The global self: screening the history of human rights in the 20th century to the present. This project will research the history and theory of human rights as represented in film and new media. It will analyse the origins and development of human rights theory and document the changes in films about human rights in order to understand how we now conceptualise human rights in the twenty-first-century.
Spatial dialogues: public art and climate change. This project will yield both social and environmental benefits through the creative ways it combines highly innovative public art projects with electronic social network systems to initiate trans-national civic dialogues on the problem of adaptation to climate change. It extends our sense of urban space to include the regional and global ecologies upon which cities are dependent. The role of water in the city will not only be represented as a vit ....Spatial dialogues: public art and climate change. This project will yield both social and environmental benefits through the creative ways it combines highly innovative public art projects with electronic social network systems to initiate trans-national civic dialogues on the problem of adaptation to climate change. It extends our sense of urban space to include the regional and global ecologies upon which cities are dependent. The role of water in the city will not only be represented as a vital resource, but as an element essential to life and, as such, replete with deep cultural values frequently overlooked in the expedience of everyday urban life.Read moreRead less
The economic and cultural value of Australian music exports. The project aims to investigate the cultural and economic value of Australian music exports. It will be the first methodical study on how Australian artists are developed internationally through government and industry programs. It intends to provide a detailed picture of entrepreneurial activity within and between industries, not-for-profit sectors and governments. The project aims to assess the effects of globalisation and digitisati ....The economic and cultural value of Australian music exports. The project aims to investigate the cultural and economic value of Australian music exports. It will be the first methodical study on how Australian artists are developed internationally through government and industry programs. It intends to provide a detailed picture of entrepreneurial activity within and between industries, not-for-profit sectors and governments. The project aims to assess the effects of globalisation and digitisation in the creation of a music export, and the impact of cultural and economic value chains on an Australian music export. The intended outcomes are strategies for improving the audibility and visibility of Australian music within increasingly complex international networks and systems of music production, consumption and governance.Read moreRead less
Globalising the magic system: a history of advertising industry practices in Australia 1959-1989. Some 40,000 Australians are employed in advertising or related industries. But who are they and how do they come up with the campaigns we see on television? Given the impact of globalisation on the industry, exactly how Australian is the Australian advertising industry.
Art precincts and cultural participation in networked public space. This project aims to examine the changing relation between public culture and public space. Cultural activity in the contemporary city is increasingly networked and street-based, manifest in events that use the city as a stage for mass participation in art. This challenges the dominant model of cultural engagement that focuses on activities within cultural institutions located in designated arts precincts. This project will deve ....Art precincts and cultural participation in networked public space. This project aims to examine the changing relation between public culture and public space. Cultural activity in the contemporary city is increasingly networked and street-based, manifest in events that use the city as a stage for mass participation in art. This challenges the dominant model of cultural engagement that focuses on activities within cultural institutions located in designated arts precincts. This project will develop tools for data gathering to map this shift. The analysis is expected to contribute to the evaluation of cultural policy settings and design developments in Australian cities.Read moreRead less
The Maronites of Lebanon: Arab Christians in the Era of ISIS. This project aims to capture ethnographically the way Maronite culture is evolving in response to regional pressures. The Maronites of Lebanon were the dominant community of modern Lebanon. Since the end of the civil war (1975–90), they have lost their economic power to the Sunnis associated with the Gulf capitalism that has rebuilt Lebanon. They have also lost their military and political power to the Shi'a who have accumulated milit ....The Maronites of Lebanon: Arab Christians in the Era of ISIS. This project aims to capture ethnographically the way Maronite culture is evolving in response to regional pressures. The Maronites of Lebanon were the dominant community of modern Lebanon. Since the end of the civil war (1975–90), they have lost their economic power to the Sunnis associated with the Gulf capitalism that has rebuilt Lebanon. They have also lost their military and political power to the Shi'a who have accumulated military strength through their struggle against Israel's occupation and their links to Iran. The Maronites are also declining numerically and, most dramatically today, like all Arab Christians, living with the spectre of Islamic fundamentalism in the region, particularly the threat of ISIS (Islamic State).Read moreRead less
UNESCO and the making of global cultural policy. This project aims to influence global cultural policy and governance and the way 'actors' like UNESCO shape local policy and practice. Focusing on the global South, it will reveal complex connections between levels of governance, documenting and providing guidance on innovative policy approaches for dealing with major social, economic and development challenges. Outcomes will be compelling insights for cultural policy development and implementatio ....UNESCO and the making of global cultural policy. This project aims to influence global cultural policy and governance and the way 'actors' like UNESCO shape local policy and practice. Focusing on the global South, it will reveal complex connections between levels of governance, documenting and providing guidance on innovative policy approaches for dealing with major social, economic and development challenges. Outcomes will be compelling insights for cultural policy development and implementation, and a critical reshaping of global-local cultural dynamics to support sustainable and equitable development in the global South.Read moreRead less
Crucibles of creativity? Australian universities and path-breaking intellectual work. The project will investigate path-breaking creative work by 60-80 Australians working at home and abroad, focusing on the role of Australian universities in forming creative persons and agendas and providing conditions for (or inhibiting) creativity. The practical question is ‘How might the role of universities in path-breaking work be enhanced?'
Globalisation and the formation of meaning: the career of a key concept. How did globalisation become the most powerful buzzword of our time? The project will examine texts, contexts and interview the most prominent globalisation experts in the English-speaking world to develop the first comparative history of the concept.
After the apocalypse: the mediasphere, global crisis and violent ecologies. This project examines the ways in which the media shapes our thinking and practices around crisis. The study focuses particularly on the evolution of a 'crisis consciousness' and the ways in which human desires are implicated in the cultural politics of violence. The study focuses specifically on Australia's participation in post-9/11 conflicts.