Authenticity: Globalisation and Indigenous Culture. Who speaks for the Fourth World? Why is there an obsession with 'authenticity' whenever Indigenous people are being discussed? This study explores those questions by examining a combination of sources, ranging from international museum collections to the advertising campaigns of multinational companies; from literature to the cultural festivals of the Olympic Games. The research is original, comparative, empirical. It explores the intersectio ....Authenticity: Globalisation and Indigenous Culture. Who speaks for the Fourth World? Why is there an obsession with 'authenticity' whenever Indigenous people are being discussed? This study explores those questions by examining a combination of sources, ranging from international museum collections to the advertising campaigns of multinational companies; from literature to the cultural festivals of the Olympic Games. The research is original, comparative, empirical. It explores the intersections between postcolonial and cultural studies to speak -- not for Indigenous peoples -- but to the non-Indigenous representation of First Nations. Why? Because this provides key insights into the future of race relations in western democracies.Read moreRead less
Toddlers and tablets: exploring the risks and benefits 0-5s face online. Children aged between zero and five are experiencing an extraordinary shift in media consumption. They intuitively swipe screens and press buttons on tablet computers and smartphones, using apps and accessing the internet. With an estimated five-fold increase in their tablet usage (2012 to 2013), there is an urgent need for research and policy development to maximise benefit and minimise risk. This project is intended to in ....Toddlers and tablets: exploring the risks and benefits 0-5s face online. Children aged between zero and five are experiencing an extraordinary shift in media consumption. They intuitively swipe screens and press buttons on tablet computers and smartphones, using apps and accessing the internet. With an estimated five-fold increase in their tablet usage (2012 to 2013), there is an urgent need for research and policy development to maximise benefit and minimise risk. This project is intended to investigate family practices and attitudes around very young children's internet use in Australia and the United Kingdom, and is expected to contribute to public debate and evidence-based policy in Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. It aims to develop recommendations for policy makers and offers guidelines for parents of three age groups: zero to one, two to three and four to five.Read moreRead less
Wild Man from Borneo: species, race, representation. This project addresses the representation of species boundaries in Western accounts of the orangutan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Darwinian theory raised the possibility that animals could ?evolve?. Orangutans seemed ?closest? to humans and therefore raised key questions about the border between humans and animals. These questions were addressed in a vast range of scientific, popular, imaginative and juvenile literature. Even when ecolo ....Wild Man from Borneo: species, race, representation. This project addresses the representation of species boundaries in Western accounts of the orangutan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Darwinian theory raised the possibility that animals could ?evolve?. Orangutans seemed ?closest? to humans and therefore raised key questions about the border between humans and animals. These questions were addressed in a vast range of scientific, popular, imaginative and juvenile literature. Even when ecological models of the environment shifted attention from evolutionary potential to ecological role, orangutans retained a special status as ?sentinel? species. This project will produce a monograph examining the construction, maintenance and erosion of ideas of species boundaries.Read moreRead less
The importance of the fictional character in literary theory and cultural practice. This project is a theoretical research project which aims to make significant and innovative contributions to research excellence in literature and the history of ideas. This research focuses on the fictional character, one of the central categories of literary theory. The benefits flowing from it will primarily be an enhanced understanding of the workings and the history of a category that informs every domain o ....The importance of the fictional character in literary theory and cultural practice. This project is a theoretical research project which aims to make significant and innovative contributions to research excellence in literature and the history of ideas. This research focuses on the fictional character, one of the central categories of literary theory. The benefits flowing from it will primarily be an enhanced understanding of the workings and the history of a category that informs every domain of cultural practice.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal enquiry into Chinese women graduates' post-study experience. This longitudinal study of female Chinese graduates of Australian universities will be the first to track how international education changes these women’s lives long-term. Through in-depth interviews with graduates in China and Australia, it aims to reveal the lasting benefits of an Australian education for our international graduates, providing significant insights for the recovery of Australian international education ....A longitudinal enquiry into Chinese women graduates' post-study experience. This longitudinal study of female Chinese graduates of Australian universities will be the first to track how international education changes these women’s lives long-term. Through in-depth interviews with graduates in China and Australia, it aims to reveal the lasting benefits of an Australian education for our international graduates, providing significant insights for the recovery of Australian international education in a post-COVID world. Further, the project expects to contribute to scholarly, public and government understandings of new Chinese migrants in Australia, provide new knowledge about cultural change in the middle classes of Asia’s largest and most powerful nation, and enhance Australia’s engagement with its region.Read moreRead less
Mobile Indonesians: social differentiation and digital literacies in the twenty first century. This is the first dedicated study of the social implications of mobile telephony's recent and rapid popularisation throughout the country. This project will study metropolitan, urban and rural users to understand how mobile phones create the new and unexpected social networks which will shape tomorrow's Indonesians.
Domestic Subversions: maternalism and cross-cultural histories. This project will assist in the processes of reconciliation, by fostering a sense of a shared history, and increasing public awareness of the complexity of race relations histories in Australia. It will redress a significant gap in Australian knowledge and literature. Very little is known about the history of Aboriginal domestic workers and their relationships with their white employers in Australia, despite growing awareness of the ....Domestic Subversions: maternalism and cross-cultural histories. This project will assist in the processes of reconciliation, by fostering a sense of a shared history, and increasing public awareness of the complexity of race relations histories in Australia. It will redress a significant gap in Australian knowledge and literature. Very little is known about the history of Aboriginal domestic workers and their relationships with their white employers in Australia, despite growing awareness of the significance of domestic service in Aboriginal child removal policies. The project will also assist in establishing Australian historical scholarship at the forefront of leading international research initiatives in gender, race and colonialism studies. Read moreRead less
Affective Communities: Anti-Imperial Thought and the Politics of Friendship. This project is a study of five friendships between anti-imperial Europeans and South Asians at the turn of the nineteenth-century. Its aim is to offer a reading of anti-colonial politics as the product of numerous transnational collaborations, friendships and conversations between western and non-western dissidents. It will extend the theoretical paradigms of postcolonial studies by challenging orthodox understandings ....Affective Communities: Anti-Imperial Thought and the Politics of Friendship. This project is a study of five friendships between anti-imperial Europeans and South Asians at the turn of the nineteenth-century. Its aim is to offer a reading of anti-colonial politics as the product of numerous transnational collaborations, friendships and conversations between western and non-western dissidents. It will extend the theoretical paradigms of postcolonial studies by challenging orthodox understandings of the colonial encounter as a violent and antagonistic clash between western power and non-western dissidence. New information will also be brought to bear on the history of the Indo-European colonial encounter.Read moreRead less
Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives. This project aims to identify the links between the preparedness of individuals to pay for news, the value of news brands and organisational cultures of news publishers, and the social value of news in promoting a democratic public sphere. Its significance arises with the ongoing crisis of news media business models, which is raising new questions about the future of journalism, and the changing role of governments worl ....Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives. This project aims to identify the links between the preparedness of individuals to pay for news, the value of news brands and organisational cultures of news publishers, and the social value of news in promoting a democratic public sphere. Its significance arises with the ongoing crisis of news media business models, which is raising new questions about the future of journalism, and the changing role of governments worldwide in financing news production. Its expected outcomes include advancing debates about how to support public interest journalism, and the value of news as both a commodity and a public good. It will be of benefit to industry, policymakers and the community in addressing the prospects for Australian journalism. Read moreRead less
Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imaginati ....Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imagination, and bridging social, temporal and geographical distances between people. This research will strengthen the nation's social fabric by promoting inter-racial understanding, and by adding historical depth to present thinking about contemporary Aboriginal attitudes to literacy.Read moreRead less