Indigenous Placemaking in Central Melbourne: Representations, practices and creative research. This project will contribute to making a place of belonging, gathering and cultural exchange for and with Indignenous Australians in Melbourne, through dialogic research processes aimed at generating a more inclusive and dynamic understanding of Indigenous identity. It will provide a platform for reconciliatory activities in Victoria with the support of Victorian Indigenous Communities, Reconciliation ....Indigenous Placemaking in Central Melbourne: Representations, practices and creative research. This project will contribute to making a place of belonging, gathering and cultural exchange for and with Indignenous Australians in Melbourne, through dialogic research processes aimed at generating a more inclusive and dynamic understanding of Indigenous identity. It will provide a platform for reconciliatory activities in Victoria with the support of Victorian Indigenous Communities, Reconciliation Victoria, and the Melbourne City Council and educate the public regarding the need for such a facility. It will increase Melbourne's national and international profile by contributing to the provision of a world class cultural centre that engages international tourists and informing future institutional programs.Read moreRead less
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provid ....THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provide an integrated research analysis of the extensive, but disparate, archives on Australian modernism. It will communicate its research findings through a new scholarly study, a major large-scale travelling public exhibition, a CD, and a website.Read moreRead less
Reconceptualising Heritage Collections: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Museum Collections and Documentation. Museums worldwide are responding to technical advances in digital media. Collection databases and their availability on the World Wide Web are part of this initiative. The potential scope for collections documentation has been transformed by digital technologies, but in reality this has not been matched by the quality of information held in databases - its relationship to current knowled ....Reconceptualising Heritage Collections: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Museum Collections and Documentation. Museums worldwide are responding to technical advances in digital media. Collection databases and their availability on the World Wide Web are part of this initiative. The potential scope for collections documentation has been transformed by digital technologies, but in reality this has not been matched by the quality of information held in databases - its relationship to current knowledge, the needs of online users and new interdisciplinary approaches to material culture research. This project will reconceptualise museum collections acquisition, documentation practices, create a new multidisciplinary multimedia knowledge structure and reform museum practice to address these issues to greatly enhance the value of collections.Read moreRead less
A history of terra nullius. The concept of 'terra nullius' has been central to debates concerning the land rights of indigenous peoples. The term, however, has been understood almost in an historical vacuum. Partly in consequence, landmark legal rulings supposedly overturning the doctrine of terra nullius have left European colonisers' justifications of their appropriation of land largely conceptually intact. The central innovation of this history will be to show that when terra nullius, prop ....A history of terra nullius. The concept of 'terra nullius' has been central to debates concerning the land rights of indigenous peoples. The term, however, has been understood almost in an historical vacuum. Partly in consequence, landmark legal rulings supposedly overturning the doctrine of terra nullius have left European colonisers' justifications of their appropriation of land largely conceptually intact. The central innovation of this history will be to show that when terra nullius, properly understood, is rejected in order to establish native title, the implications for the European tradition of property rights and human rights more generally will be profound.Read moreRead less
State formation and European expansion. There is a direct national benefit from this research. The aim of an intellectual history of colonisation is to provide an account of what Europeans engaged in expansion understood themselves to be doing. This account explores the justifications and political motivations for expansion and is accordingly of fundamental importance to contemporary legal debates over dispossession and the larger legacy of colonisation.
An intellectual history of theoretical innovation in the Anglo-American Humanities. This project makes an important contribution to the debate over humanities education. Post-structuralist theory in the humanities is attacked by some as modish and lacking in values, and defended by others as supporting critical reflection and progressive political and ethical values. The project explores the degree to which the 'moment of theory' represents the return of earlier European university metaphysics t ....An intellectual history of theoretical innovation in the Anglo-American Humanities. This project makes an important contribution to the debate over humanities education. Post-structuralist theory in the humanities is attacked by some as modish and lacking in values, and defended by others as supporting critical reflection and progressive political and ethical values. The project explores the degree to which the 'moment of theory' represents the return of earlier European university metaphysics to the centre of the humanities curriculum. The project will study these shifts in theory in the humanities and show these to be highly relevant to contemporary debates about teaching and learning.Read moreRead less
Understanding the concept and meaning of freedom in Western history. This project directly engages with current political and social debate and particularly with the National Research Priority 'Safeguarding Australia'. The priority goal 'Understanding our region and the world' is at the heart of the project because it addresses the principal political problem following from September 11, 2001: namely, the price of freedom. The project's principal national benefit will be to use history to chal ....Understanding the concept and meaning of freedom in Western history. This project directly engages with current political and social debate and particularly with the National Research Priority 'Safeguarding Australia'. The priority goal 'Understanding our region and the world' is at the heart of the project because it addresses the principal political problem following from September 11, 2001: namely, the price of freedom. The project's principal national benefit will be to use history to challenge our very understanding of the nature of freedom. The project questions the paradox that freedom can be assured by compromises made in the name of security and that, in this sense, freedom has a 'price'.Read moreRead less
Astride the Wallace Line 2: human evolution, dispersal, culture and environmental change in Southeast Asia. Our previous project on the archaeology and fossil record of Southeast Asia yielded results of international significance, including the discovery of a new human species and dates for major changes in the Indonesian faunal sequence. It also involved collaboration between Australian, Indonesian and Canadian researchers from a range of institutions and disciplines, and provided topics for s ....Astride the Wallace Line 2: human evolution, dispersal, culture and environmental change in Southeast Asia. Our previous project on the archaeology and fossil record of Southeast Asia yielded results of international significance, including the discovery of a new human species and dates for major changes in the Indonesian faunal sequence. It also involved collaboration between Australian, Indonesian and Canadian researchers from a range of institutions and disciplines, and provided topics for six PhD and two MA students. This level of significant research, international collaboration and training will continue with the current project.Read moreRead less
War, Trauma, and Rehabilitation: The Army, Psychiatry, and World War II. This project will examine a key episode in the history of twentieth century psychiatry: the development of new theoretical approaches and treatment methods for war neurosis encountered during World War II. This will be the first in-depth study of the topic and will be conducted from a trans-national perspective, in which the contributions of Australian, British, and American psychiatrists will be analysed. The development o ....War, Trauma, and Rehabilitation: The Army, Psychiatry, and World War II. This project will examine a key episode in the history of twentieth century psychiatry: the development of new theoretical approaches and treatment methods for war neurosis encountered during World War II. This will be the first in-depth study of the topic and will be conducted from a trans-national perspective, in which the contributions of Australian, British, and American psychiatrists will be analysed. The development of psychiatric diagnoses will be analysed in the context of the dynamic relationship between psychiatrists, soldiers, and the army. The outcome will be at least three refereed journal articles and a scholarly monograph.Read moreRead less
The Empire of New Idealism?: Civilisation and Australian New Idealism, 1850-1950. Philosophies, like people and commodities, travel the globe. This project traces the movement of British 'New Idealist' philosophy to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, its transformation into 'Australian New idealism', and return to Britain. It shows how the hopes of these first Australian philosophers for a global community overlapped with politicians and policy makers, and uncovers their shaping role in th ....The Empire of New Idealism?: Civilisation and Australian New Idealism, 1850-1950. Philosophies, like people and commodities, travel the globe. This project traces the movement of British 'New Idealist' philosophy to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, its transformation into 'Australian New idealism', and return to Britain. It shows how the hopes of these first Australian philosophers for a global community overlapped with politicians and policy makers, and uncovers their shaping role in the formulation of many social policies that remain with us today. It places Australian history and research at the heart of a new global vision of New Idealist studies and offers scholars, policy makers and educators the necessary background to more fully articulate Australian understandings of citizenship and civilisation.Read moreRead less