Spectacle and Multimedia in Late-Eighteenth-Century Europe: a programme of written and multi-media histories. I aim to demonstrate that Philippe de Loutherbourg, an eighteenth-century European artist and set-designer, pioneered revolutionary developments in the technology and culture of multi-media through the agency of 'spectacles.' These multi-sensory displays for entertainment and knowledge foreshadow the advent of modern cinema and multimedia, and suggest new ways of praticing history throug ....Spectacle and Multimedia in Late-Eighteenth-Century Europe: a programme of written and multi-media histories. I aim to demonstrate that Philippe de Loutherbourg, an eighteenth-century European artist and set-designer, pioneered revolutionary developments in the technology and culture of multi-media through the agency of 'spectacles.' These multi-sensory displays for entertainment and knowledge foreshadow the advent of modern cinema and multimedia, and suggest new ways of praticing history through multimedia re-creations.Read moreRead less
Civilisation, Masculinity, and the Body. By considering their relationship to broader Western concerns, this project examines the deep cultural origins of Australian masculinity and national identity. Much of the bush myth and the Anzac legend are grounded in assumptions that `true' manhood thrives outside of soft, sedentary and unhealthy cities, either in playing fields, battlefields, or the bush. Since Australia experienced growing anxieties about urban life and emphasized the importance of ph ....Civilisation, Masculinity, and the Body. By considering their relationship to broader Western concerns, this project examines the deep cultural origins of Australian masculinity and national identity. Much of the bush myth and the Anzac legend are grounded in assumptions that `true' manhood thrives outside of soft, sedentary and unhealthy cities, either in playing fields, battlefields, or the bush. Since Australia experienced growing anxieties about urban life and emphasized the importance of physical development along with most other Western countries, a project such as this helps situate this national experience within a broader cultural development. This is on the forefront of new scholarship that integrates the Australian experience with global culture.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. Emotions change over time; yet the long-term causes and consequences of changing emotional experiences and expressions remain largely unknown. This Centre will revolutionize research in the Humanities and Creative Arts by initiating innovative research collaborations across many disciplines to account for long-term changes and continuities in emotional regimes in Europe 1100-1800. For the first time we will fully analyse the social, cultural ....ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. Emotions change over time; yet the long-term causes and consequences of changing emotional experiences and expressions remain largely unknown. This Centre will revolutionize research in the Humanities and Creative Arts by initiating innovative research collaborations across many disciplines to account for long-term changes and continuities in emotional regimes in Europe 1100-1800. For the first time we will fully analyse the social, cultural and political effects of mass emotional events. Links with cultural industry partners in art, drama and music will enable reflective performance research on communication of emotions, and illuminate the Western cultural foundations of emotions in modern Australia.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
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
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
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
A history of the Anglo-German relationship. This project will offer a new interpretation of the Anglo-German relationship in the modern era. It will examine interdependence and conflict between Britain and Germany in an in-depth case study, challenging the established pattern of two parallel national historiographies. This will lead to the first comprehensive new Anglo-German history since the 1980s.