Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these co ....Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these collections to shape memory and generate wider historical literacy. Benefits include providing insight into inclusive physical and digital collecting practices, which enables the project to address UNESCO’s goal of achieving greater access to decision-making about culture, heritage and the formation of social identities.Read moreRead less
Collecting institutions: cultural diversity and the making of citizenship in Australia since the 1970s. This project will develop the first comprehensive history of the engagement of the Australian collecting sector with cultural diversity. It aims to understand the role of the sector in the management and promotion of culturally diverse societies, including the formation of citizens and to identify Australian innovation in this regard.
Four South Pacific Museums: New Museums and Public Culture. The last decade has witnessed a global explosion in the development of new museums. Nowhere is this more striking than in our region where four major new museum buildings opened between 1998 and 2001.
FOUR SOUTH PACIFIC MUSEUMS will explore these regional developments by asking:
-How are they renovating their institutions through exhibitionary, architectural, technological, commercial and entertainment strategies?
-How are they re-n ....Four South Pacific Museums: New Museums and Public Culture. The last decade has witnessed a global explosion in the development of new museums. Nowhere is this more striking than in our region where four major new museum buildings opened between 1998 and 2001.
FOUR SOUTH PACIFIC MUSEUMS will explore these regional developments by asking:
-How are they renovating their institutions through exhibitionary, architectural, technological, commercial and entertainment strategies?
-How are they re-negotiating relationships between indigenous people and museums in post-colonial nations?
This interdisciplinary project will generate significant publications, evaluate contemporary museum practices, enrich debate about the cultural and civic roles of museums, and contribute productively to imagining their future.
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Building Difference: Architectural Strategies in Colonial Museums. Natural history and ethnology museums built in the 19th century in British imperial territories in Australia, New Zealand, India, and Canada were driven by specific colonising intent. Their architecture reflects the cultural complexities of empire. Using archival sources, the project researches the deployment of metropolitan architectural theory in colonial museum design from the foundation of these institutions to decolonisatio ....Building Difference: Architectural Strategies in Colonial Museums. Natural history and ethnology museums built in the 19th century in British imperial territories in Australia, New Zealand, India, and Canada were driven by specific colonising intent. Their architecture reflects the cultural complexities of empire. Using archival sources, the project researches the deployment of metropolitan architectural theory in colonial museum design from the foundation of these institutions to decolonisation and institutional modernisation in the mid-20th century. It examines how architectural strategies were exploited and inflected by different local conditions, to produce a sophisticated investigation of the architecture of empire.Read moreRead less
Suburban archaeology: approaching an archaeology of the middle class in 19th century Melbourne. This project has three main benefits. First, it will help Australians understand more about the richness and diversity of urban experience in the country, thereby enhancing the heritage value of Museum collections drawn from urban archaeological sites. Second, by focusing on the historical archaeology of the emergent middle class in Australia we will improve our understanding of the history of Austral ....Suburban archaeology: approaching an archaeology of the middle class in 19th century Melbourne. This project has three main benefits. First, it will help Australians understand more about the richness and diversity of urban experience in the country, thereby enhancing the heritage value of Museum collections drawn from urban archaeological sites. Second, by focusing on the historical archaeology of the emergent middle class in Australia we will improve our understanding of the history of Australian society during a crucial period. Last, it will enrich the social and cultural histories of Australia through a deeper and closer integration of archaeological and written historical information.Read moreRead less
Spiritual and cross-cultural elements in contemporary Australian art. This project will benefit the Australian community through new research on Australian art as an arena for the expression of spirituality. Its exploration of the spiritual and cross-cultural aspects of seven outstanding contemporary Australian artists, especially in relation to Aboriginal Art and Asian Art, will provide a strong basis for further comparative research on the history of the relationship between art and spirituali ....Spiritual and cross-cultural elements in contemporary Australian art. This project will benefit the Australian community through new research on Australian art as an arena for the expression of spirituality. Its exploration of the spiritual and cross-cultural aspects of seven outstanding contemporary Australian artists, especially in relation to Aboriginal Art and Asian Art, will provide a strong basis for further comparative research on the history of the relationship between art and spirituality in contemporary Australian art. The resulting book and conference papers will make the fruits of this research widely known in the community.Read moreRead less
Mobilising Aboriginal objects: Indigenous history in international museums . The project aims to build knowledge about exceptional, but poorly-documented, Aboriginal objects from Sydney and NSW coast (c. 1770-1920s) in British and European museums. These objects have not been accessible to Aboriginal communities and other researchers. This project proposes a major innovation: to bring objects to Sydney for community-led and interdisciplinary interpretation. Outcomes will include strong relations ....Mobilising Aboriginal objects: Indigenous history in international museums . The project aims to build knowledge about exceptional, but poorly-documented, Aboriginal objects from Sydney and NSW coast (c. 1770-1920s) in British and European museums. These objects have not been accessible to Aboriginal communities and other researchers. This project proposes a major innovation: to bring objects to Sydney for community-led and interdisciplinary interpretation. Outcomes will include strong relations between Aboriginal communities and overseas museums; a model for collaborative research about historic objects; and a material history of Aboriginal/colonial relations. It benefits communities, governments and museums by laying robust foundations for future projects seeking the return of Indigenous cultural heritage.
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Profit and Loss: The commercial trade in Indigenous human remains. This project will be the first to investigate the global commercial trade in Indigenous human remains. It will employ a multi-disciplinary approach involving history, economic anthropology, economic history, and data science. The project will generate new knowledge about the 19th century global marketplace in Australian Indigenous human remains, and will reveal whether and how these are involved in the trade’s modern manifestati ....Profit and Loss: The commercial trade in Indigenous human remains. This project will be the first to investigate the global commercial trade in Indigenous human remains. It will employ a multi-disciplinary approach involving history, economic anthropology, economic history, and data science. The project will generate new knowledge about the 19th century global marketplace in Australian Indigenous human remains, and will reveal whether and how these are involved in the trade’s modern manifestations from 1950 to the present. The project will uncover an unknown history, assist repatriation practice, provide information to help reduce the modern trade, and contribute to truth-telling as a precondition of healing and reconciliation.Read moreRead less
The importance of the fictional character in literary theory and cultural practice. This project is a theoretical research project which aims to make significant and innovative contributions to research excellence in literature and the history of ideas. This research focuses on the fictional character, one of the central categories of literary theory. The benefits flowing from it will primarily be an enhanced understanding of the workings and the history of a category that informs every domain o ....The importance of the fictional character in literary theory and cultural practice. This project is a theoretical research project which aims to make significant and innovative contributions to research excellence in literature and the history of ideas. This research focuses on the fictional character, one of the central categories of literary theory. The benefits flowing from it will primarily be an enhanced understanding of the workings and the history of a category that informs every domain of cultural practice.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal enquiry into Chinese women graduates' post-study experience. This longitudinal study of female Chinese graduates of Australian universities will be the first to track how international education changes these women’s lives long-term. Through in-depth interviews with graduates in China and Australia, it aims to reveal the lasting benefits of an Australian education for our international graduates, providing significant insights for the recovery of Australian international education ....A longitudinal enquiry into Chinese women graduates' post-study experience. This longitudinal study of female Chinese graduates of Australian universities will be the first to track how international education changes these women’s lives long-term. Through in-depth interviews with graduates in China and Australia, it aims to reveal the lasting benefits of an Australian education for our international graduates, providing significant insights for the recovery of Australian international education in a post-COVID world. Further, the project expects to contribute to scholarly, public and government understandings of new Chinese migrants in Australia, provide new knowledge about cultural change in the middle classes of Asia’s largest and most powerful nation, and enhance Australia’s engagement with its region.Read moreRead less