Social Memory and Historical Justice: How Democratic Societies Remember and Forget the Victimisation of Minorities in the Past. We will analyse how the victimisation of minorities is publicly and collectively remembered in a range of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the Ukraine, Austria, Germany, Peru, Chile and the USA. We will identify key factors that enable democratic societies to work towards historical justice. By exploring how memories are contested and how communities ....Social Memory and Historical Justice: How Democratic Societies Remember and Forget the Victimisation of Minorities in the Past. We will analyse how the victimisation of minorities is publicly and collectively remembered in a range of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the Ukraine, Austria, Germany, Peru, Chile and the USA. We will identify key factors that enable democratic societies to work towards historical justice. By exploring how memories are contested and how communities actively negotiate the legacies of the past, we will address issues of crucial contemporary concern. The project will provide research training and international experience for a postdoctoral fellow and three doctoral students in an area at the cutting edge of the humanities and social sciences.Read moreRead less
Four South Pacific Museums: New Museums and Public Culture. The last decade has witnessed a global explosion in the development of new museums. Nowhere is this more striking than in our region where four major new museum buildings opened between 1998 and 2001.
FOUR SOUTH PACIFIC MUSEUMS will explore these regional developments by asking:
-How are they renovating their institutions through exhibitionary, architectural, technological, commercial and entertainment strategies?
-How are they re-n ....Four South Pacific Museums: New Museums and Public Culture. The last decade has witnessed a global explosion in the development of new museums. Nowhere is this more striking than in our region where four major new museum buildings opened between 1998 and 2001.
FOUR SOUTH PACIFIC MUSEUMS will explore these regional developments by asking:
-How are they renovating their institutions through exhibitionary, architectural, technological, commercial and entertainment strategies?
-How are they re-negotiating relationships between indigenous people and museums in post-colonial nations?
This interdisciplinary project will generate significant publications, evaluate contemporary museum practices, enrich debate about the cultural and civic roles of museums, and contribute productively to imagining their future.
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Hostels, Hosts and Hospitality: A Social and Cultural History of Migrant Temporary Accommodation in Australia Since the Second World War. Because it promotes a deeper understanding of migrant experience, the social relations and outcomes that derive from that experience, on-arrival settlement services, the role of the nation as 'host', and the complexity of national and immigrant identities, this project strengthens Australia's social fabric and capacity to interpret and engage with its regional ....Hostels, Hosts and Hospitality: A Social and Cultural History of Migrant Temporary Accommodation in Australia Since the Second World War. Because it promotes a deeper understanding of migrant experience, the social relations and outcomes that derive from that experience, on-arrival settlement services, the role of the nation as 'host', and the complexity of national and immigrant identities, this project strengthens Australia's social fabric and capacity to interpret and engage with its regional and global environment. The experience of regional and global migration, often entailing processes of acute disjuncture, enjoins both an urgent need for, and specific difficulties in, the creation of a coherent identity. This study contributes to an understanding of anxieties about place and belonging and how we might interpret and engage such challenges today.Read moreRead less
Transnational literacies - diaspora, schooling and identity. The need for transnational literacies - the capacity to function successfully within and between nations and cultures - is increasingly significant for multicultural Australia due to globalisation. The Greek-Australian community is used to explore schooling and its capacity to assist young Australians form productive cultural identities. This provides insights into a significant Australian community that will assist with the developmen ....Transnational literacies - diaspora, schooling and identity. The need for transnational literacies - the capacity to function successfully within and between nations and cultures - is increasingly significant for multicultural Australia due to globalisation. The Greek-Australian community is used to explore schooling and its capacity to assist young Australians form productive cultural identities. This provides insights into a significant Australian community that will assist with the development of all ethnic communities. The project contributes to understandings of identity, learning and schooling. It reviews three decades of multicultural education and consolidates our national capacity to school for cultural difference and global citizenship.Read moreRead less
Circus Aerialists: Bodies, Gender and National Identity. This research will produce the first critical study of circus aerial performance 1860 to 1990. It asks what the impact of this performance is on social beliefs about bodies. How has gender and national identity been presented in aerial acts? The research promotes the legendary Australian performers who have been among our most famous cultural exports, and yet remain neglected in Australia. Were circus athletes predecessors of sports athlet ....Circus Aerialists: Bodies, Gender and National Identity. This research will produce the first critical study of circus aerial performance 1860 to 1990. It asks what the impact of this performance is on social beliefs about bodies. How has gender and national identity been presented in aerial acts? The research promotes the legendary Australian performers who have been among our most famous cultural exports, and yet remain neglected in Australia. Were circus athletes predecessors of sports athletes? Increasing numbers of professional aerialists work in circus' multimillion dollar arts industry, which makes this specialised study, archive and book overdue. It is new knowledge that expands Australia's research base.Read moreRead less
Working the Land: Women's Rural Labour and the Making of a Nation, Australia, 1901-1945. Dr Ford's research delivers social, cultural and economic benefits to Australia, particularly for rural Australia, for women and for aging Australians. Her work will increase community understanding about working life in rural Australia; the relationship between land, agriculture, gender and national identity; and the ways women combined family responsibilities with farm work - issues central to debates abou ....Working the Land: Women's Rural Labour and the Making of a Nation, Australia, 1901-1945. Dr Ford's research delivers social, cultural and economic benefits to Australia, particularly for rural Australia, for women and for aging Australians. Her work will increase community understanding about working life in rural Australia; the relationship between land, agriculture, gender and national identity; and the ways women combined family responsibilities with farm work - issues central to debates about the role of rural Australia and work/life balance. Her project will contribute to rural communities' sense of identity, as well as promote heritage tourism, important to regional economic development. It will also develop partnerships between universities and rural communities and improve the global visibility of Australian research.Read moreRead less
Dynamics of identity and expression: a three generational study of a community language in post World War 2 Australia. The project examines the rapidly accelerating decline in the home use of German between the 1996 and 2001 Censuses. It utilises an innovative methodology which will correlate general trends accessible via large-scale statistical data from 1976 with the experiences of subgroups, families, and, ultimately, individuals from the early 1950s. As well as contributing to theoretical mo ....Dynamics of identity and expression: a three generational study of a community language in post World War 2 Australia. The project examines the rapidly accelerating decline in the home use of German between the 1996 and 2001 Censuses. It utilises an innovative methodology which will correlate general trends accessible via large-scale statistical data from 1976 with the experiences of subgroups, families, and, ultimately, individuals from the early 1950s. As well as contributing to theoretical model building in the field at an international level, findings will benefit the German-speaking community in Australia, other community language groups facing similar dilemmas and ultimately the nation, enabling more informed management of one of Australia's major resources: its rich linguistic diversity.Read moreRead less
Landscape and Memory: the West Coast of Victoria. The application is for an APAI PhD, located within a wider plan by Deakin University and Experimenta Media Arts to develop an interactive mode of analysis of landscape and design of civic spaces across the west coast and hinterland regions in Victoria. The project will locate development and regional cultural understanding within an enriched historical perspective, drawing on cross-disciplinary research and using digital animation in particular ....Landscape and Memory: the West Coast of Victoria. The application is for an APAI PhD, located within a wider plan by Deakin University and Experimenta Media Arts to develop an interactive mode of analysis of landscape and design of civic spaces across the west coast and hinterland regions in Victoria. The project will locate development and regional cultural understanding within an enriched historical perspective, drawing on cross-disciplinary research and using digital animation in particular to display the 'presence of the past in the present', to explore and promote distinctive and sustainable modes of living, and to construct visual hypotheses for environmental and cultural development in each area.Read moreRead less
After the Violence: Truth, Reconciliation and National Integration in Timor-Leste. In the aftermath of the Australian military-led intervention in 1999 and through the transition to nationhood in 2002, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) has represented one of the key institutional attempts at ensuring a stable transition to a peaceful society in Timor-Leste. The internal security of Timor-Leste is of significant interest for Australia, and this project wo ....After the Violence: Truth, Reconciliation and National Integration in Timor-Leste. In the aftermath of the Australian military-led intervention in 1999 and through the transition to nationhood in 2002, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) has represented one of the key institutional attempts at ensuring a stable transition to a peaceful society in Timor-Leste. The internal security of Timor-Leste is of significant interest for Australia, and this project would seek to understand if and how CAVR has succeeded in producing sustainable forms of social cohesion and integration. The project would also provide an understanding of truth and reconciliation processes that could be of value for application in future post-conflict societies.Read moreRead less
The role of development agencies in shaping national identity in Thailand. The study will provide much needed research on a country that has an important bilateral relationship with Australia. More specifically, the role of development agencies in the shaping of national identity is little understood. Given the increased role that such agencies play in the reconstruction of nations, this is a timely study. My study, based on intense fieldwork and extensive use of Thai language documents, will of ....The role of development agencies in shaping national identity in Thailand. The study will provide much needed research on a country that has an important bilateral relationship with Australia. More specifically, the role of development agencies in the shaping of national identity is little understood. Given the increased role that such agencies play in the reconstruction of nations, this is a timely study. My study, based on intense fieldwork and extensive use of Thai language documents, will offer an analysis of this role. Understanding how Thai national identity has adapted to change is an important component of Australian cross-cultural literacy, and important in understanding the future direction of Thai politics. Read moreRead less