New Electronic Archives for Australian Literature. Information capacity in Australian literary studies has been dramatically expanded by national investment in electronic archives, while trends in the discipline increasingly demand empirical support for claims about literary history and literary value. At the same time, research about Australian literature remains primarily theoretical, insufficiently informed by newly available data. This project aims to further enrich the new data sets, and to ....New Electronic Archives for Australian Literature. Information capacity in Australian literary studies has been dramatically expanded by national investment in electronic archives, while trends in the discipline increasingly demand empirical support for claims about literary history and literary value. At the same time, research about Australian literature remains primarily theoretical, insufficiently informed by newly available data. This project aims to further enrich the new data sets, and to use them in an innovative return to the classical issues in Australian literary criticism and history. It will provide demonstration applications of data in new electronic archives.Read moreRead less
Antarctic Imaginations: A Study of Creative Responses to the Continent for Science. Antarctica has for two centuries been the subject of numerous novels, poems and plays, both by writers who have never seen the continent, and by expeditioners and explorers themselves. Apart from a small number of canonical nineteenth-century texts, these representations of the continent have been subject to very little analysis. This project examines creative written responses to Antarctica, drawing on both publ ....Antarctic Imaginations: A Study of Creative Responses to the Continent for Science. Antarctica has for two centuries been the subject of numerous novels, poems and plays, both by writers who have never seen the continent, and by expeditioners and explorers themselves. Apart from a small number of canonical nineteenth-century texts, these representations of the continent have been subject to very little analysis. This project examines creative written responses to Antarctica, drawing on both published works and archival material, and focussing particularly on the cultural significance of Antarctica's construction as a ?continent for science?. Research outcomes will include innovative interdisciplinary contributions to Antarctic studies and English studies.Read moreRead less
Transnational Environmental Campaigns in the Australia-Asian Region. Conflict over environments, resources and landscapes has become a feature of contemporary political life. Increasingly, these conflicts are articulated, negotiated and potentially resolved across national boundaries and complex networks of media and communications. In the context of intensifying pressure for resource access, market opportunities and changing media practices in Australia and the Asian region, it is critical to e ....Transnational Environmental Campaigns in the Australia-Asian Region. Conflict over environments, resources and landscapes has become a feature of contemporary political life. Increasingly, these conflicts are articulated, negotiated and potentially resolved across national boundaries and complex networks of media and communications. In the context of intensifying pressure for resource access, market opportunities and changing media practices in Australia and the Asian region, it is critical to examine how competing environmental claims are mediated, and how this mediation influences public debate, policy and market viability. Providing evidence-based analysis of transnational conflicts as they emerge and travel, this project is expected to inform debate on Australia's environmental and economic sustainability.Read moreRead less
A study of travel writing in Australian colonial history. Travel writing is a key mechanism by which readers learn about other peoples and cultures, a genre that is crucial to the formation of identities, ideologies, and ideas. Australian travel writing provided foundational texts for those emigrating to the colony. This project positions Australian texts within an international comparative sphere. It will advance the understanding of colonial culture in Australia, and of the perceptions and val ....A study of travel writing in Australian colonial history. Travel writing is a key mechanism by which readers learn about other peoples and cultures, a genre that is crucial to the formation of identities, ideologies, and ideas. Australian travel writing provided foundational texts for those emigrating to the colony. This project positions Australian texts within an international comparative sphere. It will advance the understanding of colonial culture in Australia, and of the perceptions and values of those who settled colonial Australia. It will make available to Australian and international students and researchers a rich archive of texts that have not been previously mapped. Australians are keenly interested in travel and its literature, and this project brings colonial travel texts to public attention.Read moreRead less
Travelling Home: A Study of Walkabout, Australia's Geographic Magazine (1934-74). Walkabout was one of mid-twentieth century's most popular magazines with a focus on inland Australia, as well as the Pacific region. It graced suburban lounge rooms, doctors' and dentists' surgeries, railway waiting rooms, ministerial offices, and school libraries. Walkabout's mixture of entertainment and education ensured its influence across a spectrum of readers: across age, class, and educational boundaries. Th ....Travelling Home: A Study of Walkabout, Australia's Geographic Magazine (1934-74). Walkabout was one of mid-twentieth century's most popular magazines with a focus on inland Australia, as well as the Pacific region. It graced suburban lounge rooms, doctors' and dentists' surgeries, railway waiting rooms, ministerial offices, and school libraries. Walkabout's mixture of entertainment and education ensured its influence across a spectrum of readers: across age, class, and educational boundaries. This project explores the role of Walkabout in the development of a modern national identity. Walkabout deliberately cultivated one of Australia's key modern economic foundations-the travel industry-and did so whilst also influencing knowledge formation and circulation. Read moreRead less
Democratization and conflict management in Eastern Indonesia. The proposed project directly addresses the priority goal of understanding our region and the world to safeguard Australia. Indonesia is not only Australia's closest northern neighbour and the world's most populous Muslim nation, but also the third-largest democracy and the strategically most important country in Southeast Asia. The project will greatly enhance our understanding of some of the least known areas of Indonesia and is int ....Democratization and conflict management in Eastern Indonesia. The proposed project directly addresses the priority goal of understanding our region and the world to safeguard Australia. Indonesia is not only Australia's closest northern neighbour and the world's most populous Muslim nation, but also the third-largest democracy and the strategically most important country in Southeast Asia. The project will greatly enhance our understanding of some of the least known areas of Indonesia and is intended to prescribe concrete recommendations for the Australian government and aid organizations to assist them in their endeavours to promote democratization and help prevent and/or resolve communal conflict.Read moreRead less
The Laboratory of Modernity: Knowledge Formation and the Australian Settler Colonies (1788-1900). Colonial Australia was a laboratory in which European ideas could be tested, raw data collected, and social experiments trialled, especially in managing settler, convict, and Aboriginal populations. This literary historical project will analyse the production and circulation of colonial knowledge, by focusing on texts and print culture, and will map their influence on European thought and modern soc ....The Laboratory of Modernity: Knowledge Formation and the Australian Settler Colonies (1788-1900). Colonial Australia was a laboratory in which European ideas could be tested, raw data collected, and social experiments trialled, especially in managing settler, convict, and Aboriginal populations. This literary historical project will analyse the production and circulation of colonial knowledge, by focusing on texts and print culture, and will map their influence on European thought and modern social theory. Grounded in meticulous archival and textual analysis, this project will trace the ways in which knowledge created in the settler colonies was produced by individuals and circulated by correspondence, institutions, and publication through imperial networks. This project will produce new insights into Australia’s literary and cultural history.Read moreRead less
Female Convicts as Women Travellers: an investigation into how the itineraries of convict experience affected life narratives. For convict women sent to Australia, ?transportation? meant international travel. By mapping the convicts as travellers, this project will afford a new perspective on women whose convict itineraries radically affected the direction of their lives. Alert to the specifics of time and place, the project investigates the carceral and non-carceral experiences of women whose s ....Female Convicts as Women Travellers: an investigation into how the itineraries of convict experience affected life narratives. For convict women sent to Australia, ?transportation? meant international travel. By mapping the convicts as travellers, this project will afford a new perspective on women whose convict itineraries radically affected the direction of their lives. Alert to the specifics of time and place, the project investigates the carceral and non-carceral experiences of women whose shared voyage as convicts was neither the beginning nor the end of their travels. The research involves a systematic cluster sampling of three ships which sailed to Van Diemen's Land while transportation was at its height: the Harmony (1829), Atwick (1838), and Elizabeth and Henry (1847). Read moreRead less
Creatures of the Ice: A Cultural Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Antarctica. Perceptions of animals in the world's largest wilderness, Antarctica, have changed dramatically over history: once seen primarily as commercial resources, whales, seals and penguins are now environmental icons. As few people ever travel to Antarctica, their views of its animals are usually dependent on written and visual texts. Combining expertise in the humanities and sciences, this project examines the ways in w ....Creatures of the Ice: A Cultural Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Antarctica. Perceptions of animals in the world's largest wilderness, Antarctica, have changed dramatically over history: once seen primarily as commercial resources, whales, seals and penguins are now environmental icons. As few people ever travel to Antarctica, their views of its animals are usually dependent on written and visual texts. Combining expertise in the humanities and sciences, this project examines the ways in which humans have narrated their encounters with animals in Antarctica over the last two centuries. Australia is custodian of forty-two percent of Antarctica; this project provides a cultural context through which to understand current attitudes towards its fragile ecosystems.Read moreRead less
De-tabooing depression and anxiety: Mental health communication in old age. This project aims to uncover how older Australians talk about and understand depression and anxiety, and it seeks to raise awareness of these debilitating conditions via new media. There has been much medical research in this area, and while language has been identified as highly relevant for recovery, little is known of how people express their experiences around mental well-being. The research gap is even wider for the ....De-tabooing depression and anxiety: Mental health communication in old age. This project aims to uncover how older Australians talk about and understand depression and anxiety, and it seeks to raise awareness of these debilitating conditions via new media. There has been much medical research in this area, and while language has been identified as highly relevant for recovery, little is known of how people express their experiences around mental well-being. The research gap is even wider for the worst affected in the population — older adults. These illnesses are shrouded in taboo, and symptoms often go undetected. The expected outcomes of the project are improved communication about mental well-being and the celebration of the lives and stories of older Australians — an integral but vulnerable segment of society.Read moreRead less