, and uncovers their shaping role in the formulation of many social policies that remain with us today. It places Australian history and research at the heart of a new global vision of New Idealist studies and offers scholars, policy makers and educators the necessary background to more fully articulate Australian understandings of citizenship and civilisation.Read moreRead less
At the Border: Health, Immigration Restriction and the Imagining of Australia, 1901-2001. This project traces and analyses connections between public health policies and immigration policies between 1901 and 2001 in Australia. It interrogates the changing regulation of Australia's population through border control and health screening of aspiring immigrants and citizens, as well as tourists, refugees and illegal entrants. Infectious disease control may well have been a major instrument through w ....At the Border: Health, Immigration Restriction and the Imagining of Australia, 1901-2001. This project traces and analyses connections between public health policies and immigration policies between 1901 and 2001 in Australia. It interrogates the changing regulation of Australia's population through border control and health screening of aspiring immigrants and citizens, as well as tourists, refugees and illegal entrants. Infectious disease control may well have been a major instrument through which movement over the national borders, and naturalisation into the population, have been governed and policed. The project will illuminate the significance of these interconnecting policies and practices for the historical, legal, and cultural imagining of Australia.
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Australia's post-Second World War reconstruction reassessed, 1941-1949. The project will provide a better understanding of a major phase of Australian history. While there is substantial awareness of the national effort in the Second World War, the magnitude of the commitment to apply the same spirit to secure peace and redeem sacrifice is less widely recognised. This project will assess the substantial innovation in national government to meet augmented expectations and explore the domestic and ....Australia's post-Second World War reconstruction reassessed, 1941-1949. The project will provide a better understanding of a major phase of Australian history. While there is substantial awareness of the national effort in the Second World War, the magnitude of the commitment to apply the same spirit to secure peace and redeem sacrifice is less widely recognised. This project will assess the substantial innovation in national government to meet augmented expectations and explore the domestic and international context of such actions. It will thus enhance awareness of mid-century social, political and cultural transitions, particularly as they relate to issues that continue to shape our national and international experience.Read moreRead less
Remembering the Wars: Community Significance of Western Australian War Memorials. The project will provide an enriched understanding of war commemoration, community meanings, the design of war memorials and recommendations of practical strategies for their interpretation and conservation. The research from this project will add to the social understanding of our national war commemorative practices, the connections between community meaning and memorial design and the importance of war memorials ....Remembering the Wars: Community Significance of Western Australian War Memorials. The project will provide an enriched understanding of war commemoration, community meanings, the design of war memorials and recommendations of practical strategies for their interpretation and conservation. The research from this project will add to the social understanding of our national war commemorative practices, the connections between community meaning and memorial design and the importance of war memorials as instruments of citizenship. Results will be used to formulate a strategy to raise regional community awareness and regard for local war memorials through publications and through the direct action of local RSL Branches and community interest groups with a view to application on a national scale through the RSL. Read moreRead less
The Public University in Australasia (1850-1918). Australians need a clear understanding of the fundamental value of universities to their society. This project provides an important historical context to the civic functions of universities, and specifically, aims to enlighten the contemporary debate over the public and private benefits of higher education, the importance of merit-based access, universities as a public investment in the advancement of knowledge, the meaning of benefaction, and t ....The Public University in Australasia (1850-1918). Australians need a clear understanding of the fundamental value of universities to their society. This project provides an important historical context to the civic functions of universities, and specifically, aims to enlighten the contemporary debate over the public and private benefits of higher education, the importance of merit-based access, universities as a public investment in the advancement of knowledge, the meaning of benefaction, and the role of universities in the making of the Australian middle class.
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