Globalisation, photography, and race: the circulation and return of Aboriginal photographs in Europe. In the digital age, it has become an urgent matter to understand and balance the role of photographs of Aboriginal people within Indigenous and Western knowledge systems. This project explores their important global historical role, current meanings for descendants, and returns this significant Indigenous heritage from European collections.
Re-inventing Motherhood: Women, Breadwinning and Childcare in Australia, 1880-1980. The project aims to analyse the evolving experiences of working mothers in Australia from 1880 to 1980 to ascertain how women and their families handled the tensions between work, survival strategies, and child care. It will challenge current views of a simple dichotomy between public work and private family lives, exploring the interlinking of forms of work and care, and their intersections with class, ethnicity ....Re-inventing Motherhood: Women, Breadwinning and Childcare in Australia, 1880-1980. The project aims to analyse the evolving experiences of working mothers in Australia from 1880 to 1980 to ascertain how women and their families handled the tensions between work, survival strategies, and child care. It will challenge current views of a simple dichotomy between public work and private family lives, exploring the interlinking of forms of work and care, and their intersections with class, ethnicity and race.This will provide a significant new base for understanding the historical evolution of women's work and family life and for formulating social policy today in an age of the dual-income family.Read moreRead less
The Two Frank Thrings. A study of two lives in the context of the performing arts in twentieth-century Australia. This dual biography of F.W.Thring (1882-1936), stage and cinema entrepreneur, and his actor son Frank (1926-94), will explore two remarkable lives in relation to their performance culture and society. It will provide the first scholarly biography of both men, and through them will illuminate the history of Australian cinema and musical theatre, investigate issues of distinctively n ....The Two Frank Thrings. A study of two lives in the context of the performing arts in twentieth-century Australia. This dual biography of F.W.Thring (1882-1936), stage and cinema entrepreneur, and his actor son Frank (1926-94), will explore two remarkable lives in relation to their performance culture and society. It will provide the first scholarly biography of both men, and through them will illuminate the history of Australian cinema and musical theatre, investigate issues of distinctively national iconography and voice, and examine the complex interactions between industrial/economic forces and artistic vision. Its principal outcome will be a book that should add significantly to our knowledge of the performing arts in twentieth-century Australia, and to continuing debates in the arts.Read moreRead less
Gender, power and identity in the early modern Nassau family. Our family identities shape our experiences of relationships, support structures, and interactions in broader communities around us but how do gender and power relationships affect expressions of family identities? Our project uses a case study of the early modern Nassau-Orange family, whose extensive and diverse sources include letters, art, architectural precincts, naming patterns, and even colonial endeavours. The word and colour o ....Gender, power and identity in the early modern Nassau family. Our family identities shape our experiences of relationships, support structures, and interactions in broader communities around us but how do gender and power relationships affect expressions of family identities? Our project uses a case study of the early modern Nassau-Orange family, whose extensive and diverse sources include letters, art, architectural precincts, naming patterns, and even colonial endeavours. The word and colour orange today symbolise Protestantism and the Dutch worldwide as a result of this pivotal family's self-presentation in the early modern period. We will produce monographs, PhD thesis, and research training in an international humanities team led by Australian researchers. Read moreRead less
Indigenous peoples, the British Empire, and self-government for the Australian colonies. This study enhances our understanding of the foundations and representative functions of Australian democratic institutions, especially as they concern Indigenous-settler-missionary-imperial relationships. In drawing out the connections between two major questions for Australian history and modern society - democracy and Indigenous dispossession - the project will contribute deeper historical knowledge to cu ....Indigenous peoples, the British Empire, and self-government for the Australian colonies. This study enhances our understanding of the foundations and representative functions of Australian democratic institutions, especially as they concern Indigenous-settler-missionary-imperial relationships. In drawing out the connections between two major questions for Australian history and modern society - democracy and Indigenous dispossession - the project will contribute deeper historical knowledge to current public debate about Indigenous policy past and present. It will also illuminate the importance of understanding Australian history in broad transcolonial and transnational contexts and enhance the contribution of Australian historians to imperial, missionary, and comparative settler-society histories.Read moreRead less
Dispossession and colonization, 1780-1820. Massacre and colonization is an extremely topical project given the increasing public discussions around race relations, and how those interactions have helped shape our identity. This project will advance the ongoing debate by exploring the nature of Indigenous dispossession in the world. It will also aid in the process of national reconciliation.
The Living Dead: witchcraft and apparition in European culture (3rd to 18th century). By providing a major monograph, an edited collection of papers by national and international scholars, and an electronic pictorial catalogue, the project will be of immense benefit to this rich new field of international research, and also help maintain the high reputation Australian scholarship enjoys in the field of medieval and early modern studies. But the relationship of societies to their dead continues t ....The Living Dead: witchcraft and apparition in European culture (3rd to 18th century). By providing a major monograph, an edited collection of papers by national and international scholars, and an electronic pictorial catalogue, the project will be of immense benefit to this rich new field of international research, and also help maintain the high reputation Australian scholarship enjoys in the field of medieval and early modern studies. But the relationship of societies to their dead continues to evoke keen interest in contemporary Australia outside the bounds of the academy. A fully researched history of Europe's changing views towards the dead will contribute to this topical discussion, made more urgent by our aging population and changes to traditional religious and cultural responses to death. Read moreRead less
Nation Building and Elite Formation in Singapore, 1966-85. * The project will study elite formation, the praxis of elite governance, and the development of the relationship between elitism and nation building in Singapore from independence in late 1965 to approximately 1985.
* This study is significant because it is arguably the pivotal axis on which the Singapore experience of governance rests, and yet it has not been the subject of a dedicated study.
* It is expected that the study will prod ....Nation Building and Elite Formation in Singapore, 1966-85. * The project will study elite formation, the praxis of elite governance, and the development of the relationship between elitism and nation building in Singapore from independence in late 1965 to approximately 1985.
* This study is significant because it is arguably the pivotal axis on which the Singapore experience of governance rests, and yet it has not been the subject of a dedicated study.
* It is expected that the study will produce a series of articles and a book that will contribute to our understanding of elite formation and nation building generally, as well as specifically in Singapore.
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Intimacy and Violence in Anglo Pacific Rim settler colonial societies. Violence and intimacy were both fundamental to the formation of settler colonial societies, yet we know surprisingly little of how they were connected. Through a large-scale collaboration of leading scholars, this project aims to produce the first transnational analysis of intimacy and violence as key, intertwined vectors in the development of settler societies across the colonial Anglophone Pacific Rim. Drawing out connectio ....Intimacy and Violence in Anglo Pacific Rim settler colonial societies. Violence and intimacy were both fundamental to the formation of settler colonial societies, yet we know surprisingly little of how they were connected. Through a large-scale collaboration of leading scholars, this project aims to produce the first transnational analysis of intimacy and violence as key, intertwined vectors in the development of settler societies across the colonial Anglophone Pacific Rim. Drawing out connections between the broad-scale dynamics of colonial rule and the violent and intimate domains of its implementation on the ground, the project aims to generate new comparative insights into the development of colonial settler cultures and create enhanced understanding of their legacies for western settler democracies today.Read moreRead less
The Burden of Freedom? Aboriginal Exemption Policies in Australia. This project aims to be the first major study of the clauses in Aboriginal Protection Acts that allowed Aborigines to be released from control by the government; these are also known as exemption policies. By examining rich and underutilised government archives, it aims to provide a nuanced account of how Aboriginal people negotiated the pressures and possibilities of assimilation from 1897 to 1967. At the same time, it aims to r ....The Burden of Freedom? Aboriginal Exemption Policies in Australia. This project aims to be the first major study of the clauses in Aboriginal Protection Acts that allowed Aborigines to be released from control by the government; these are also known as exemption policies. By examining rich and underutilised government archives, it aims to provide a nuanced account of how Aboriginal people negotiated the pressures and possibilities of assimilation from 1897 to 1967. At the same time, it aims to reveal how non-Aboriginal Australians imagined Aborigines becoming equal citizens. More generally, this study is expected to advance scholarly knowledge of the intricate workings and development of assimilation policy and enable a new reckoning of the legacy and practice of assimilation.Read moreRead less