Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its gi ....Cultural defences against slavery and trafficking. This project aims to study an African slave, Josefa, whose story could inform a debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive her Sierra Leonean initiation rites. This project will use archival research and filmed oral interviews to discover how and why she managed to do this. Since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and its girls were enslaved in the civil war, this project could offer insight into defences against slavery, and the slave trade’s legacies. This could inform the fight against human trafficking today and Australia’s response to trafficking.Read moreRead less
Religion and Political Transformation: A Transnational Study of South American Independence, 1750-1840. This pathbreaking international research project strongly contributes to the internationalisation of Australian humanities and social science research. It ensures Australia's substantial participation in seminal intellectual debates during the approaching bicentenaries of the birth of modernity in Spain and Latin America. It guarantees that Australia will not become just a consumer of overseas ....Religion and Political Transformation: A Transnational Study of South American Independence, 1750-1840. This pathbreaking international research project strongly contributes to the internationalisation of Australian humanities and social science research. It ensures Australia's substantial participation in seminal intellectual debates during the approaching bicentenaries of the birth of modernity in Spain and Latin America. It guarantees that Australia will not become just a consumer of overseas research in this field. It renews Australia's intellectual and cultural capital in Iberian and Latin American Studies at a crucial moment of generational change. It contributes to an understanding of the generic links between religious radicalism and political violence in an age of fast-moving, global transformation.Read moreRead less
Interrogating the Book of Negroes:explorations of slavery and freedom in the Atlantic world in the era of the American Revolution. Australia is a close political ally of the United States and an avid consumer of their culture, so it is important we be contributors to American culture and society, not simply passive recipients of its products. Since Rhys Issac won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983, Australians have shown they can be at the cutting edge of American intellectual life, demonstrating an inn ....Interrogating the Book of Negroes:explorations of slavery and freedom in the Atlantic world in the era of the American Revolution. Australia is a close political ally of the United States and an avid consumer of their culture, so it is important we be contributors to American culture and society, not simply passive recipients of its products. Since Rhys Issac won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983, Australians have shown they can be at the cutting edge of American intellectual life, demonstrating an innovative engagement with the historical processes that formed this powerful nation. A project led by Australian scholars to examine the paradox of liberty in the nation's founding will further enhance the international profile of Australian scholars, thus attracting more overseas university students, who represent a significant source of export income.Read moreRead less
The International Context of American Conservation Policy, c. 1900-1920. This project provides historical depth to current global concerns on resource depletion in fossil fuels, and to the clamour for international environmental cooperation that is of vital interest to Australia. It will explains why and how earlier concerns arose, and how these were allayed or deflected. It will highlight the importance of cultural rather than scientific issues in these controversies, showing how the American ....The International Context of American Conservation Policy, c. 1900-1920. This project provides historical depth to current global concerns on resource depletion in fossil fuels, and to the clamour for international environmental cooperation that is of vital interest to Australia. It will explains why and how earlier concerns arose, and how these were allayed or deflected. It will highlight the importance of cultural rather than scientific issues in these controversies, showing how the American political system generated interest in international environmental problems, and yet made agreements difficult to achieve. It will deepen knowledge, enrich cultural understanding of the United States and contribute to Australia's international research profile in the field.Read moreRead less
Air war and collateral damage: The fate of Antwerp, Belgium, 1943-45. Operations in the Gulf and Balkans have caused collateral damage to receive much scrutiny from the Australian press and public opinion. The project aims at contributing to a better informed public discourse on the phenomenon by putting the issue of decision making and human repercussions in historical perspective. What gives the project still more relevance is that Australia's forces were involved over Antwerp sixty years ago ....Air war and collateral damage: The fate of Antwerp, Belgium, 1943-45. Operations in the Gulf and Balkans have caused collateral damage to receive much scrutiny from the Australian press and public opinion. The project aims at contributing to a better informed public discourse on the phenomenon by putting the issue of decision making and human repercussions in historical perspective. What gives the project still more relevance is that Australia's forces were involved over Antwerp sixty years ago as they are in the Gulf today. The project may thus contribute also to heightened Australian awareness of the need to balance security objectives abroad with minimizing civilian casualties so as to protect political capital.Read moreRead less
Year of the riot: Harlem, 1935. Using a website to reconstruct Harlem and map the events of the 1935 riot, this project reveals the dynamics of the first instance of a new kind of racial violence-against police and property rather than between blacks and whites-and the impact of the Depression on African Americans.
Black America and the Korean War: Race, War, and Desegregation. This project aims to provide the first detailed analysis of African Americans in the Korean War. In so doing it will generate new knowledge on the Korean War, the African American military experience, the Black struggle for civil rights, and the complex relationship between race and US foreign policy. Along with a deeper understanding of a conflict that has been overshadowed in popular memory by World War 2 and the Vietnam War, but ....Black America and the Korean War: Race, War, and Desegregation. This project aims to provide the first detailed analysis of African Americans in the Korean War. In so doing it will generate new knowledge on the Korean War, the African American military experience, the Black struggle for civil rights, and the complex relationship between race and US foreign policy. Along with a deeper understanding of a conflict that has been overshadowed in popular memory by World War 2 and the Vietnam War, but which remains a source of international tension, expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of the intersection between the African American military experience and US international power. These outcomes will be disseminated via a scholarly monograph, journal articles, and a popular, non-scholarly book. Read moreRead less
War stories and the meaning of the American Revolution. This project aims to understand the role of memory and war in nation-making, particularly in the founding of the United States. The American Revolution defined the American nation. The common view of it is dominated by images of patriotic citizens rising up together against the yoke of British tyranny to establish a democracy. However, it was also a protracted, divisive and bloody War for Independence and many contemporaries called it a civ ....War stories and the meaning of the American Revolution. This project aims to understand the role of memory and war in nation-making, particularly in the founding of the United States. The American Revolution defined the American nation. The common view of it is dominated by images of patriotic citizens rising up together against the yoke of British tyranny to establish a democracy. However, it was also a protracted, divisive and bloody War for Independence and many contemporaries called it a civil war. This project will examine the neglected memoirs of ordinary Americans in the early republic. Understanding how participants made sense of this conflict can show how war, memory and history create nations and sustain and enrich citizenship in democracies.Read moreRead less
The Making of Black Manhattan. This application stakes a claim for the importance of Australian scholarship in understanding the world's leading nation and our most important ally. It is vital that Australian perspectives shape the way we understand other cultures. This project will ensure that Australian scholars are at the cutting edge of the discipline, contributing to developments in the writing of history, demonstrating new and exciting ways of engaging with the past, rather than merely bei ....The Making of Black Manhattan. This application stakes a claim for the importance of Australian scholarship in understanding the world's leading nation and our most important ally. It is vital that Australian perspectives shape the way we understand other cultures. This project will ensure that Australian scholars are at the cutting edge of the discipline, contributing to developments in the writing of history, demonstrating new and exciting ways of engaging with the past, rather than merely being passive consumers of American scholarship. Read moreRead less
The revolution in Black American life: memory and history in the making of African America. The American Revolution has shaped the United States and the world in which we now live in profound ways. Understanding how that event has been remembered, commemorated and invoked by successive generations of African-Americans is critical in comprehending the role of memory and history in the business of nation-making, citizenship and democracy.