Religious diversity in Australia: strategies to maintain social cohesion. This project aims to make Australia safer through identifying constructive responses to religious diversity as incidents of discrimination and violence on the basis of religion are escalating. Programs that respond to religious diversity in local institutions are key to preventing social dislocation and violence. This project will identify strategies for responding to religious diversity in the institutions of education, p ....Religious diversity in Australia: strategies to maintain social cohesion. This project aims to make Australia safer through identifying constructive responses to religious diversity as incidents of discrimination and violence on the basis of religion are escalating. Programs that respond to religious diversity in local institutions are key to preventing social dislocation and violence. This project will identify strategies for responding to religious diversity in the institutions of education, policing, migration, and in legislation. It will evaluate the outcomes of these strategies in terms of their contribution to social cohesion and the prevention of violence. Significant benefit to the communities and organisations include providing practical strategies they can immediately use to make Australia safer.Read moreRead less
Interreligious Relations between Muslims and People of other Faiths. Traditional Islamic law and theology developed a wide range of negative positions about people of other faiths. Based on extensive fieldwork, this project aims to understand how and to what extent prominent Muslim religious leaders are transforming these negative positions to positive ones today in Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Singapore. The project will lead to an evidence-based understanding of the potential for future ....Interreligious Relations between Muslims and People of other Faiths. Traditional Islamic law and theology developed a wide range of negative positions about people of other faiths. Based on extensive fieldwork, this project aims to understand how and to what extent prominent Muslim religious leaders are transforming these negative positions to positive ones today in Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Singapore. The project will lead to an evidence-based understanding of the potential for future interreligious harmony in these countries. Since positive interreligious relations are of domestic, regional and global concern for social cohesion and peace and security, the outcomes of this project will be of significant interest to both scholars and policymakers in Australia.Read moreRead less
Islamic Bureaucracies and Pious Publics in Turkey and Indonesia. This project aims to investigate state support for Islamic practices in two large, Muslim-majority nation states, Turkey and Indonesia. In these countries, massively-funded bureaucracies allocate state resources for pious practices that until recently were considered outside the national interest. Combining the skills of anthropologists of Islam as well as a public economist, this project will ask which Muslim actors and practices ....Islamic Bureaucracies and Pious Publics in Turkey and Indonesia. This project aims to investigate state support for Islamic practices in two large, Muslim-majority nation states, Turkey and Indonesia. In these countries, massively-funded bureaucracies allocate state resources for pious practices that until recently were considered outside the national interest. Combining the skills of anthropologists of Islam as well as a public economist, this project will ask which Muslim actors and practices receive and are denied these budgetary allocations. An outcome of the project will be to establish the role in governance of these compacts between Muslims and governments. The benefit is to gauge the prospects for moderate Islam in the two countries that are known as the foremost incubators of progressive Islam. Read moreRead less
Religious freedom, LGBT+ employees, and the right to discriminate. This research aims to identify constructive strategies to manage religious freedom and LGBT+ rights in religiously affiliated workplaces in education, health care, and social welfare. The project will carefully describe workplace experiences, religious beliefs, and current legislation associated with religious freedom and LGBT+ rights. It will evaluate different policies and managerial practices in terms of their impact on religi ....Religious freedom, LGBT+ employees, and the right to discriminate. This research aims to identify constructive strategies to manage religious freedom and LGBT+ rights in religiously affiliated workplaces in education, health care, and social welfare. The project will carefully describe workplace experiences, religious beliefs, and current legislation associated with religious freedom and LGBT+ rights. It will evaluate different policies and managerial practices in terms of their impact on religious practitioners and LGBT+ workers. The research combines systematic empirical research with legal and philosophical analysis. It will produce findings that policy makers and religiously affiliated social service providers can immediately use to guide their responses to religious freedom and LGBT+ rights.Read moreRead less
The memory of the Holocaust in Australia. This project aims to produce a cultural history of Holocaust memory in Australia. Contemporary appeals to the memory of the Holocaust in the Australian setting are typically understood to illuminate the injustice of other instances of racial persecution. This project aims to uncover this memory’s far more complex and politically potent history. Through detailed archival and cultural analysis of key moments in the development of Australian Holocaust memor ....The memory of the Holocaust in Australia. This project aims to produce a cultural history of Holocaust memory in Australia. Contemporary appeals to the memory of the Holocaust in the Australian setting are typically understood to illuminate the injustice of other instances of racial persecution. This project aims to uncover this memory’s far more complex and politically potent history. Through detailed archival and cultural analysis of key moments in the development of Australian Holocaust memory, this project will probe the various political and social ends to which this memory has been applied. The project expects to generate a deep and nuanced understanding of the role Holocaust memory has played in shaping some of our most important, and enduring, national conversations.Read moreRead less
A Buddhist Debate and Its Contemporary Relevance. The aim of this project is to engage with one of the central debates in Tibetan philosophy concerning truth, realism and epistemic justification. It plans to explore the implications of this debate for subsequent Tibetan thought and for contemporary Western analytic philosophy. The project plans to analyse previously unstudied texts and demonstrate the fecundity of a traditional method of collaborative cross-cultural philosophy today in which Tib ....A Buddhist Debate and Its Contemporary Relevance. The aim of this project is to engage with one of the central debates in Tibetan philosophy concerning truth, realism and epistemic justification. It plans to explore the implications of this debate for subsequent Tibetan thought and for contemporary Western analytic philosophy. The project plans to analyse previously unstudied texts and demonstrate the fecundity of a traditional method of collaborative cross-cultural philosophy today in which Tibetan and Western scholars work together to develop joint analyses. It may also demonstrate that the metaphysical and epistemological ideas and arguments developed in these debates can contribute to Western philosophy.Read moreRead less
Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations ....Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations and make available to anglophone scholars primary and secondary sources in various European languages and Chinese. The project will advance our understanding of the personal and textual networks through which the first substantial philosophical exchange was conducted between Europe and China.Read moreRead less
Faith in Development: Religion, Gender and Resource Extraction in PNG. Australia’s neighbour, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in PNG, is about to become the world's newest nation. The proposed reopening of a highly divisive copper mine to finance its independence raises pressing economic and political issues for Australia. Both in Bougainville and its diaspora in Australia, people are passionate about Bougainville's future. But what kind of development do they aspire to and why? This coll ....Faith in Development: Religion, Gender and Resource Extraction in PNG. Australia’s neighbour, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in PNG, is about to become the world's newest nation. The proposed reopening of a highly divisive copper mine to finance its independence raises pressing economic and political issues for Australia. Both in Bougainville and its diaspora in Australia, people are passionate about Bougainville's future. But what kind of development do they aspire to and why? This collaborative, interdisciplinary and multi-sited project aims to examine the neglected roles of religion and gender in shaping people's 'faith' in development. The expected outcomes will improve understanding of Bougainvillean notions of development, facilitating better frameworks for development practices and outcomes.Read moreRead less
Building India: Religion, craft and infrastructure in contemporary Asia. This project aims to show how Hinduism and the god Vishwakarma—literally, Maker of the Universe—frame and propel the infrastructural systems key to India’s rise as a 21st century economic powerhouse. The project will explore the unprecedented growth of Vishwakarma worship across India’s infrastructural and business enterprise sectors, and its role in mobilising a creative class of professionals. It will also investigate its ....Building India: Religion, craft and infrastructure in contemporary Asia. This project aims to show how Hinduism and the god Vishwakarma—literally, Maker of the Universe—frame and propel the infrastructural systems key to India’s rise as a 21st century economic powerhouse. The project will explore the unprecedented growth of Vishwakarma worship across India’s infrastructural and business enterprise sectors, and its role in mobilising a creative class of professionals. It will also investigate its role in instilling a spirit of craftsmanship among workers in Prime Minister Modi’s Make-in-India campaign. The project aims to deepen Australian understanding of Asian religion and economy as it seeks to navigate trade and investment opportunities in Asia.Read moreRead less
Liturgical texts and practices in the ancient world. This project aims to reconstruct the liturgical life of one of the most diverse and influential religious traditions across Eurasia, from Roman Egypt to early modern China: the Manichaeans. It investigates cultural adaptation, chronological development and unity of practice in a deeper manner that helps support the discipline of religious studies more generally. It expects to generate new knowledge through the critical editing of complex texts ....Liturgical texts and practices in the ancient world. This project aims to reconstruct the liturgical life of one of the most diverse and influential religious traditions across Eurasia, from Roman Egypt to early modern China: the Manichaeans. It investigates cultural adaptation, chronological development and unity of practice in a deeper manner that helps support the discipline of religious studies more generally. It expects to generate new knowledge through the critical editing of complex texts and the employment of emergent methodologies for an integrated, holistic understanding of community literatures in terms of lived religion. Expected outcomes are advances to methodology and the profiling of one aspect of the ancient world.Read moreRead less