Mobile Culture: A Biography of the Mobile Phone. The Mobile Culture project will investigate the mobile phone as cultural object, investigating its history, cultural production, consumption, political economy and regulation. It will contribute new knowledge on the culture of a widely used new media technology, mobile communications. The study will provide fresh insights into central theoretical questions in cultural and media studies, such as the relationship between culture and technology, and ....Mobile Culture: A Biography of the Mobile Phone. The Mobile Culture project will investigate the mobile phone as cultural object, investigating its history, cultural production, consumption, political economy and regulation. It will contribute new knowledge on the culture of a widely used new media technology, mobile communications. The study will provide fresh insights into central theoretical questions in cultural and media studies, such as the relationship between culture and technology, and the use of political economy for cultural analysis. The study will devise innovative methods for new media study. Outcomes include a two-volume book, and workshop proceedings on mobile consumption, use, and policy.Read moreRead less
Talkback radio in Australia: Content, audience and influence. This project is the most comprehensive study of talkback radio in Australia to date. It examines the content, influence and consumption of the programs as well as presenting a detailed investigation of the processes of production. Using evidence drawn from two high profile commercial sector programs and one ABC program, it will set out to explain the audience's interest in the format, the relations between the host and the callers, an ....Talkback radio in Australia: Content, audience and influence. This project is the most comprehensive study of talkback radio in Australia to date. It examines the content, influence and consumption of the programs as well as presenting a detailed investigation of the processes of production. Using evidence drawn from two high profile commercial sector programs and one ABC program, it will set out to explain the audience's interest in the format, the relations between the host and the callers, and the social, political and cultural placement of the format. The outcomes will be published in a series of articles in refereed journals and a monograph.Read moreRead less
Representing Kanaks: Generic Variation, Identity, and the Politics of the Everyday Semiotic. The project hypothesizes that representational struggles over indigenous identity are crucially shaped by the range of genres in which identity is asserted. Through the case of Kanaks in New Caledonia, as represented by several everyday genres hitherto neglected by scholarship, the representational politics of indigeneity are interrogated with the aim of demonstrating that Kanak existence is constituted ....Representing Kanaks: Generic Variation, Identity, and the Politics of the Everyday Semiotic. The project hypothesizes that representational struggles over indigenous identity are crucially shaped by the range of genres in which identity is asserted. Through the case of Kanaks in New Caledonia, as represented by several everyday genres hitherto neglected by scholarship, the representational politics of indigeneity are interrogated with the aim of demonstrating that Kanak existence is constituted in the semiotic detail of everyday generic variation. The project's significance lies in its radical reconception of identity and representational politics: going beyond indigenous versus colonial binaries, it reveals the complexity of day-to-day competition over and consolidation of indigenous identity through representational systems.Read moreRead less
From the Tap to the Bottle: an international study of the social and material life of bottled water. Water is a critical resource in Australia yet little is known about water in bottles. This project will be the first comparative study of bottled water marketing, consumption and disposal. It will make a significant contribution to national and international understandings of changing practices in the consumption of drinking water. The research will produce an analysis of the rise of the bottle i ....From the Tap to the Bottle: an international study of the social and material life of bottled water. Water is a critical resource in Australia yet little is known about water in bottles. This project will be the first comparative study of bottled water marketing, consumption and disposal. It will make a significant contribution to national and international understandings of changing practices in the consumption of drinking water. The research will produce an analysis of the rise of the bottle in relation to the tap. Specifically, how various anxieties associated with drinking tap water, in Australia and elsewhere, impact on bottled water consumption. The knowledge produced about bottled water collection, circulation and regulation will contribute to wider debates about sustainable water provision and access to safe water for all.Read moreRead less
The Monitored Audience: Control of Personal Information in the Digital Era. In an era when the internet can gather detailed information about citizens and mobile phones can target ads to them based on their location, consumers need a say in the policies and practices governing the use of their personal information. Research indicates Australians are concerned about the collection and use of their information. This project would explore what they are doing about it and what information handling p ....The Monitored Audience: Control of Personal Information in the Digital Era. In an era when the internet can gather detailed information about citizens and mobile phones can target ads to them based on their location, consumers need a say in the policies and practices governing the use of their personal information. Research indicates Australians are concerned about the collection and use of their information. This project would explore what they are doing about it and what information handling policies and practices they support. The findings will provide a citizen perspective on deliberations over information and data handling policy as well as on ethical and legal debates about commercial monitoring at a time when the technology for capturing personal information continues to develop at a rapid pace.Read moreRead less
A study of the public understanding of the Great Barrier Reef and its sustainable use. As a national icon, the survival of the Great Barrier Reef is of consequence to all Australians. As pressures on the Reef increase, it is imperative that the cultural heritage and social value of the Reef be recognised, understood, and mobilised to facilitate efforts to preserve the Reef for future generations. Reaching and informing broad and varied audiences in a range of communities, this project encourages ....A study of the public understanding of the Great Barrier Reef and its sustainable use. As a national icon, the survival of the Great Barrier Reef is of consequence to all Australians. As pressures on the Reef increase, it is imperative that the cultural heritage and social value of the Reef be recognised, understood, and mobilised to facilitate efforts to preserve the Reef for future generations. Reaching and informing broad and varied audiences in a range of communities, this project encourages a much wider appreciation of the value and importance of the Reef to Australian culture, and thus provides an important capacity-building step in realising the long-term social goal of sustainable use of the Reef's unique biodiversityRead moreRead less
Local Culture/Global Space: Japanese Minority Sexualities and the Internet. After English (43%), Japanese (9%)is the most used language on the Internet. No study has addressed the specific ways in which Japanese language use affects Internet communication or how the Internet is being used by minoritised groups and individuals. The project will examine Internet use by minority sexualities in Japan in order to ascertain how individuals and communities who fall outside the 'mainstream' of society i ....Local Culture/Global Space: Japanese Minority Sexualities and the Internet. After English (43%), Japanese (9%)is the most used language on the Internet. No study has addressed the specific ways in which Japanese language use affects Internet communication or how the Internet is being used by minoritised groups and individuals. The project will examine Internet use by minority sexualities in Japan in order to ascertain how individuals and communities who fall outside the 'mainstream' of society interact with this new technology. The project will contribute to our understanding of how the Internet, a supposedly global medium, also facilitates the emergence of very local subcultures. The project will result in a series of conference presentations, journal papers and a book.Read moreRead less
A Critical Genealogy of Normality. The rather divergent ideas about normality that emerged in nineteenth-century medical thought continue to have a widespread cultural influence today. Cultural assumptions about what constitutes a normal body inform a wide range of medical practices and underpin the use of standardised testing to determine health or disability. They are also in play when doctors decide when to undertake preventative health measures and when to intervene surgically. A detailed un ....A Critical Genealogy of Normality. The rather divergent ideas about normality that emerged in nineteenth-century medical thought continue to have a widespread cultural influence today. Cultural assumptions about what constitutes a normal body inform a wide range of medical practices and underpin the use of standardised testing to determine health or disability. They are also in play when doctors decide when to undertake preventative health measures and when to intervene surgically. A detailed understanding of how bodily norms come to be established has an important role to play in both shaping medical ethics and in helping people make more informed choices about elective surgical procedures.Read moreRead less
Understanding collaboration between the arts and sciences. This project aims to undertake a detailed examination of how the arts and sciences can work together to address the complex challenges of contemporary life. This will be addressed by undertaking the first cultural history of the experiment. Experimentation is common to the arts and sciences, and thinking about the long history of experimental practices in both fields will help build a bridge between them. This project will examine in de ....Understanding collaboration between the arts and sciences. This project aims to undertake a detailed examination of how the arts and sciences can work together to address the complex challenges of contemporary life. This will be addressed by undertaking the first cultural history of the experiment. Experimentation is common to the arts and sciences, and thinking about the long history of experimental practices in both fields will help build a bridge between them. This project will examine in detail past and present collaboration. An expected outcome is the development of models to support solving of complex contemporary problems. It will also raise awareness about the importance of the arts to knowledge-making practices.Read moreRead less
The Making of the Australian Middlebrow: Nationalism, Modernity and Middlebrow Culture in Australia. This project aims to investigate the history of middlebrow cultural values and institutions in 20th-century Australia. It will be the first such study, and will build on recent major international work on the middlebrow. Reading Australian cultural history through the concept of the middlebrow will revise familar assumptions about literature, nationalism and modernity in Australia. The study will ....The Making of the Australian Middlebrow: Nationalism, Modernity and Middlebrow Culture in Australia. This project aims to investigate the history of middlebrow cultural values and institutions in 20th-century Australia. It will be the first such study, and will build on recent major international work on the middlebrow. Reading Australian cultural history through the concept of the middlebrow will revise familar assumptions about literature, nationalism and modernity in Australia. The study will examine the rich archive of Australian magazines, newspaper review pages, writer and reader associations and publishing records. It will engage theoretically with contemporary theories of popular culture and modernity. The outcome will be a monograph on middlebrow culture in Australia.Read moreRead less