Reading the Social Future of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. This project investigates how and if the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) is building social capital. It does this by interrogating existing practices and operations at the ARCBS and by surveying donors and non-donors. This project aims to develop a Deleuzian critique of the notion of social capital.
Regimes of reading. The project analyses the ways in which reading and interpretation have been socially organised across a range of cultures, from ancient Rome to the contemporary world of virtual reality. It focuses in particular on conflict between different practices of reading in order to highlight the cultural assumptions underlying the uses of texts.
Towards an integrated evaluation framework for intrinsic and instrumental benefits of community-based arts. Australia is recognised as a world leader in community-based arts, in which artists and communities collaborate to identify and effect key local issues. Increasingly, these community-based arts projects involve funding from non-arts agencies; for example from the health, justice or urban development sectors. However, existing methods of describing and evaluating their success are generally ....Towards an integrated evaluation framework for intrinsic and instrumental benefits of community-based arts. Australia is recognised as a world leader in community-based arts, in which artists and communities collaborate to identify and effect key local issues. Increasingly, these community-based arts projects involve funding from non-arts agencies; for example from the health, justice or urban development sectors. However, existing methods of describing and evaluating their success are generally ineffective. This research will develop more holistic modes of evaluation, offering benefits to the participants, artists and funders of community-based arts and provide support towards further cross-sector collaborations across all public policy areas, further strengthening Australia's reputation as a leader in fostering active and culturally rich communities.Read moreRead less
Avatars and Identities. The avatar, a virtual representation of its user, is the key element of interface technology for everyday computer use in the twenty-first century. While specialist aspects of the avatar have received intensive attention from the technology industries and scholars, the focus of the work to date has been on the technical efficiency of the interface, rather than understanding the full social implications of its use. Through a historical, ethnographic and critical analysis o ....Avatars and Identities. The avatar, a virtual representation of its user, is the key element of interface technology for everyday computer use in the twenty-first century. While specialist aspects of the avatar have received intensive attention from the technology industries and scholars, the focus of the work to date has been on the technical efficiency of the interface, rather than understanding the full social implications of its use. Through a historical, ethnographic and critical analysis of the role of the avatar, in consultation with industry, this project offers a unique opportunity to develop a wider perspective that will contribute to an understanding of the uses and policies for the digital economy.Read moreRead less
Speed, Time and the Political Process in Australia. The project represents the first empirically-based study to research the traditional processes of political decision-making from the perspective of time and speed in the context of economic globalisation and the networked society. A clearer understanding of how political processes function in a globally-networked setting will provide valuable insight into how well the fundamental, politically grounded, aspects of Australian life and culture are ....Speed, Time and the Political Process in Australia. The project represents the first empirically-based study to research the traditional processes of political decision-making from the perspective of time and speed in the context of economic globalisation and the networked society. A clearer understanding of how political processes function in a globally-networked setting will provide valuable insight into how well the fundamental, politically grounded, aspects of Australian life and culture are functioning. This unique perspective will form the basis of an incisive method of applying 'time-awareness' not only to the political process, but to the many national/community sectors across Australian society that depend upon responsible and effective decision-making practices.Read moreRead less
After the apocalypse: the mediasphere, global crisis and violent ecologies. This project examines the ways in which the media shapes our thinking and practices around crisis. The study focuses particularly on the evolution of a 'crisis consciousness' and the ways in which human desires are implicated in the cultural politics of violence. The study focuses specifically on Australia's participation in post-9/11 conflicts.
Optimising Volunteer Management Strategy at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Victoria). This project reconceptualises volunteering as a ?cultural practice? (de Certeau 1984) to enable the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) to optimise its volunteer management through an enhanced understanding of who its volunteers are and why they volunteer for the ?blood bank?. Its operating premise is that knowing one's volunteer workforce is essential to their effective management. It builds on ....Optimising Volunteer Management Strategy at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Victoria). This project reconceptualises volunteering as a ?cultural practice? (de Certeau 1984) to enable the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) to optimise its volunteer management through an enhanced understanding of who its volunteers are and why they volunteer for the ?blood bank?. Its operating premise is that knowing one's volunteer workforce is essential to their effective management. It builds on the platform of volunteer studies established by social research and extends it via a critical reconsideration of the work of Michel de Certeau.Read moreRead less
Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project wi ....Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project will at once disseminate and preserve (for scholars and the general public alike) the legacy of those critical intellectuals who have striven to understand the nation's most popular art and entertainment form, the cinema. Read moreRead less
Minds, Bodies, Machines: a cultural and intellectual history of technologies in the 21st century. This project benefits the intellectual and cultural life of the nation by establishing a unique dialogue between the I.T. community and University researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Using an
interdisciplinary methodology to explore technologically-driven social change across a period of more than two hundred years, the project will generate new and fresh ways of thinking about emerg ....Minds, Bodies, Machines: a cultural and intellectual history of technologies in the 21st century. This project benefits the intellectual and cultural life of the nation by establishing a unique dialogue between the I.T. community and University researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Using an
interdisciplinary methodology to explore technologically-driven social change across a period of more than two hundred years, the project will generate new and fresh ways of thinking about emerging areas of intense debate and controversy, such as humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence. The dialogue we propose will foster an environment of enhanced innovation, one in which knowledge translates directly and indirectly into social and economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Digital dissent in the People's Republic: the language of protest and criticism in Sino-cyberspace. As Australia's relations with China continue to deepen, it is vital for Australia to acquire in-depth knowledge of how rapidly China is changing as a consequence of digital information flows. The project provides that knowledge through its analysis of digital dissent. The project explores how non-state players in the People's Republic respond and react to urgent problems in their midst. It will ....Digital dissent in the People's Republic: the language of protest and criticism in Sino-cyberspace. As Australia's relations with China continue to deepen, it is vital for Australia to acquire in-depth knowledge of how rapidly China is changing as a consequence of digital information flows. The project provides that knowledge through its analysis of digital dissent. The project explores how non-state players in the People's Republic respond and react to urgent problems in their midst. It will also shed light on present-day tensions in China between state and civil society. More specifically, the project will deepen Australia's critical engagement with China by focussing on such issues of consequence as censorship, corruption, environmental pollution, governance reform and calls for democracy and human rights.Read moreRead less