Beyond Empire: Transnational religious networks and liberal cosmopolitanisms. This project aims to study religion as a dimension of international affairs between 1860 and 1950. It will examine the contribution of faith-based activity, networking and thought to global governance and peace building institutionalised in the United Nations, universal human rights and humanitarianism that shaped the second half of the twentieth century. The project will explore the emergence of these faith-based cosm ....Beyond Empire: Transnational religious networks and liberal cosmopolitanisms. This project aims to study religion as a dimension of international affairs between 1860 and 1950. It will examine the contribution of faith-based activity, networking and thought to global governance and peace building institutionalised in the United Nations, universal human rights and humanitarianism that shaped the second half of the twentieth century. The project will explore the emergence of these faith-based cosmopolitanisms at the interstices of multi-faith, multi-cultural and multi-racial webs of connection and their significance for Australian, regional and global history. This could show how secular and inter-faith activisms can produce cosmopolitan visions of practical co-existence.Read moreRead less
The Ateliers of Angkor: sculpture workshops of an empire (Cambodia, 9th to 13th centuries CE). Australia is dedicated to building the capacity of developing countries to look after their World Heritage sites. The collaboration of Australian, Cambodian and international researchers will expand these relationships and help to preserve Angkor's World Heritage value by revealing the work-sites where the world-famous sculptures were created.
Urbanism after Angkor (14th-18th century). This project aims to understand changes after the breakdown of low-density urbanism in Cambodia. Recognising the emergence of urban forms after the demise of Angkor challenges the global “Collapse of Civilisation” trope, and redefines the Middle Period of Cambodian history (15th-19th century). This project proposes that continuity, renewal, variety and adaptation are as apparent in Cambodia’s middle period as loss and failure. Applying landscape archaeo ....Urbanism after Angkor (14th-18th century). This project aims to understand changes after the breakdown of low-density urbanism in Cambodia. Recognising the emergence of urban forms after the demise of Angkor challenges the global “Collapse of Civilisation” trope, and redefines the Middle Period of Cambodian history (15th-19th century). This project proposes that continuity, renewal, variety and adaptation are as apparent in Cambodia’s middle period as loss and failure. Applying landscape archaeology to this ‘dark age’ of Southeast Asian history embeds the demise of low-density urbanism and the development of towns in an environmental context. Identifying adaptive pathways after ‘collapse’ could have implications for urbanism in the tropics.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing the human colonisation of the Pacific using modern and ancient chicken DNA. We will reconstruct one of the last great human migrations, from Island Southeast Asia across the Pacific to Hawaii and Easter Island, using DNA from the domestic chicken, which was carried on the voyage. Ancient and modern DNA, and archaeological data will be used to reveal the source, route, timing, and whether contact was made with South America
Tracking the development of agricultural lifestyles in island Southeast Asia through modern and prehistoric rodent communities. The emergence of agriculture, a key transformational event in human history, seems to have occurred significantly later in island SE Asia than surrounding regions. However, the early stages of agriculture may be archaeologically ‘invisible’ in the tropics due to simple material culture and housing. This project proposes to use the recent evolutionary history of agricult ....Tracking the development of agricultural lifestyles in island Southeast Asia through modern and prehistoric rodent communities. The emergence of agriculture, a key transformational event in human history, seems to have occurred significantly later in island SE Asia than surrounding regions. However, the early stages of agriculture may be archaeologically ‘invisible’ in the tropics due to simple material culture and housing. This project proposes to use the recent evolutionary history of agricultural rodent pests, all of which emerged in situ from among a native rodent fauna, as a proxy for the origins and spread of agriculture, and its subsequent intensification. This project will use phylogeography and population genetics to infer the history of contemporary rodent populations, combined with archaeozoological and ancient DNA analyses of prehistoric samples to test our inferences.Read moreRead less
Land of the Black Stump: a history of Australias Inland Corridor, 1815-2005. This project explains the origins of key areas of current interest and concern about rural and regional Australia. It provides historical lessons that address four National Research Priority areas (sustainable water and land management, sustainable communities, technological innovation, Australia in regional and global context). The project highlights the historical importance to Australia of inland regions, industries, ....Land of the Black Stump: a history of Australias Inland Corridor, 1815-2005. This project explains the origins of key areas of current interest and concern about rural and regional Australia. It provides historical lessons that address four National Research Priority areas (sustainable water and land management, sustainable communities, technological innovation, Australia in regional and global context). The project highlights the historical importance to Australia of inland regions, industries, and communities which today are undergoing fundamental economic, technological, and social readjustments. The project identifies the relationships that bind urban and rural Australia yet problematise racial reconciliation. It brings together a national network of researchers and provides vocational training for students.Read moreRead less
The origin of the first Australians. Using new DNA methods researchers aim to uncover the origins of the first Australians and to provide new evidence for when people came here and where they came from. This exciting work aims to determine some of the physical and metabolic characteristics of these early people.
Intimacy and Violence in Anglo Pacific Rim settler colonial societies. Violence and intimacy were both fundamental to the formation of settler colonial societies, yet we know surprisingly little of how they were connected. Through a large-scale collaboration of leading scholars, this project aims to produce the first transnational analysis of intimacy and violence as key, intertwined vectors in the development of settler societies across the colonial Anglophone Pacific Rim. Drawing out connectio ....Intimacy and Violence in Anglo Pacific Rim settler colonial societies. Violence and intimacy were both fundamental to the formation of settler colonial societies, yet we know surprisingly little of how they were connected. Through a large-scale collaboration of leading scholars, this project aims to produce the first transnational analysis of intimacy and violence as key, intertwined vectors in the development of settler societies across the colonial Anglophone Pacific Rim. Drawing out connections between the broad-scale dynamics of colonial rule and the violent and intimate domains of its implementation on the ground, the project aims to generate new comparative insights into the development of colonial settler cultures and create enhanced understanding of their legacies for western settler democracies today.Read moreRead less
Making architectural identity: the architecture of John Andrews. The important Australian architect John Andrews had a career unique for its success, first in Canada and the United States and then in Australia. Research into his design work and how it has been understood will develop new knowledge of design practices of the 1970s, how architecture is understood in terms of nationality, and how design has become globalised.
A new history of law in post-revolutionary England (c.1689-1760). This project seeks to recover and reassess the general history of English law during the seven decades following the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, when limited monarchy, parliamentary government and the rule of law became new constitutional norms for an emergent imperial British state (and, eventually, for Australia). It aims to chart the modes of law and governance variously experienced, created and used by lay men and women, h ....A new history of law in post-revolutionary England (c.1689-1760). This project seeks to recover and reassess the general history of English law during the seven decades following the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, when limited monarchy, parliamentary government and the rule of law became new constitutional norms for an emergent imperial British state (and, eventually, for Australia). It aims to chart the modes of law and governance variously experienced, created and used by lay men and women, husbands, wives and children, as well as by judges, lawyers, legislators and ministers. The results of this conceptual investigation, which aims to re-interpret the history of English law and government in the broadest possible way, is planned to appear as Volume IX in the Oxford History of the Laws of England series.Read moreRead less