Respectability and health: private life and the health transition in two capital cities, London and Melbourne, 1850?1980. This study will explore the relationship between the dramatic normative changes that occurred in working-class private life after 1850 and the health transition. Using grass-roots case studies and databases of both London and Melbourne, it will analyse the changing mortality experience of the poor?as infants, young, and older adults?in relation to changes in self-care, self- ....Respectability and health: private life and the health transition in two capital cities, London and Melbourne, 1850?1980. This study will explore the relationship between the dramatic normative changes that occurred in working-class private life after 1850 and the health transition. Using grass-roots case studies and databases of both London and Melbourne, it will analyse the changing mortality experience of the poor?as infants, young, and older adults?in relation to changes in self-care, self-image and family life made possible by the transition in these two mercantilist cities from casualised to regular labour markets. It will then endeavour to relate these findings about life chances among the most disadvantaged to health and social policy for the future.Read moreRead less
Land and life: Aborigines, convicts and immigrants in Victoria, 1835-1985: an interdisciplinary history. This project is an interdisciplinary investigation of dispossession and colonization of southeast Australia. It uses longitudinal cohort studies to produce new findings on the impact of stress, dislocation and economic change on individuals and families across five generations.
Aftermaths of War: Violence, Trauma, Displacement, 1815-1950. This project aims to investigate the cultural, social and psychological aftermaths of wars between 1815 to 1950 from a comparative, transnational perspective. By connecting the displacement of people, the brutalization of warfare and the trauma associated with it, this study will offer a broader and more complex understanding of the experience of civilians and combatants in the wake of armed conflicts. In so doing, it will challenge t ....Aftermaths of War: Violence, Trauma, Displacement, 1815-1950. This project aims to investigate the cultural, social and psychological aftermaths of wars between 1815 to 1950 from a comparative, transnational perspective. By connecting the displacement of people, the brutalization of warfare and the trauma associated with it, this study will offer a broader and more complex understanding of the experience of civilians and combatants in the wake of armed conflicts. In so doing, it will challenge traditional periodizations which delineate between periods of war and peace, and seek to uncover the profound legacies of war not just within but beyond nation states. This will prompt a re-evaluation of our understanding of what constitutes warfare and its aftermaths.Read moreRead less
Consumption in Late Imperial China: an Early Modern Phenomenon? China's present economic growth and consumer activity are of immediate interest to Australia. This study of consumer activities in earlier centuries will shed light on changes as well as continuities in Chinese consumption in a long era of globalization. The project will contribute to the corpus of Australian scholarship on Chinese and world history, enhancing local and global understandings of China's past, and enriching ways in wh ....Consumption in Late Imperial China: an Early Modern Phenomenon? China's present economic growth and consumer activity are of immediate interest to Australia. This study of consumer activities in earlier centuries will shed light on changes as well as continuities in Chinese consumption in a long era of globalization. The project will contribute to the corpus of Australian scholarship on Chinese and world history, enhancing local and global understandings of China's past, and enriching ways in which it is imagined.Read moreRead less
Empire to Republic: Politics and Culture in China's 20th Century History. This research project focuses on state and nation building in South China during the Republican era (1912-1949), the subject of major international publications by the CI and PI over a fifteen-year research partnership. The significance of the topic lies in its historiographical departure from narratives of ?party history? to theoretically-driven research into key aspects of modern state and nation-making in a formative pe ....Empire to Republic: Politics and Culture in China's 20th Century History. This research project focuses on state and nation building in South China during the Republican era (1912-1949), the subject of major international publications by the CI and PI over a fifteen-year research partnership. The significance of the topic lies in its historiographical departure from narratives of ?party history? to theoretically-driven research into key aspects of modern state and nation-making in a formative period of China's recent history. Outcomes include research training and theses, and refereed publications, which break new ground in their systematic application of state-making literature to Republican Chinese history.Read moreRead less
Dynastic Marriage, Courtly Politics and the State in Renaissance Italy. The search for an understanding of the processes by which political ideas and cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity change, and new genres of written expression emerge, is directly relevant to contemporary Australia. To study these themes in a period at once remote from one's own and yet, as the Italian Renaissance is, perennially fascinating to the public imagination, is to make an important contribution to ....Dynastic Marriage, Courtly Politics and the State in Renaissance Italy. The search for an understanding of the processes by which political ideas and cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity change, and new genres of written expression emerge, is directly relevant to contemporary Australia. To study these themes in a period at once remote from one's own and yet, as the Italian Renaissance is, perennially fascinating to the public imagination, is to make an important contribution to our understanding of the historical roots of significant on-going debates.Read moreRead less
Australia's Black Past: the shared history of transatlantic slave trading and convict transportation to Africa and Australia. Every nation needs an understanding of its past-the significance of this project is that it examines a part of Australia's history that is very little understood. European settlement of the continent was implemented at a time that ideas of race, and the relationship of skin colour to freedom, were altering significantly. These changes had a fundamental effect on the convi ....Australia's Black Past: the shared history of transatlantic slave trading and convict transportation to Africa and Australia. Every nation needs an understanding of its past-the significance of this project is that it examines a part of Australia's history that is very little understood. European settlement of the continent was implemented at a time that ideas of race, and the relationship of skin colour to freedom, were altering significantly. These changes had a fundamental effect on the convict colony and the relationship of the early colonists with the aboriginal people. Only by gaining knowledge of how early racial interpretations were influenced by global events can Australia interpret her ever controversial racial history.
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Memories of utopia: Destroying the past to create the future (300-650 CE). This project aims to examine the evidence for competing utopian ideologies in early Christianity, which was a prelude to the later clash with Islam from the seventh century onward. Evidence from pagan-Jewish-Christian conflicts in Late Antiquity (300-650 CE) shows that violent destruction of the past is not exclusive to fringe religious groups. These past conflicts are relevant for understanding the conflict in the Middle ....Memories of utopia: Destroying the past to create the future (300-650 CE). This project aims to examine the evidence for competing utopian ideologies in early Christianity, which was a prelude to the later clash with Islam from the seventh century onward. Evidence from pagan-Jewish-Christian conflicts in Late Antiquity (300-650 CE) shows that violent destruction of the past is not exclusive to fringe religious groups. These past conflicts are relevant for understanding the conflict in the Middle East, precisely because analysis of the sources shows that, in intra- and inter-religious conflicts in Late Antiquity in this same geographic region, violent destruction of the past was a propensity in mainstream religion.Read moreRead less
Encountering diversity: communities of learning, intellectual confrontations and transformations of religious thinking in Latin Europe, 1050-1350. This project will analyse how intellectual confrontations between different communities in medieval Europe (from 1050-1350), including Jews and Muslims, were generated by competition between teachers from different groups, both within and outside formal educational structures and established religious communities, thus helping to transform religious t ....Encountering diversity: communities of learning, intellectual confrontations and transformations of religious thinking in Latin Europe, 1050-1350. This project will analyse how intellectual confrontations between different communities in medieval Europe (from 1050-1350), including Jews and Muslims, were generated by competition between teachers from different groups, both within and outside formal educational structures and established religious communities, thus helping to transform religious thinking.Read moreRead less
The transnational history of the Chinese Nationalist Party. First the project contributes to better understanding of Australia's region, secondly it enhances understanding of the place of international Chinese communities in world politics, trade, and migration, thirdly it contributes to Australian understanding of the ties linking the Chinese diaspora in Australia to other Chinese communities around the world and in China, fourth it contributes to important international debates on migration an ....The transnational history of the Chinese Nationalist Party. First the project contributes to better understanding of Australia's region, secondly it enhances understanding of the place of international Chinese communities in world politics, trade, and migration, thirdly it contributes to Australian understanding of the ties linking the Chinese diaspora in Australia to other Chinese communities around the world and in China, fourth it contributes to important international debates on migration and ethnic politics over the course of the 20th century, and fifth it confirms Australia's international standing as a site of innovation and excellence in research on the Asian and Pacific regions.Read moreRead less