Ten years is enough: the life and afterlife of Rick Farley. This project documents, for the first time, Rick Farley's contribution to our understanding of the urgent questions of Australia's economic, cultural and environmental sustainability. By analysing Farley's advocacy and action at all levels of government and society, and across the political spectrum, it provides a broadly accessible study of the shaping of agendas on these matters. Farley's insistence that community alliances were vit ....Ten years is enough: the life and afterlife of Rick Farley. This project documents, for the first time, Rick Farley's contribution to our understanding of the urgent questions of Australia's economic, cultural and environmental sustainability. By analysing Farley's advocacy and action at all levels of government and society, and across the political spectrum, it provides a broadly accessible study of the shaping of agendas on these matters. Farley's insistence that community alliances were vital to meeting global challenges, magnified by Australia's degraded landscapes and the alienation of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous custodians of those lands, remains as relevant now as it was when he brokered initiatives such as Landcare. Read moreRead less
Seeing Change: Science, Culture and Technology in the Antipodes from the age of Darwin - a multi-media research collaboration. To build a collaboration across the humanities, natural sciences, business technology and public culture sectors that will use new forms of digital and visual research to demonstrate the neglected importance of Australasia in the formation of nineteenth-century evolutionary thought and to suggest the relevance of these ideas to understanding contemporary issues of enviro ....Seeing Change: Science, Culture and Technology in the Antipodes from the age of Darwin - a multi-media research collaboration. To build a collaboration across the humanities, natural sciences, business technology and public culture sectors that will use new forms of digital and visual research to demonstrate the neglected importance of Australasia in the formation of nineteenth-century evolutionary thought and to suggest the relevance of these ideas to understanding contemporary issues of environmental sustainability and the development of frontier technologies within our society and region. Read moreRead less
Scientific voyages in the Antipodes. Thomas Huxley, John McGillivray and the Darwinian Revolution. This project examines the scientific British survey expeditions to Australasia during the nineteenth century. The research focuses on the importance of Australasia in the formation of Darwinism, one of the key scientific and social theories of modern western culture. Environmental change and scientific and cultural heritage in our region will be traced back to these early scientific voyagers.
Droughts and Flooding Rains: El Nino and La Nina Events in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific 1865 - 1903. Historically in Australia and Oceania, droughts and flooding rains have been considered an aberration, but understanding is now emerging that they result from El Nino and La Nina episodes and should be perceived as and planned for as irregular but natural phenomena. This study will expand our knowledge and comprehension of their influence on environments, economies, cultures and n ....Droughts and Flooding Rains: El Nino and La Nina Events in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific 1865 - 1903. Historically in Australia and Oceania, droughts and flooding rains have been considered an aberration, but understanding is now emerging that they result from El Nino and La Nina episodes and should be perceived as and planned for as irregular but natural phenomena. This study will expand our knowledge and comprehension of their influence on environments, economies, cultures and national thinking in our human and environmental history in Australia and the South Pacific, thereby facilitating more appropriate attitudes and a better capacity to plan for and live within environmental realities.Read moreRead less
Deepening Histories of Place: Exploring indigenous landscapes of national and international significance. Deeper knowledge of Australian landscapes and their interconnected histories of place will enhance the social well-being of the Indigenous and wider community. This regional and landscape-focused history project provides quality research outcomes that meet tourism industry demands for deeper historical insights into significant landscapes. Indigenous histories of people and land will be coll ....Deepening Histories of Place: Exploring indigenous landscapes of national and international significance. Deeper knowledge of Australian landscapes and their interconnected histories of place will enhance the social well-being of the Indigenous and wider community. This regional and landscape-focused history project provides quality research outcomes that meet tourism industry demands for deeper historical insights into significant landscapes. Indigenous histories of people and land will be collaboratively researched. This project provides multi-media history training for both PhD students and local Indigenous people. It will see historians and other experts working with parks and major collections institutions towards richer interpretations of landscape. This innovative project renders Australia's complete history more accessible.Read moreRead less
Girls, Empowerment, and Markets in Education: A History of The Mac.Robertsons Girls' High School. With its centenary approaching, the school wants to evaluate its past. In cooperation with RMIT, the writing of a school history can produce three important outcomes. As historian in residence, the doctoral scholar can provide focus for self reflection by the school community. As social history, the work can fill a significant gap in the understanding of publicly funded education in Australia. As co ....Girls, Empowerment, and Markets in Education: A History of The Mac.Robertsons Girls' High School. With its centenary approaching, the school wants to evaluate its past. In cooperation with RMIT, the writing of a school history can produce three important outcomes. As historian in residence, the doctoral scholar can provide focus for self reflection by the school community. As social history, the work can fill a significant gap in the understanding of publicly funded education in Australia. As contribution to policy, it can address two continuing debates: about the place of selective state schools in a national system of education, and about the dynamics of single sex schools, and the education of girls more generally.Read moreRead less
Understanding Japan's human-centred environmentalism. Japanese environmental activism has influenced attitudes and policymaking on the environment in Japan and worldwide for half a century. This project will demonstrate the strengths and limitations of Japan’s human-centred environmentalism and will encourage us to reconsider the tension between human satisfaction and environmental protection.
The Public University in Australasia (1850-1918). Australians need a clear understanding of the fundamental value of universities to their society. This project provides an important historical context to the civic functions of universities, and specifically, aims to enlighten the contemporary debate over the public and private benefits of higher education, the importance of merit-based access, universities as a public investment in the advancement of knowledge, the meaning of benefaction, and t ....The Public University in Australasia (1850-1918). Australians need a clear understanding of the fundamental value of universities to their society. This project provides an important historical context to the civic functions of universities, and specifically, aims to enlighten the contemporary debate over the public and private benefits of higher education, the importance of merit-based access, universities as a public investment in the advancement of knowledge, the meaning of benefaction, and the role of universities in the making of the Australian middle class.
Read moreRead less
The Origins and Effects of the Unified National System of Higher Education in Australia. The project will provide the first systematic and fully documented account of the genesis, aims, authorship, design, negotiation, carriage and implementation of the changes introduced to Australian higher education from 1987 to 1992. In addition, it will evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of these changes in reference to the purpose and rationale of the reforms as presented in the policy documents ....The Origins and Effects of the Unified National System of Higher Education in Australia. The project will provide the first systematic and fully documented account of the genesis, aims, authorship, design, negotiation, carriage and implementation of the changes introduced to Australian higher education from 1987 to 1992. In addition, it will evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of these changes in reference to the purpose and rationale of the reforms as presented in the policy documents of the period. The project will undertake detailed case studies of four Australian universities, tracing how they were affected by the creation of the Unified National System of higher education. This account and analysis of the changes orchestrated by Minister John Dawkins will help inform future higher education policy debate.Read moreRead less
The work and workings of the Masson family. The family is of crucial importance to the social and economic fabric of Australian society. To appreciate the family it is vital to realise how it has developed, that is, to understand its history. This project seeks, by studying a complex and intriguing family, to improve that understanding. It sheds light on how the family has been formed, how and why the relationships between its members have changed, how decisions as to who makes up the members ....The work and workings of the Masson family. The family is of crucial importance to the social and economic fabric of Australian society. To appreciate the family it is vital to realise how it has developed, that is, to understand its history. This project seeks, by studying a complex and intriguing family, to improve that understanding. It sheds light on how the family has been formed, how and why the relationships between its members have changed, how decisions as to who makes up the membership of the family are made, and how the family's development has been affected by economic, political and social pressures.Read moreRead less