Cities of Words: Women's cultures of reading and writing in colonial Melbourne and beyond. This project will promote community awareness of the honour bestowed upon Melbourne and Australia by the United Nations, by uncovering the foundations of Melbourne's literary cultures and situating them nationally and internationally. By showing that Melbourne has ever been a city of words it will provide impetus for present and future literary activity, and enhance the understanding of the cultural life o ....Cities of Words: Women's cultures of reading and writing in colonial Melbourne and beyond. This project will promote community awareness of the honour bestowed upon Melbourne and Australia by the United Nations, by uncovering the foundations of Melbourne's literary cultures and situating them nationally and internationally. By showing that Melbourne has ever been a city of words it will provide impetus for present and future literary activity, and enhance the understanding of the cultural life of the city and the country. It takes part in an international conversation about the transcultural importance of books, reading and writing, staking a claim for Melbourne, and Australia, in the global exchange of ideas.Read moreRead less
Face to Face with Asia: Australia, the Colombo Plan and the Asian Engagement Debate, 1950-1975. This project will be the first comprehensive study of Australia's involvement in the Colombo Plan for aid to South and Southeast Asia. It will examine this involvement as a central part of Australia's engagement with Asia in the postwar period. It will do so under three main headings: Australian foreign policy; cultural diplomacy; and the internationalisation of higher education. The project will be i ....Face to Face with Asia: Australia, the Colombo Plan and the Asian Engagement Debate, 1950-1975. This project will be the first comprehensive study of Australia's involvement in the Colombo Plan for aid to South and Southeast Asia. It will examine this involvement as a central part of Australia's engagement with Asia in the postwar period. It will do so under three main headings: Australian foreign policy; cultural diplomacy; and the internationalisation of higher education. The project will be innovative in bridging the gap between histories of Australian foreign policy and cultural histories of Australian-Asian relations. It will provide an excellent foundation for on-going research into the consequent reconfiguring of our identity as an Asia-Pacific nation.Read moreRead less
The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. A new single volume biography of Alfred Deakin will make this most intriguing and influential of Australia's early Prime Ministers available to contemporary readers (including politicians, policy makers, journalists, teachers, broadcasters, and the politically engaged public). It will re-enliven his place in Australians' political memory and imagination so that knowledge of his achievements and limitations will inform the choices facing contemporary Australia and enlarge ....The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. A new single volume biography of Alfred Deakin will make this most intriguing and influential of Australia's early Prime Ministers available to contemporary readers (including politicians, policy makers, journalists, teachers, broadcasters, and the politically engaged public). It will re-enliven his place in Australians' political memory and imagination so that knowledge of his achievements and limitations will inform the choices facing contemporary Australia and enlarge their understanding of the possibilities of politics. It will also provide the basis for further exploration of his life and influence in other media, such as film, television and radio.Read moreRead less
Understanding a changing Australia: Ordinary people's politics. This project will use a body of interview material collected in the late 1980s supplemented with new material (to be collected) to investigate how Australians have made sense of the social and political changes of the past two decades. In particular it will focus on: how individual Australians construct their sense of moral community, their expectations of the role of government, and how they have negotiated the shift from an expli ....Understanding a changing Australia: Ordinary people's politics. This project will use a body of interview material collected in the late 1980s supplemented with new material (to be collected) to investigate how Australians have made sense of the social and political changes of the past two decades. In particular it will focus on: how individual Australians construct their sense of moral community, their expectations of the role of government, and how they have negotiated the shift from an explicitly white, British national identity to a multicultural one, their understandings of settler-indigenous relations. It will integrate these responses with analysis of their life histories and characteristic political ideologies.Read moreRead less
Australian politicians and the uses of history: from Federation to the present. While competing interpretations of Australian history occasionally attract controversy, there is a need for a comprehensive analysis, over time, of the significance of histories and history-making for Australian politicians. In taking the longer view of Australian political speech and thought since the Federation, this study will provide a stronger foundation for both political engagement with historical themes and p ....Australian politicians and the uses of history: from Federation to the present. While competing interpretations of Australian history occasionally attract controversy, there is a need for a comprehensive analysis, over time, of the significance of histories and history-making for Australian politicians. In taking the longer view of Australian political speech and thought since the Federation, this study will provide a stronger foundation for both political engagement with historical themes and public appreciation of the continuing role of history in contemporary policy debates. It will add depth to public understanding of political dialogue and how it is informed by national and international histories.Read moreRead less
Gough Whitlam: People, Party, Politics. This project will be the first contemporary, definitive, biographical study of Gough Whitlam. The biography is part of a broader multimedia platform proposed by the project, enabling access to a range of archival materials on Whitlam, family and colleagues, drawing on its unprecedented access to manuscripts, archival material and the subject himself, together with the creation of an extensive Oral History collection. This project provides a unique opportu ....Gough Whitlam: People, Party, Politics. This project will be the first contemporary, definitive, biographical study of Gough Whitlam. The biography is part of a broader multimedia platform proposed by the project, enabling access to a range of archival materials on Whitlam, family and colleagues, drawing on its unprecedented access to manuscripts, archival material and the subject himself, together with the creation of an extensive Oral History collection. This project provides a unique opportunity to examine Australian political and cultural developments in the twentieth century through the life of one of its most significant public figures.Read moreRead less
Gough Whitlam: A Living Democracy. This project will contribute to knowledge of a significant public figure, the former Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, his government and his life after politics. This second volume of the Whitlam biography will complete the definitive, contemporary, biographical study of him. It will create an original store of knowledge through its extensive interviews with key individuals including Gough Whitlam that will augment the Oral History collection held by the Na ....Gough Whitlam: A Living Democracy. This project will contribute to knowledge of a significant public figure, the former Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, his government and his life after politics. This second volume of the Whitlam biography will complete the definitive, contemporary, biographical study of him. It will create an original store of knowledge through its extensive interviews with key individuals including Gough Whitlam that will augment the Oral History collection held by the National Library of Australia. The project will also generate a unique multimedia platform for researchers to access digitized research materials repurposed through the Whitlam section of the Prime Ministers web-site with the National Archives of Australia.Read moreRead less
Reason in Revolt: The Role of Intellectuals in Australian Radicalism. The project aims to produce new ways of understanding and interpreting the role of intellectuals in the development of Australian political radicalism during the period 1872 to 2000. By digitizing a sizeable and representative data base of primary source materials produced by radical intellectuals, the Chief Investigators will be able to investigate these texts in innovative ways, producing a co-authored monograph and other re ....Reason in Revolt: The Role of Intellectuals in Australian Radicalism. The project aims to produce new ways of understanding and interpreting the role of intellectuals in the development of Australian political radicalism during the period 1872 to 2000. By digitizing a sizeable and representative data base of primary source materials produced by radical intellectuals, the Chief Investigators will be able to investigate these texts in innovative ways, producing a co-authored monograph and other research that will provide an improved understanding of Australia's past, present and possible futures. Secondary outcomes will include the establishment of a substantial on-line collection of radical political primary source material, with scholarly commentary and analysis, easily accessible to other researchers.Read moreRead less
Australia's post-Second World War reconstruction reassessed, 1941-1949. The project will provide a better understanding of a major phase of Australian history. While there is substantial awareness of the national effort in the Second World War, the magnitude of the commitment to apply the same spirit to secure peace and redeem sacrifice is less widely recognised. This project will assess the substantial innovation in national government to meet augmented expectations and explore the domestic and ....Australia's post-Second World War reconstruction reassessed, 1941-1949. The project will provide a better understanding of a major phase of Australian history. While there is substantial awareness of the national effort in the Second World War, the magnitude of the commitment to apply the same spirit to secure peace and redeem sacrifice is less widely recognised. This project will assess the substantial innovation in national government to meet augmented expectations and explore the domestic and international context of such actions. It will thus enhance awareness of mid-century social, political and cultural transitions, particularly as they relate to issues that continue to shape our national and international experience.Read moreRead less