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
A Secular State? Reason, Religion, and the Australian Polity 1788-1945. What does it mean to say that Australia is a secular state? How did that self-conception develop and how has the meaning of 'secular' changed over the course of the nation's history? These are the fundamental questions that shape this study of the inter-relationship of the secular and religion within the Australian polity from 1788 to the end of World War II. The project will be illuminated by the increasingly sophisticated ....A Secular State? Reason, Religion, and the Australian Polity 1788-1945. What does it mean to say that Australia is a secular state? How did that self-conception develop and how has the meaning of 'secular' changed over the course of the nation's history? These are the fundamental questions that shape this study of the inter-relationship of the secular and religion within the Australian polity from 1788 to the end of World War II. The project will be illuminated by the increasingly sophisticated literature on secularisation and the international comparisons it aims to facilitate. The outcome is expected to be a historically informed explanation of distinctively Australian attitudes to secularity, which may provide the basis for a more informed national debate over issues of religion and citizenship.Read moreRead less
The architecture of Australia's Muslim pioneers. This project will survey the remnant architecture of Australia's Muslim cameleers who played a vital role in the discovery, exploration and settlement of Australia. The project will generate three-dimensional visualisations of these settlements and academic publications in addition to material for the public education programs operated by the South Australian Museum.
From periphery to centre: an historical analysis of lay teachers' experiences in Australian Catholic schools, from 1940 to 1980. Following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) lay teachers came to dominate Australian Catholic education. This oral history project, responding to a call for scholarly interest in faith-based schooling, as a result of recent developments motivated by religious ideology, will contribute to understanding their experiences for the period from 1940 to 80.
Secularisation and British literature, 1600-1800. This project uses a new model of European secularisation, to develop an innovative account of British literary history in the 17th and 18th centuries. It shows that important literary movements and genres in the period knew no opposition between religion and secularity, thereby enabling a more nuanced understanding of secularisation.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Whose family values? the Christian right and sexual politics in postsecular Australia. This project will expand knowledge of the relationship between sexuality and religion in 'post-secular Australia'. It will show how connections between religion, sex, love and romance have evolved in the recent historical past and advance cultural understanding of conflicts between religious liberty and sexual discrimination.
The humanity of man and animal in Ancient Greece. This project aims to explore how the line between humans and animals is drawn and re-drawn in a number of ancient world texts and contexts, including language, history, literature, art, religion and science. As the real and imagined cradle of Western civilisation, the ancient Greek world is frequently invoked in current debates about what separates humans from animals. Yet, in the modern debate the ancient position is restricted mainly to philoso ....The humanity of man and animal in Ancient Greece. This project aims to explore how the line between humans and animals is drawn and re-drawn in a number of ancient world texts and contexts, including language, history, literature, art, religion and science. As the real and imagined cradle of Western civilisation, the ancient Greek world is frequently invoked in current debates about what separates humans from animals. Yet, in the modern debate the ancient position is restricted mainly to philosophy. The expected outcome of this project is a comprehensive study of the place of the animal in ancient Greek conceptions of humanity. It will refocus classical scholarship and prompt the re-evaluation of our contemporary understanding of what makes us human.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100330
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,966.00
Summary
Empire and religion in early modern Inner Asia, 1650-1800. This project aims to re-examine China’s imperial expansion from the perspective of the Qing dynasty’s chief rivals in Inner Asia—the Junghar Mongols. Stretching from Siberia to Afghanistan, their nomadic empire linked the steppe with the Silk Road, and the Buddhist and Islamic worlds. Grounded in multilingual research in Chinese and Russian archives, and wide reading in Inner Asian chronicles and hagiographies, the project seeks to eluci ....Empire and religion in early modern Inner Asia, 1650-1800. This project aims to re-examine China’s imperial expansion from the perspective of the Qing dynasty’s chief rivals in Inner Asia—the Junghar Mongols. Stretching from Siberia to Afghanistan, their nomadic empire linked the steppe with the Silk Road, and the Buddhist and Islamic worlds. Grounded in multilingual research in Chinese and Russian archives, and wide reading in Inner Asian chronicles and hagiographies, the project seeks to elucidate the micropolitics of the Eurasian borderlands, and the non-Chinese narratives that accompanied the creation of China as we know it today. By offering a new account of early modern Inner Asian history, this project expects to advance the fields of Chinese, Inner Asian and imperial history in Australia.Read moreRead less
Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE). Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those ....Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE). Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those who did not. Understanding how past leaders of the Roman world addressed these crises in practical and rhetorical ways may provide helpful and timely models of what works (and what does not) for contemporary community and political leaders, even in democratic political societies such as Australia.Read moreRead less
City space and urban experience at the end of the Italian Renaissance. This project aims to study how people lived in early-modern cities, using health records. In 1630, health officials ordered a door-to-door survey of every poor household in plague-stricken Florence. The surviving reports of this extraordinary ‘Visitation’ are a time-capsule of urban experience, which seldom leaves any written trace. This project will mine the Visitation to reveal how citizens moved through public streets and ....City space and urban experience at the end of the Italian Renaissance. This project aims to study how people lived in early-modern cities, using health records. In 1630, health officials ordered a door-to-door survey of every poor household in plague-stricken Florence. The surviving reports of this extraordinary ‘Visitation’ are a time-capsule of urban experience, which seldom leaves any written trace. This project will mine the Visitation to reveal how citizens moved through public streets and private spaces; and use their own words to bring back to life their sensory impressions. The resulting study is expected to reveal how contemporary thinking about the city arose from patterns of everyday behaviour.Read moreRead less