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The Rise of Decline in the Later Roman Empire. This project aims to examine the evidence for the decline of the Western Roman Empire. For over two centuries, historians have debated whether the Western Roman Empire was in decline prior to its political disintegration in the 5th century AD. This project takes a new approach by rejecting the notion that Late Roman decline can be empirically quantified. Instead, through the examination of historical, administrative, religious and literary texts it ....The Rise of Decline in the Later Roman Empire. This project aims to examine the evidence for the decline of the Western Roman Empire. For over two centuries, historians have debated whether the Western Roman Empire was in decline prior to its political disintegration in the 5th century AD. This project takes a new approach by rejecting the notion that Late Roman decline can be empirically quantified. Instead, through the examination of historical, administrative, religious and literary texts it will explore why the Late Roman elite often chose to present their own period as an age of decline. This project aims to test the hypothesis that references to economic, political and moral decline were often the result of fissures within Late Roman society prompted by radical structural reorganisation by a centralising imperial government and a newly empowered Christian Church.Read moreRead less
Slavery in British Guiana in the Age of Abolition, 1804-1834. British Guiana became the most important slave colony in the British Empire following the abolition of the slave trade. Its history and the experience of the slaves who made up the majority of its population is the focus of this project, designed so that rich archival sources will be used to enable slaves to speak directly about their experience. This project is expected to illuminate the character of slavery and slave resistance in a ....Slavery in British Guiana in the Age of Abolition, 1804-1834. British Guiana became the most important slave colony in the British Empire following the abolition of the slave trade. Its history and the experience of the slaves who made up the majority of its population is the focus of this project, designed so that rich archival sources will be used to enable slaves to speak directly about their experience. This project is expected to illuminate the character of slavery and slave resistance in an especially profitable but harsh slave society in a late period of slavery. It is intended to explore the alternative kinds of colonisation that were possible in the early nineteenth-century British Empire, to deepen our understanding of slave management in plantation societies and to contribute to the historical analysis of race and slavery.Read moreRead less
Islam, Europe and modernity: the French Revolution and the Muslim world, 1789-1799. This project challenges ideas about radical differences between Islam and the West by returning to the historical roots of the modern world. It shows that Muslims too had a share in the global experience of the French Revolution, by drawing on new historical evidence from archives in France, Europe and the Arab world.
Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its gi ....Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its girls were enslaved in the civil war, this project could offer insight into defences against slavery, and the slave trade’s legacies. This could inform the fight against human trafficking today and Australia’s response to trafficking.Read moreRead less
Personal liberty, British identity and surveillance in the antipodes, 1780s - 1830s. By studying surveillance in colonial Australia and South Africa, this project will come to a new understanding of what defined British liberty. It will demonstrate that our country's history lies at the centre of one of the most pressing questions of our time-how far do concepts of freedom remain tied to national and cultural particularity?
Dispossession and colonization, 1780-1820. Massacre and colonization is an extremely topical project given the increasing public discussions around race relations, and how those interactions have helped shape our identity. This project will advance the ongoing debate by exploring the nature of Indigenous dispossession in the world. It will also aid in the process of national reconciliation.
Empires of honour: violence and virtue in colonial societies, 1750-1850. The moral sentiments and moral practices of any society depend on how that society understands honour. This project will show how different concepts of honour clashed or were recreated through global movements of people in the age of empire, and investigate the enduring effects of such contests in the colonial societies of the India-Pacific region.
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
The South East Barito languages of Indonesia and Madagascar: safeguarding their past and future. This project strengthens Australia's position as the pre-eminent Anglophone centre of Indonesian Studies worldwide and enhances its position as a research leader in Indian Ocean studies. It will build links between scholars in Australia, Indonesia, Europe and Madagascar, and its results will feed into Indonesian studies teaching programs.
Acheulian to Middle Stone Age transition at Amanzi Springs, South Africa. This project aims to excavate and date the Amanzi Springs archaeological complex. From 600 to 300,000 years ago, Acheulian stone tool technology, defined by large generalised cutting tools, changed to a Middle Stone Age industry dominated by smaller, specialised technology (points/blades). This transition is poorly defined throughout Africa due to lack of layered archaeological sites at high resolution that can be dated. T ....Acheulian to Middle Stone Age transition at Amanzi Springs, South Africa. This project aims to excavate and date the Amanzi Springs archaeological complex. From 600 to 300,000 years ago, Acheulian stone tool technology, defined by large generalised cutting tools, changed to a Middle Stone Age industry dominated by smaller, specialised technology (points/blades). This transition is poorly defined throughout Africa due to lack of layered archaeological sites at high resolution that can be dated. The project will provide a detailed record of changes in technology across the Early to Middle Stone Age transition. The project could increase our understanding of the climatological, ecological and biological processes that shaped our shared ancestry.Read moreRead less