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.
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Managing trust: a comparative historical study of political accountability in Australia. Some Australian political leaders have acknowledged a crisis in their trust relationship with voters and seek ways to fix it. By historicising the 'crisis of trust' thesis, and testing its assumptions, I expect to demonstrate that, far from being alienated from voters, representatives both reflect and shape society's notions of trustworthiness. This knowledge offers political leaders new ways of approaching ....Managing trust: a comparative historical study of political accountability in Australia. Some Australian political leaders have acknowledged a crisis in their trust relationship with voters and seek ways to fix it. By historicising the 'crisis of trust' thesis, and testing its assumptions, I expect to demonstrate that, far from being alienated from voters, representatives both reflect and shape society's notions of trustworthiness. This knowledge offers political leaders new ways of approaching their relationships with voters in order to redress the trust dilemma. It also provides fresh, more positive ways of conceptualising trust relations generally, offering a way forward from the present cynicism, for a variety of trust relationships to be made anew.Read moreRead less
Eternal Vigilance: A History of the Returned Serices League of Australia. The history will provide a better understanding of what has been, throughout most of the twentieth century, an extremely influential and powerful institution with close connections to government, an active and vociferous membership, and the ability to command considerable press attention. Its history, oddly, has been poorly understood. The work will also inform contemporary concerns with "exclusionary nationalism" and the ....Eternal Vigilance: A History of the Returned Serices League of Australia. The history will provide a better understanding of what has been, throughout most of the twentieth century, an extremely influential and powerful institution with close connections to government, an active and vociferous membership, and the ability to command considerable press attention. Its history, oddly, has been poorly understood. The work will also inform contemporary concerns with "exclusionary nationalism" and the treatment of minorities in wartime. In light of recent international conflict and the potential for internal social and ethnic conflict, analysis of the discourse and politics of "loyalism" and their potentially marginalising effects on dissident groups seems especially socially important and relevant.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354463
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Australia Research Network: Integrating and Value Adding Australian Research through Production, Enhancement and Communications Capacities, across the Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts. The proposed SRI brings together research leaders from across 22 Universities and multiple disciplines including history, politics, anthropology, international relations, law, education and studies in culture, society, media, communications, migration, gender, regionalism, heritage, and Indigenous societies. ....Australia Research Network: Integrating and Value Adding Australian Research through Production, Enhancement and Communications Capacities, across the Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts. The proposed SRI brings together research leaders from across 22 Universities and multiple disciplines including history, politics, anthropology, international relations, law, education and studies in culture, society, media, communications, migration, gender, regionalism, heritage, and Indigenous societies. Outcomes include masterclasses and workshops aimed at training team members and mentoring graduate and postdoctoral researchers. The project involves the migration of the management of the Australian Public Intellectual Network http://www.api-network.com to the SRI, which will become its primary stakeholder and developer. It is justified in terms of its delivery of new technologies for the innovative advancement of research into Australia.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0237401
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
Unlocking Regional Memory: An Electronic Archive Network. This project will enhance access to extensive records in four NSW regional archives. These designated regional repositories include holdings that can greatly enlarge our knowledge of Australian history and society. We aim to develop a detailed, uniform and cross-referenced Web-based electronic inventory of their collections using proven software. Furthermore, high-demand collections will be digitised and marked on the inventory, while rem ....Unlocking Regional Memory: An Electronic Archive Network. This project will enhance access to extensive records in four NSW regional archives. These designated regional repositories include holdings that can greatly enlarge our knowledge of Australian history and society. We aim to develop a detailed, uniform and cross-referenced Web-based electronic inventory of their collections using proven software. Furthermore, high-demand collections will be digitised and marked on the inventory, while remaining collections will be digitised on request. This project will facilitate intensive research, provide a technologically innovative solution to the problem of archival access until now limited by distance, and create a cooperative regional archival network.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561111
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$146,672.00
Summary
Digitising Global Memory. Having successfully completed our LIEF-funded pilot program to upgrade description standards, digitise selected records and improve distance access to NSW regional archives. We now seek funding to capitalise on our innovations by: extending description standards of NSW regional archives to enhance their searchability; enhancing their international recognition at name and entity level through connectivity with160,000 entities in the British Historic Manuscripts Commissio ....Digitising Global Memory. Having successfully completed our LIEF-funded pilot program to upgrade description standards, digitise selected records and improve distance access to NSW regional archives. We now seek funding to capitalise on our innovations by: extending description standards of NSW regional archives to enhance their searchability; enhancing their international recognition at name and entity level through connectivity with160,000 entities in the British Historic Manuscripts Commission; exploring links with the National Archives of Malaysia; and developing an electronic archives teaching subject at the University of Wollongong.Read moreRead less
A Land Fit for Heroes. A Social, Cultural and Environmental History of Soldier Settlement in New South Wales, 1916-1939. The digger has an iconographic status in Australian society; thousands of families have charted the service records of relatives who served in the first AIF. This project will recover the returned soldier as important an historical entity as the men (and women) who went to war. It will look at ways our society tried to recover from the trauma of war, examine our veterans' r ....A Land Fit for Heroes. A Social, Cultural and Environmental History of Soldier Settlement in New South Wales, 1916-1939. The digger has an iconographic status in Australian society; thousands of families have charted the service records of relatives who served in the first AIF. This project will recover the returned soldier as important an historical entity as the men (and women) who went to war. It will look at ways our society tried to recover from the trauma of war, examine our veterans' return to Australia and their difficult readjustment to civil society. Soldier settlers faced a new battle in opening up the land. Like many in regional NSW today, they struggled against isolation, drought and financial hardship. This project will evaluate the role soldier settlement played in populating remote districts and assess its long-term environmental costs.Read moreRead less
The culture of war: private life and sentiment in Australia 1914-18. This study has the potential to place Australia at the forefront of a new theoretical approach to civilian agency in total war, and enhance the national reputation for important scholarship in a field dominated by international scholars. Also, while war has been central to Australian notions of identity, our sense of 'war' is intimately connected to the front-line, and not to the homefront. This study will help reorient academi ....The culture of war: private life and sentiment in Australia 1914-18. This study has the potential to place Australia at the forefront of a new theoretical approach to civilian agency in total war, and enhance the national reputation for important scholarship in a field dominated by international scholars. Also, while war has been central to Australian notions of identity, our sense of 'war' is intimately connected to the front-line, and not to the homefront. This study will help reorient academic and popular attention back to the importance of the homefront in Australia's experience of 1914-18. At a time when Australians are increasingly interested in family links with the war, this project will provide a greater appreciation of the war's effects on Australia nationally and on the most personal levels.Read moreRead less
Citizenship, Governance and Gender: Chinese Women in Political Action. The project provides the first book-length analysis of Chinese women's involvement in politics in Greater China (PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ROC) since 1900. Currently, Chinese women's participation within formal, informal and civil society politics is poorly understood. My project examines crucial interactions between discursive notions of citizenship and gender in the Chinese cultural context. I also provide a comprehensive exa ....Citizenship, Governance and Gender: Chinese Women in Political Action. The project provides the first book-length analysis of Chinese women's involvement in politics in Greater China (PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ROC) since 1900. Currently, Chinese women's participation within formal, informal and civil society politics is poorly understood. My project examines crucial interactions between discursive notions of citizenship and gender in the Chinese cultural context. I also provide a comprehensive examination of structural factors influencing women's political engagement. My project will be the first in Chinese Studies to adapt western notions of gender, citizenship and ideologies of governance to understandings of Chinese women in politics.Read moreRead less
Community and Governance; Urban Activism in Melbourne in the 1960s and beyond. As the economy of Melbourne's central and inner areas has been transformed over the last three decades, conflicts over urban redevelopment have impacted significantly on governance, urban policies and inner city communities. By studying the new generation of activists attracted to Melbourne's working class suburbs in the 1960s, this project will push beyond gentrification interpretations of urban change to examine th ....Community and Governance; Urban Activism in Melbourne in the 1960s and beyond. As the economy of Melbourne's central and inner areas has been transformed over the last three decades, conflicts over urban redevelopment have impacted significantly on governance, urban policies and inner city communities. By studying the new generation of activists attracted to Melbourne's working class suburbs in the 1960s, this project will push beyond gentrification interpretations of urban change to examine the motivations of activists and the process of forging partipatory structures of governance and community partnerships. The project will assess the significance of this period of transition for managing urban development in the new millennium.Read moreRead less