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
The Other Within: Visual Culture through Indigenous, tribal, minority,"subaltern" and multicultural displays in Asia-Pacific museums today. The reseach project will analyse and assess current practice and developing modes of museum representation and inclusion in the changing societies of the Asia-Pacific. Comparative research will be undertaken into Indigenous, tribal, minority, 'subaltern' and multicultural displays in eight museums and four cultural festivals. The research will focus on the ....The Other Within: Visual Culture through Indigenous, tribal, minority,"subaltern" and multicultural displays in Asia-Pacific museums today. The reseach project will analyse and assess current practice and developing modes of museum representation and inclusion in the changing societies of the Asia-Pacific. Comparative research will be undertaken into Indigenous, tribal, minority, 'subaltern' and multicultural displays in eight museums and four cultural festivals. The research will focus on the Industry Partner, the National Museum of Australia. It will develop a model for a non-Eurocentric approach. It will have practical outcomes for all the Investigators in consolidating networks, and producing colloquia, exhibitions, publications and a multimedia presentation.Read moreRead less
Social Memory and Historical Justice: How Democratic Societies Remember and Forget the Victimisation of Minorities in the Past. We will analyse how the victimisation of minorities is publicly and collectively remembered in a range of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the Ukraine, Austria, Germany, Peru, Chile and the USA. We will identify key factors that enable democratic societies to work towards historical justice. By exploring how memories are contested and how communities ....Social Memory and Historical Justice: How Democratic Societies Remember and Forget the Victimisation of Minorities in the Past. We will analyse how the victimisation of minorities is publicly and collectively remembered in a range of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the Ukraine, Austria, Germany, Peru, Chile and the USA. We will identify key factors that enable democratic societies to work towards historical justice. By exploring how memories are contested and how communities actively negotiate the legacies of the past, we will address issues of crucial contemporary concern. The project will provide research training and international experience for a postdoctoral fellow and three doctoral students in an area at the cutting edge of the humanities and social sciences.Read moreRead less
From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. China's continuous and rapid economic upsurge means it will play an increasingly greater role globally but its influence in our region will even be greater. Understanding China is imperative for Australia, which can only be achieved through understanding the core Chinese social and cultural values. It is vital for Australian policy-makers to know how cultural identification within China functions and h ....From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. China's continuous and rapid economic upsurge means it will play an increasingly greater role globally but its influence in our region will even be greater. Understanding China is imperative for Australia, which can only be achieved through understanding the core Chinese social and cultural values. It is vital for Australian policy-makers to know how cultural identification within China functions and how the Chinese government uses culture (among other means) to hold the vastly different regions together. Cultural understanding demands an appreciation of literature, the importance of which in Chinese cultural life is often underestimated outside China.Read moreRead less
From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. The project investigates the creation, reception and significance of competing national myths in Chinese nativist fiction. It explores the paradox that nativist writers, on the one hand, are committed to the abstract idea of a single Chinese nation, while, on the other hand, they aspire to create distinctive local cultural identities. Why do regional literatures compete in identifying with the cultural ....From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. The project investigates the creation, reception and significance of competing national myths in Chinese nativist fiction. It explores the paradox that nativist writers, on the one hand, are committed to the abstract idea of a single Chinese nation, while, on the other hand, they aspire to create distinctive local cultural identities. Why do regional literatures compete in identifying with the cultural centre? How do different local tales represent the regional and the national? By answering these questions, this project will expand Chinese regional studies into the literary sphere and contribute to the theoretical understanding of Chinese cultural nationalism.Read moreRead less
Imagining Assimilation. The Australian Experience. The project will produce the first comprehensive cultural history of assimilation in Australia, with explanations of how this experience differed from other settler societies. This study is central to our understanding of Australia as a nation and to national development. Drawing on the concept of the 'social imaginary', the project will generate new readings of assimilation linked to broader issues in public debate. Sources will include officia ....Imagining Assimilation. The Australian Experience. The project will produce the first comprehensive cultural history of assimilation in Australia, with explanations of how this experience differed from other settler societies. This study is central to our understanding of Australia as a nation and to national development. Drawing on the concept of the 'social imaginary', the project will generate new readings of assimilation linked to broader issues in public debate. Sources will include official publications and works from the media, the arts and popular culture. Expected outcomes include a monograph, two articles, and a museum exhibition brief.Read moreRead less
Contact zones: activism, art and media in Italy, 1994-2006. This project will generate knowledge about recent activism, social change and contemporary art practices in Italy; it will add to Australia's international reputation as a centre of research on contemporary Italy; it will assist in facilitating cultural relations between Australia and Italy as already established in cultural and scientific bilateral agreements.
Autobiographical Avatars: testimony and emerging technologies of life narrative. Australian research has led to new ways of thinking about the ethical, social and political work of these autobiographical genres. This project builds on a national reputation for excellence in this scholarly field, and it promotes writing across the fields of literary studies, and creative and professional writing which are areas of particular strength at the institutional location of this project. Some case stud ....Autobiographical Avatars: testimony and emerging technologies of life narrative. Australian research has led to new ways of thinking about the ethical, social and political work of these autobiographical genres. This project builds on a national reputation for excellence in this scholarly field, and it promotes writing across the fields of literary studies, and creative and professional writing which are areas of particular strength at the institutional location of this project. Some case studies selected for this project involve people, nations and polities with which the Australian government is engaged in long-term diplomatic, political and military engagements - Iraq and Afghanistan, for example.Read moreRead less
Globalizing Indigeneity: Indigenous Cultural Festivals and Wellbeing in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Indigenous communities in Australia (and elsewhere) suffer from extreme disadvantage. Northern Australia and many other places in the region, face a demographic time-bomb of alienated, self-destructive and culturally-disoriented youth. This manifests as violence in places like Wadeye, Palm Island and Port Moresby. Cultural festivals are one of the few consistently positive spaces for indigenou ....Globalizing Indigeneity: Indigenous Cultural Festivals and Wellbeing in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Indigenous communities in Australia (and elsewhere) suffer from extreme disadvantage. Northern Australia and many other places in the region, face a demographic time-bomb of alienated, self-destructive and culturally-disoriented youth. This manifests as violence in places like Wadeye, Palm Island and Port Moresby. Cultural festivals are one of the few consistently positive spaces for indigenous communities to assert a more constructive view of themselves both intergenerationally, and as part of their struggle for respect as distinct cultures in the broader national community. Cultural festivals also provide a rare space for novel intercultural accommodations to be negotiated on indigenous terrain.Read moreRead less
Women's NGOs, the United Nations and expanding civil society: a feminist critique, with reference to four UN member countries. Feminist non-governmental organisations have placed women's human rights concerns on the international agenda, but they are also increasingly expected to tailor themselves both to international bureaucracy and a domestic political role by becoming primary providers of what has become known as "social capital". Human rights remain important for women, but new strategies ....Women's NGOs, the United Nations and expanding civil society: a feminist critique, with reference to four UN member countries. Feminist non-governmental organisations have placed women's human rights concerns on the international agenda, but they are also increasingly expected to tailor themselves both to international bureaucracy and a domestic political role by becoming primary providers of what has become known as "social capital". Human rights remain important for women, but new strategies are needed to ensure government accountability for transforming the rhetoric of women's rights into reality. This project will examine these issues as faced by feminist NGOs in Australia, France, Pakistan and Haïti, to identify issues in common and suggest strategies for furthering the international feminist human rights project.Read moreRead less