Words and Their Consequences: Freedom of Expression in Britain, 1960-1979. This project plans to use contests over obscenity and racism as lenses to understand changes in freedom of expression in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s. What was the purpose of free speech? How did the liberty to write and read relate to ideas about personal autonomy? What effects do words have on those who read or hear them? Working with previously untapped archival material on regulating obscene publications and the ....Words and Their Consequences: Freedom of Expression in Britain, 1960-1979. This project plans to use contests over obscenity and racism as lenses to understand changes in freedom of expression in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s. What was the purpose of free speech? How did the liberty to write and read relate to ideas about personal autonomy? What effects do words have on those who read or hear them? Working with previously untapped archival material on regulating obscene publications and the passage of legislation against racial vilification, the project aims to provide a new history of the theory and practice of freedom of expression in modern Britain.Read moreRead less
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
Poetry of the Nordic past: a new analysis and interpretation. In the Middle Ages, Icelandic poets composed verses they imagined were spoken by heroes of the past and these poems were inserted into prose sagas about prehistoric times. This project will make a literary study of this poetry, which will be published as a book about the medieval Icelandic legendary past.
Shipwrecks of the Roaring Forties: a maritime archaeological reassessment of some of Australia's earliest shipwrecks. This project will evaluate new ways of investigating the history of Europeans in the Indian Ocean by using the latest technology to evaluate seven Western Australian shipwrecks excavated over 40 years ago. The project will work with emerging technologies to study these significant sites and collections.
From Where the Fine Warships Come: Democratic Athens at War . This project aims to transform our understanding of classical Athens. This Greek state is famous for developing democracy to an extremely high level and for being the leading cultural innovator of classical Greece. Less well known is the dark side of this success story. Athens revolutionised warfare, killing tens of thousands of combatants and civilians. There is a good case that democracy itself sustained this military record. But th ....From Where the Fine Warships Come: Democratic Athens at War . This project aims to transform our understanding of classical Athens. This Greek state is famous for developing democracy to an extremely high level and for being the leading cultural innovator of classical Greece. Less well known is the dark side of this success story. Athens revolutionised warfare, killing tens of thousands of combatants and civilians. There is a good case that democracy itself sustained this military record. But this case has hardly ever been studied. By filling this big gap in our knowledge this project will be highly significant. It will massively increase capacities in research training and international collaboration. The benefits will include new ideas for better understanding the wars that democracies wage today. Read moreRead less
Indigenous land claims in historical context. By enlightening the history of Indigenous legal opposition to dispossession from the beginning of colonisation, this project will provide a means of engaging with the political challenges and responses posed by legal conflicts with Indigenous peoples over the question of land.
A spring of silver, a treasury in the earth: coinage and wealth in archaic Athens. The purpose of the project is to study the impact of locally mined silver on the public treasury of the Athenians, and thus on the developing political economy of this important city-state during the years c.550-480 BC, by examining its employment for the minting of coins.
Anglo-Saxon literary patronage: origins and development. Literature in English began more than a thousand years ago with the Anglo-Saxons, whose greatest work, the epic poem 'Beowulf', marked the transition from an oral poetic tradition to written literature. This project is the first to examine the relationship between patrons and writers in the creation of the earliest English literature and its books.
Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945. This project looks at female domestic care workers from India and China who travelled to Australia and elsewhere during the period of British colonialism. Accompanying colonial families along circuits of empire between Australia, Asia, and the UK over two centuries, these were extraordinarily mobile women. By exploring the historical experiences and cultural memories of these earliest global domestic workers, the project ....Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945. This project looks at female domestic care workers from India and China who travelled to Australia and elsewhere during the period of British colonialism. Accompanying colonial families along circuits of empire between Australia, Asia, and the UK over two centuries, these were extraordinarily mobile women. By exploring the historical experiences and cultural memories of these earliest global domestic workers, the project aims to illuminate a broader transcolonial history of domestic work. Expected outcomes include a number of publications and a website; and the project offers the social and cultural benefits to be gained by advancing our historical understanding of the forgotten cross-cultural relationships that have shaped our world today.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100750
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$378,213.00
Summary
Australia and Space: Government policy and public imagination, 1957 – 2021. This project aims to be the first study to address how Australia has approached space at the public and government level from the dawn of the space age in 1957 to today. Taking a historical approach, this project employs an innovative framework that integrates Australia’s disparate space activities, analyses Australian space over a long time period, and centres the Australian experience within the global context. The pro ....Australia and Space: Government policy and public imagination, 1957 – 2021. This project aims to be the first study to address how Australia has approached space at the public and government level from the dawn of the space age in 1957 to today. Taking a historical approach, this project employs an innovative framework that integrates Australia’s disparate space activities, analyses Australian space over a long time period, and centres the Australian experience within the global context. The project is particularly timely with creation of the Australian Space Agency in mid-2018. Through publications and collaboration with space scholars and stakeholders, this project aims to inform discussion of space policy and international cooperation in space, and develop new understandings of how Australians engage with space.Read moreRead less