Germany in China: Colonial Interactions, Qingdao 1897-1914. The project will assist in increasing Australia's knowledge base about both colonialism in general and social change in China; to add to Australia's international reputation as a major center of research on China; and to provide additional information on local development in Qingdao, a major growth area in East China, that assists those engaged in government and business relations.
ARC Research Network for Early European Research. The Network offers a dynamic resource for enhancing Australian research into the culture and history of Europe between the fifth and nineteenth centuries. Through a programme of dedicated conferences and symposia, new digital resources, publications, and specialist postgraduate mentoring, Network management will mobilise existing strengths to build up national and international research partnerships in key emerging areas of scholarly enquiry. The ....ARC Research Network for Early European Research. The Network offers a dynamic resource for enhancing Australian research into the culture and history of Europe between the fifth and nineteenth centuries. Through a programme of dedicated conferences and symposia, new digital resources, publications, and specialist postgraduate mentoring, Network management will mobilise existing strengths to build up national and international research partnerships in key emerging areas of scholarly enquiry. The Network will coordinate large-scale cross-disciplinary investigations, strengthen links with cultural heritage institutions and organizations, and nurture the next generation of researchers. It will make innovative use of digital infrastructure to manage communication and to disseminate results.Read moreRead less
Mapping the Latin Enlightenment: Centres and Peripheries. An Australian will lead an international team to reclaim the massive but neglected Latin-language culture of 18th-C Europe, restoring 'lost' authors influential in their day and assessing the contribution of Latin literary and scientific networks to Enlightenment culture. Our national conversation on the Enlightenment will expand from a near-exclusive focus on France and England to Italy and the Netherlands, countries of historical import ....Mapping the Latin Enlightenment: Centres and Peripheries. An Australian will lead an international team to reclaim the massive but neglected Latin-language culture of 18th-C Europe, restoring 'lost' authors influential in their day and assessing the contribution of Latin literary and scientific networks to Enlightenment culture. Our national conversation on the Enlightenment will expand from a near-exclusive focus on France and England to Italy and the Netherlands, countries of historical importance to Australia and our region. The project will further enhance Australia's high reputation in Italian literature studies, setting a new direction in the field by tracking the influence of Latin humanism beyond the Renaissance. Outcomes include a monograph, critical anthologies, and research training.Read moreRead less
Province, Nation, Empire: France, 1871-1940. This project will deepen understanding of structures of political, strategic and economic power by providing insight into the dynamics of regionalist, nationalist and internationalist ideologies through study of the world's second largest overseas empire. It examines the role of non-state initiatives and pressures, while also investigating the colonial origins of contemporary globalisation. It will shed light, in particular, on the post-colonial heri ....Province, Nation, Empire: France, 1871-1940. This project will deepen understanding of structures of political, strategic and economic power by providing insight into the dynamics of regionalist, nationalist and internationalist ideologies through study of the world's second largest overseas empire. It examines the role of non-state initiatives and pressures, while also investigating the colonial origins of contemporary globalisation. It will shed light, in particular, on the post-colonial heritage of actions in countries of the Asia-Pacific region that were French colonies or that remain French overseas outposts.Read moreRead less
Subversion and Dissent in the Third Reich. Through the new approach of analysing records of Germans put on trial by the Nazi regime for the crime of "subversion," for which an estimated 60,000 Germans were prosecuted, I will gain access to a hitherto neglected current of popular dissent and discontent within the Third Reich. My project will challenge the conventional view that German society in the Third Reich was overwhelmingly consensual, apart from a miniscule group of anti-Nazi resisters. Th ....Subversion and Dissent in the Third Reich. Through the new approach of analysing records of Germans put on trial by the Nazi regime for the crime of "subversion," for which an estimated 60,000 Germans were prosecuted, I will gain access to a hitherto neglected current of popular dissent and discontent within the Third Reich. My project will challenge the conventional view that German society in the Third Reich was overwhelmingly consensual, apart from a miniscule group of anti-Nazi resisters. The outcome will be a more nuanced, complex picture of German society revealing that many Germans exhibited an amibivalent mix of consensus and dissent toward the Nazi regime.Read moreRead less
The growth of toleration in a cosmopolitan society: Protestants in eighteenth-century Paris. In an international context in which religious conflict appears to be increasing, and an Australia where religious diversity is growing, understanding the historical and cultural roots of toleration is vital. This project will reinforce Australia's reputation for innovative and independent work in French and urban history, both areas where Australian scholars are well known internationally.
'Ordinary Writings': lower-class writing practices in the transition to mass literacy in Europe, 1800-1918. This project contributes to public debate on literacy and literacy standards. Its historical perspective offers an antidote to conventional wisdom. It will show that there is no clear separation between literacy and illiteracy, that levels of literary competence vary according to specific occasions and specific tasks, and that schooling is not necessary for literacy acquisition. It will he ....'Ordinary Writings': lower-class writing practices in the transition to mass literacy in Europe, 1800-1918. This project contributes to public debate on literacy and literacy standards. Its historical perspective offers an antidote to conventional wisdom. It will show that there is no clear separation between literacy and illiteracy, that levels of literary competence vary according to specific occasions and specific tasks, and that schooling is not necessary for literacy acquisition. It will help put Australian research in the international forefront of cultural history. It will show that written heritage deserves full recognition in all its aspects, not just as the expression of educated elites. This aspect of our written patrimony needs re-evaluation, and we need to improve preservation of it and accessibility to it.Read moreRead less
Women, War and the Stalinist State, 1941-45. This project will produce a sociocultural analysis of the experiences of Soviet women soldiers in the Second World War. It will address three pivotal questions:
Why did women assume wartime roles that challenged official representations of Soviet women?
What did the phenomenon of female fighters say about relations between women, men and the Soviet state in the 1930s-40s?
What light does this phenomenon shed on the paradox of massive mobilisation ....Women, War and the Stalinist State, 1941-45. This project will produce a sociocultural analysis of the experiences of Soviet women soldiers in the Second World War. It will address three pivotal questions:
Why did women assume wartime roles that challenged official representations of Soviet women?
What did the phenomenon of female fighters say about relations between women, men and the Soviet state in the 1930s-40s?
What light does this phenomenon shed on the paradox of massive mobilisation in defence of a repressive state?
Expected outcomes include a significant conceptual advance in the historiography of women under Stalinism, to be published in a scholarly monograph and refereed journals.
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Confraternities and religious culture(s) in Enlightenment Paris. Understanding how religious culture interacts with economic and social change is important in a world where such change presents huge challenges, which is one reason why religious history is undergoing a revival in Australia and internationally. This project will expand this area of research, and in doing so will also reinforce Australia's outstanding international reputation for innovative and independent work in French, urban, an ....Confraternities and religious culture(s) in Enlightenment Paris. Understanding how religious culture interacts with economic and social change is important in a world where such change presents huge challenges, which is one reason why religious history is undergoing a revival in Australia and internationally. This project will expand this area of research, and in doing so will also reinforce Australia's outstanding international reputation for innovative and independent work in French, urban, and religious history.Read moreRead less
Beyond the Madonna Painter: reassessing the life, works, and reception of Giovanni Bellini. I aim to write a critical cultural history of Venetian art in Giovanni Bellini's lifetime (1433 to 1516), focussing upon Bellini's intellectual position. In the most recent decade archival discoveries, containing new revelations about Bellini's patrons, his intellectual friendships with learned humanists, his probable illegitimacy, his certain homosexuality and his painting techniques, prompt a new invest ....Beyond the Madonna Painter: reassessing the life, works, and reception of Giovanni Bellini. I aim to write a critical cultural history of Venetian art in Giovanni Bellini's lifetime (1433 to 1516), focussing upon Bellini's intellectual position. In the most recent decade archival discoveries, containing new revelations about Bellini's patrons, his intellectual friendships with learned humanists, his probable illegitimacy, his certain homosexuality and his painting techniques, prompt a new investigation of how biography has infused representation in art. Multiple outcomes include a book, with the same title, and an exhibition at the National Gallery, Washington, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna in 2005-2006, where Bellini's oeuvre will be seen in context.Read moreRead less