A History of Manners: Savagery and Civility in Colonial Australia. The lessons of the past are vital to Australia's future. In the twenty-first century, Australia faces the urgent need to communicate across cultural barriers, and to acknowledge and respect divergent codes of conduct and manners. The history of manners in nineteenth-century Australia helps us to come to terms with our contested past by illuminating the complexities of a colonising culture, and the difficulties of adapting codes o ....A History of Manners: Savagery and Civility in Colonial Australia. The lessons of the past are vital to Australia's future. In the twenty-first century, Australia faces the urgent need to communicate across cultural barriers, and to acknowledge and respect divergent codes of conduct and manners. The history of manners in nineteenth-century Australia helps us to come to terms with our contested past by illuminating the complexities of a colonising culture, and the difficulties of adapting codes of conduct to the needs of a young, disparate and ever-changing society. Exploring the limitations of Australian elitism and egalitarianism, it opens the way for diverse and inclusive understandings of identity and national character. Read moreRead less
The Construction of Race and Racial Identity at the Antipodes of Empire, 1788-1840. The view that Australia was always a racially based society, pursuing racial policies to the detriment of indigenous Australians and our Asian neighbours, is subject to rancorous national debate. Polemical assertion by high profile journalists that race was never a driving force in Australian history is not conducive to understanding complex history, nor are derogatory attacks on historians helpful in explaining ....The Construction of Race and Racial Identity at the Antipodes of Empire, 1788-1840. The view that Australia was always a racially based society, pursuing racial policies to the detriment of indigenous Australians and our Asian neighbours, is subject to rancorous national debate. Polemical assertion by high profile journalists that race was never a driving force in Australian history is not conducive to understanding complex history, nor are derogatory attacks on historians helpful in explaining the past to our neighbours. Whether colonial Australia was a race-based society remains to be established. With indigenous uncertainty over the demise of ATSIC and rising antagonism among our Islamic neighbours, there is need, as never before, for dispassionate scholarship to provide a complex interpretation of Australia's past.Read moreRead less
Parklands, culture and communities: strategic research for building social, cultural and environmental capital in urban parklands. Parklands, Culture and Communities is an innovative collaboration between park managers and academic researchers. It will result in deeper knowledge about how cultural and ethnic diversity affects the way communities use urban parks and how they interact with each other in those parks. The project focuses initially on four groups on the Georges River in suburban Sydn ....Parklands, culture and communities: strategic research for building social, cultural and environmental capital in urban parklands. Parklands, Culture and Communities is an innovative collaboration between park managers and academic researchers. It will result in deeper knowledge about how cultural and ethnic diversity affects the way communities use urban parks and how they interact with each other in those parks. The project focuses initially on four groups on the Georges River in suburban Sydney: the Indigenous, Anglo, Vietnamese and Arabic-speaking communities. A study of their use of parklands will then be the basis for developing best-practice research, planning and interpretation resources to assist park managers in other locations to collaborate more effectively with their changing local users, thus enhancing positive cross-cultural relations in urban parks.Read moreRead less