Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101251
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,374.00
Summary
The spatial dynamics of myth in Pausanias’ Periegesis. This project aims to use Pausanias' Periegesis (2nd c. AD) to reveal the spatial dynamics of Greek myth when it was still a living tradition. This text shows how myths inhabited the landscapes of ancient Greece and how stories shaped travellers' experiences. The resulting monograph expects to enhance our understanding of the experience of Greek myth and contribute to debates over the interplay between the local and the universal (panhellenic ....The spatial dynamics of myth in Pausanias’ Periegesis. This project aims to use Pausanias' Periegesis (2nd c. AD) to reveal the spatial dynamics of Greek myth when it was still a living tradition. This text shows how myths inhabited the landscapes of ancient Greece and how stories shaped travellers' experiences. The resulting monograph expects to enhance our understanding of the experience of Greek myth and contribute to debates over the interplay between the local and the universal (panhellenic) in antiquity. This study will form the basis for a collaborative symposium and edited collection bringing together scholars working on spatial dynamics of myth in other cultures.Read moreRead less
The Elephant in the Study: Working Latin Literature for the Enslaved. Roman histories, speeches, and plays are conventionally regarded as the works of individual elite male authors such as Cicero, Vergil, and Livy. This project aims to transform our understanding of Roman literature by showing that it was actually written in collaboration with enslaved workers, generating new insights into the creative processes that shaped the Classical literary canon. Expected outcomes include a new approach f ....The Elephant in the Study: Working Latin Literature for the Enslaved. Roman histories, speeches, and plays are conventionally regarded as the works of individual elite male authors such as Cicero, Vergil, and Livy. This project aims to transform our understanding of Roman literature by showing that it was actually written in collaboration with enslaved workers, generating new insights into the creative processes that shaped the Classical literary canon. Expected outcomes include a new approach for understanding how authors work and the discovery of untold stories about the enslaved population of Rome. This should lead to significant benefits for communities, including improved education outcomes and better-informed public debate. Read moreRead less
Protest and Terror: Political Violence in Western Europe after 1968. This project aims to explore how the protest era of the 1960s in Western Europe transformed into a decade of political violence and terror in the 1970s. By undertaking an unprecedented transnational analysis of the history of political violence in France, Italy and West Germany after 1968, the project intends to generate a new understanding of the origins of home-grown terrorism in Europe and the precariousness of democratic st ....Protest and Terror: Political Violence in Western Europe after 1968. This project aims to explore how the protest era of the 1960s in Western Europe transformed into a decade of political violence and terror in the 1970s. By undertaking an unprecedented transnational analysis of the history of political violence in France, Italy and West Germany after 1968, the project intends to generate a new understanding of the origins of home-grown terrorism in Europe and the precariousness of democratic stability. The project aims to place the rise and fall of political terror in a new perspective, via an analysis of a wide variety of forms of violence by individuals, political groups, social movements and states, with significant benefits to understanding similar challenges in the contemporary world.Read moreRead less
Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE). Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those ....Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE). Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those who did not. Understanding how past leaders of the Roman world addressed these crises in practical and rhetorical ways may provide helpful and timely models of what works (and what does not) for contemporary community and political leaders, even in democratic political societies such as Australia.Read moreRead less
The Last Soviet Famine, 1946/47: Drought and food crises in war's aftermath. This project aims to increase our understanding of the relationship between drought and famine by analysing the most recent, though least understood famine in Soviet and Modern European History. This famine followed a massive drought in the summer of 1946 across the western Soviet Union and led to the deaths of at least one million people. This research is timely given the growing threats to food security, markets and t ....The Last Soviet Famine, 1946/47: Drought and food crises in war's aftermath. This project aims to increase our understanding of the relationship between drought and famine by analysing the most recent, though least understood famine in Soviet and Modern European History. This famine followed a massive drought in the summer of 1946 across the western Soviet Union and led to the deaths of at least one million people. This research is timely given the growing threats to food security, markets and trade posed by the increasing incidence of severe and enduring drought in Australia and globally. The expected outcome of this research is to produce new historical knowledge with contemporary application to better inform policy approaches with the expected benefit of reducing the threat of food crises emerging from drought.Read moreRead less
Mussolini and Hitler: fascism, the cultural history of diplomacy and male friendship. The relationship between Mussolini and Hitler was central to the history of the 20th century. The project will study this relationship through the prism of the cultural history of diplomacy and reappraise the central role of male friendship in modern history and politics. In particular, it will broaden our view of German-Italian relations and European fascism. The project will explore the significant alliance b ....Mussolini and Hitler: fascism, the cultural history of diplomacy and male friendship. The relationship between Mussolini and Hitler was central to the history of the 20th century. The project will study this relationship through the prism of the cultural history of diplomacy and reappraise the central role of male friendship in modern history and politics. In particular, it will broaden our view of German-Italian relations and European fascism. The project will explore the significant alliance between the two leaders and their regimes which paved the way for the unprecedented destruction wrought upon Europe and the world during the Second World War. The project will also help us to understand the significance of the interpersonal dynamics of international relations in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.Read moreRead less
The silent wilderness speaks: the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles. When Charles Bean, with his Classical education, wrote about Gallipoli, he imagined it in the context of three millennia of wars and human lives. Bean's historical vision has been lost. Gallipoli has become increasingly important to Australians as a site of national memory and pilgrimage, yet the events of 1915 exist in a bubble, divorced from the historical landscape that spawned them. We will give back to Australi ....The silent wilderness speaks: the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles. When Charles Bean, with his Classical education, wrote about Gallipoli, he imagined it in the context of three millennia of wars and human lives. Bean's historical vision has been lost. Gallipoli has become increasingly important to Australians as a site of national memory and pilgrimage, yet the events of 1915 exist in a bubble, divorced from the historical landscape that spawned them. We will give back to Australians the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, placing a key part of Australia's history in its true geographical context: an area which has been lived in and regularly fought over for thousands of years. Given the significance attached to Gallipoli, the project will also enhance Australian-Turkish relations.Read moreRead less
Memories of utopia: Destroying the past to create the future (300-650 CE). This project aims to examine the evidence for competing utopian ideologies in early Christianity, which was a prelude to the later clash with Islam from the seventh century onward. Evidence from pagan-Jewish-Christian conflicts in Late Antiquity (300-650 CE) shows that violent destruction of the past is not exclusive to fringe religious groups. These past conflicts are relevant for understanding the conflict in the Middle ....Memories of utopia: Destroying the past to create the future (300-650 CE). This project aims to examine the evidence for competing utopian ideologies in early Christianity, which was a prelude to the later clash with Islam from the seventh century onward. Evidence from pagan-Jewish-Christian conflicts in Late Antiquity (300-650 CE) shows that violent destruction of the past is not exclusive to fringe religious groups. These past conflicts are relevant for understanding the conflict in the Middle East, precisely because analysis of the sources shows that, in intra- and inter-religious conflicts in Late Antiquity in this same geographic region, violent destruction of the past was a propensity in mainstream religion.Read moreRead less
Singing the News: Ballads as News Media in Europe and Australia, 1550-1920. This project aims to take advantage of new digitisation projects to reveal how songs in premodern Europe and later in Australia were used for disseminating news to the public. By analysing ballads across four centuries and five languages, the project expects to show how news-songs not only informed the public but also helped to forge national identities by exploiting the emotive and communal nature of song. Expected outc ....Singing the News: Ballads as News Media in Europe and Australia, 1550-1920. This project aims to take advantage of new digitisation projects to reveal how songs in premodern Europe and later in Australia were used for disseminating news to the public. By analysing ballads across four centuries and five languages, the project expects to show how news-songs not only informed the public but also helped to forge national identities by exploiting the emotive and communal nature of song. Expected outcomes include an innovative digital platform offering licensed recordings of ballads, a public exhibition of song treasures in Australian collections, and a re-written history of the news media industry. Benefits may include new insights into how the modern notion of Australian national identity emerged through song.Read moreRead less
Food, drink and sociality in the early Roman Empire and their significance for understanding ancient family and community life. To understand and be secure in the present we must understand the past. The Roman world was multi-cultural and multi-ethnic - a foundation for modern European and Mediterranean cultures. It, therefore, has deep significance for contemporary Australia and its migrant populations. Knowledge of Roman social practices can provide unique insights into issues and dilemmas fac ....Food, drink and sociality in the early Roman Empire and their significance for understanding ancient family and community life. To understand and be secure in the present we must understand the past. The Roman world was multi-cultural and multi-ethnic - a foundation for modern European and Mediterranean cultures. It, therefore, has deep significance for contemporary Australia and its migrant populations. Knowledge of Roman social practices can provide unique insights into issues and dilemmas facing Australian society. Eating behaviours and food practices are of great public interest and understanding the foodways of people in the past is vital to these debates. This project also places Australia at the forefront of archaeological research and guarantees its international prominence in Roman social history.Read moreRead less