Facing new worlds: comparative histories of Australasia and North America. This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of com ....Facing new worlds: comparative histories of Australasia and North America. This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of complex indigenous-settler relations across "New World" sites. The expected outcomes of this project are to promote a deeper appreciation of Australia’s place in a Pacific world with as yet unexplored links to the Americas, and also to model new ways for art history and socio-cultural history to come together to explicate a shared, complicated past.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.
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
Sexual Offences, Legal Responses and Public Perceptions: 1880s-1980s. Testimony of sexual abuse before the current Royal Commission has exposed the historic neglect and cover-up of institutional offences. Yet, to unearth the deeper and wider dimensions of sexual offending requires scholarly historical analysis. This project aims to use qualitative and quantitative analysis to track how and why certain forms of sexual behaviour sparked public concern and provoked legal responses and public inquir ....Sexual Offences, Legal Responses and Public Perceptions: 1880s-1980s. Testimony of sexual abuse before the current Royal Commission has exposed the historic neglect and cover-up of institutional offences. Yet, to unearth the deeper and wider dimensions of sexual offending requires scholarly historical analysis. This project aims to use qualitative and quantitative analysis to track how and why certain forms of sexual behaviour sparked public concern and provoked legal responses and public inquiries from the 1880s to the 1980s. The systematic examination of these patterns through archival and published documents is intended to test the relation between shifting community and political concerns and the conduct of criminal trials.Read moreRead less
An international history of Australian democracy: the impact of Australian innovation overseas and of international human rights in Australia. This project will chart the international career of Australian democracy and the impact of innovations such as manhood suffrage, the Australian ballot, women's rights and industrial arbitration overseas. It will also investigate the impact of new international definitions of human rights on re-shaping Australian democracy after World War Two.
Making torture unthinkable': the international campaign against torture, 1967-1984. How did human rights become such a pervasive global language today, and how has it shaped what states do? This project argues that a movement against torture in the 1970s and 1980s played a key role in shifting global attitudes and creating our current understanding of human rights, and provides the first analysis of how this came to be.
Antipodean America: Australasia, colonialism, and the constitution of US literature. This project will revise the cultural histories of Australia and the United States by showing the broad extent of Australasian influence on the construction of American literature and national identity since the 1780s.
The Idea of American Exceptionalism: A Cultural and Social History. This project addresses current debates over American Exceptionalism (United States historical development considered outside the normal path of history), treating the topic not as a set of substantive empirical propositions to be challenged, but as the cultural and social history of an idea. It aims to show how Exceptionalism evolved, how a cluster of sub-concepts mutually reinforced it and how its attractiveness and its religio ....The Idea of American Exceptionalism: A Cultural and Social History. This project addresses current debates over American Exceptionalism (United States historical development considered outside the normal path of history), treating the topic not as a set of substantive empirical propositions to be challenged, but as the cultural and social history of an idea. It aims to show how Exceptionalism evolved, how a cluster of sub-concepts mutually reinforced it and how its attractiveness and its religious, economic and political content changed over time. This approach analyses the historical conditions promoting (and challenging) Exceptionalism as belief and national identity. It bypasses difficult dichotomies between myth and reality and rancorous political arguments for and against the concept.Read moreRead less
Motoring On? A New History of the U.S. Car Industry since 1900. This project aims to provide a new history of the U.S. car industry between 1900 and 2020. America was the industry’s birthplace, and the car is integral to national identity and history. Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. was the world's biggest auto market, and today it has almost as many cars as people. For decades, the auto sector was central to policy-making; today it is integral to Climate Change. The intended outcome ....Motoring On? A New History of the U.S. Car Industry since 1900. This project aims to provide a new history of the U.S. car industry between 1900 and 2020. America was the industry’s birthplace, and the car is integral to national identity and history. Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. was the world's biggest auto market, and today it has almost as many cars as people. For decades, the auto sector was central to policy-making; today it is integral to Climate Change. The intended outcome is the first comprehensive history that blends the perspective of business and labor, rather than treating them separately, and the first history that covers the domestic and foreign-owned sectors. Its central question interrogates how this industry assumed - and maintained - a prominent place in American life.Read moreRead less
Extinction, Survival, Resurgence: Indigenous and colonial histories. This project aims to investigate the histories of Indigenous communities deemed extinct by Europeans in the wake of settler colonisation but who maintain they have survived with renewed cultures. With a focus on Tasmania and Newfoundland, Canada, the project examines archival material alongside the lived experiences of Indigenous communities to advance understandings of extinction and survival at a time of rapid environmental c ....Extinction, Survival, Resurgence: Indigenous and colonial histories. This project aims to investigate the histories of Indigenous communities deemed extinct by Europeans in the wake of settler colonisation but who maintain they have survived with renewed cultures. With a focus on Tasmania and Newfoundland, Canada, the project examines archival material alongside the lived experiences of Indigenous communities to advance understandings of extinction and survival at a time of rapid environmental change. Outcomes include enhanced capacity to build collaborations with international first nation communities, institutions and researchers. New digital tools making historical materials accessible to Indigenous Australians and cultural institutions will significantly benefit cultural and language renewal.Read moreRead less