Seth, God of Confusion: the archaeology of a cult centre in Egypt. This project aims to examine the growth and survival of the cult of Seth in Egypt's Western Desert against the background of the cult's suggested proscription elsewhere in the ancient state. Through detailed excavation and radiometric dating of the cult centre in Dakhleh Oasis, it aims to explore the proposition that the continued veneration of Seth can be read as a sign of regional independence. This is intended to challenge the ....Seth, God of Confusion: the archaeology of a cult centre in Egypt. This project aims to examine the growth and survival of the cult of Seth in Egypt's Western Desert against the background of the cult's suggested proscription elsewhere in the ancient state. Through detailed excavation and radiometric dating of the cult centre in Dakhleh Oasis, it aims to explore the proposition that the continued veneration of Seth can be read as a sign of regional independence. This is intended to challenge the orthodox view that Egypt operated as a monolithic state; reshaping how we approach ancient Egyptian religion and administration. In doing so, the study is expected to position an Australian research team at the forefront of contemporary scholarship on Egypt, enhancing our national reputation in the promotion and preservation of global heritage.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
Mobilising Dutch East India Company collections for new global stories . Australia has a rich legacy of archives, art and artefacts, including 4 shipwrecks in WA, from its history of encounters with the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Through comparative research in Australian and overseas museums and archives we aim to situate Australian collections in a global context, creating new stories about Australia as part of the VOC global network. An interdisciplinary team will train 3 ECRs and 7 HDRs ....Mobilising Dutch East India Company collections for new global stories . Australia has a rich legacy of archives, art and artefacts, including 4 shipwrecks in WA, from its history of encounters with the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Through comparative research in Australian and overseas museums and archives we aim to situate Australian collections in a global context, creating new stories about Australia as part of the VOC global network. An interdisciplinary team will train 3 ECRs and 7 HDRs and forge partnerships with the Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Africa, strengthening national capacity. Our analysis will enrich the value of collections, provide narratives for museums and sites, and revitalise content for international and domestic tourism markets.Read moreRead less
The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reas ....The history of inebriation and reason from Plato to the Latin Middle Ages. This project aims to uncover the undetected but pervasive dichotomy between spiritual inebriation and physical drunkenness from antiquity to the Middle Ages. While Christian theologians, inspired by Plato, celebrated inebriation as a metaphor for a hyper-rational state in which the soul transcends the limitations of reason, Christian moralists, inspired by Stoic philosophy, condemned physical drunkenness as fall from reason. The project will analyse the cultural and intellectual history of inebriation with the aim of changing appreciation of how medieval thinkers inherited and transformed pagan classical ideas about drinking. Inebriation provides a hitherto unexplored path to rewriting the history of reason, urging us to consider our culturally-ingrained reactions to drinking.Read moreRead less
Mapping Creativity in Captivity during WWII. The project will map the little known cultural production by Italian Prisoners of War from 1940 to 1947. By analysing Italian detainees' creativity in Australia and elsewhere in the world, it will develop a new transnational approach to understanding the experience of captivity and of the many interactions between individuals and communities during WWII. The expected outcomes include new cross-cultural knowledge of migration and wartime experiences an ....Mapping Creativity in Captivity during WWII. The project will map the little known cultural production by Italian Prisoners of War from 1940 to 1947. By analysing Italian detainees' creativity in Australia and elsewhere in the world, it will develop a new transnational approach to understanding the experience of captivity and of the many interactions between individuals and communities during WWII. The expected outcomes include new cross-cultural knowledge of migration and wartime experiences and of the beneficial power of creative action for individuals’ wellbeing, still relevant today as we witness emergency lockdowns and peoples dislocated by wars. International collaboration and digital resources will bring the results beyond an academic audience to public and policymakers alike.
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Performing transdisciplinarity. This project aims to use the illustrated songbook, a performative genre which fuses image, music and text, to study the transdisciplinary nature of 18th-century print culture. Through multifaceted research on an exemplary songbook, this project will create a multimedia digital interface for linking deep disciplinary knowledge and the recreation of the sounds, sensibilities, and social mores of 18th-century France. The project's model of rich digital understanding ....Performing transdisciplinarity. This project aims to use the illustrated songbook, a performative genre which fuses image, music and text, to study the transdisciplinary nature of 18th-century print culture. Through multifaceted research on an exemplary songbook, this project will create a multimedia digital interface for linking deep disciplinary knowledge and the recreation of the sounds, sensibilities, and social mores of 18th-century France. The project's model of rich digital understanding has potential benefits for cultural institutions whose complex objects lie dormant or underused.Read moreRead less
Toward a Female Stoic Tradition: Women's Writings in England, 1600-1800. This project aims to investigate the neglected history of women’s engagement with Stoic ideas in early modern England. It expects to generate new knowledge of a distinctive strand of women’s Stoic thought by taking a novel interdisciplinary approach to different genres of early modern writing. The intended outcomes include a new understanding of women’s valuable contributions to philosophy, literature, and politics in the p ....Toward a Female Stoic Tradition: Women's Writings in England, 1600-1800. This project aims to investigate the neglected history of women’s engagement with Stoic ideas in early modern England. It expects to generate new knowledge of a distinctive strand of women’s Stoic thought by taking a novel interdisciplinary approach to different genres of early modern writing. The intended outcomes include a new understanding of women’s valuable contributions to philosophy, literature, and politics in the period, as well as a greater appreciation of the gender-inclusivity of Stoic philosophy. This should provide significant benefits, such as the development of Stoic therapeutic techniques informed by women’s experiences, and the promotion of gender equality through the recognition of women’s intellectual history.Read moreRead less
Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula. This project aims to trace historical Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, through a program of collaborative community-based archaeological and anthropological research. Food was a key medium for cultural exchanges between Indigenous peoples and settler-colonists. The analysis of foodways is known to provide unparalleled insights on daily life, as well as the development of both cultural values and social relations ....Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula. This project aims to trace historical Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, through a program of collaborative community-based archaeological and anthropological research. Food was a key medium for cultural exchanges between Indigenous peoples and settler-colonists. The analysis of foodways is known to provide unparalleled insights on daily life, as well as the development of both cultural values and social relationships. This has received limited attention in archaeological investigations in Australia. Results will provide greater insight into the history behind our current society.Read moreRead less
Slavery, Sugar, Race: Australia’s South Sea Islander Labourers. This project aims to recover and make usable the history of Caribbean sugar as a labour migration model, cultural repertoire and source of investment for the early Australian sugar industry. Working with international slave studies centres and Australian South Sea Islander organisations, we will use methodologies from four disciplines to explore the question of Pacific labour from every perspective. The latest digital humanities tec ....Slavery, Sugar, Race: Australia’s South Sea Islander Labourers. This project aims to recover and make usable the history of Caribbean sugar as a labour migration model, cultural repertoire and source of investment for the early Australian sugar industry. Working with international slave studies centres and Australian South Sea Islander organisations, we will use methodologies from four disciplines to explore the question of Pacific labour from every perspective. The latest digital humanities techniques will be utilised to create a database of Pacific Voyages. This will further understandings of Australia’s place in global labour and race history, create new resources for research and teaching in history, literature and sociology, and further Islander community initiatives.
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Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these co ....Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these collections to shape memory and generate wider historical literacy. Benefits include providing insight into inclusive physical and digital collecting practices, which enables the project to address UNESCO’s goal of achieving greater access to decision-making about culture, heritage and the formation of social identities.Read moreRead less