Connections/Disconnections: Australia - India comparative studies. A program of staff and postgraduate exchanges to build systematic research links between the Universities of Wollongong and Madras in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Current Wollongong projects will benefit from access to the Centre for Indian Studies and Madras will be able to develop further its Centre for Australian Studies.
The project will explore several historical, social and cultural connections between both countrie ....Connections/Disconnections: Australia - India comparative studies. A program of staff and postgraduate exchanges to build systematic research links between the Universities of Wollongong and Madras in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Current Wollongong projects will benefit from access to the Centre for Indian Studies and Madras will be able to develop further its Centre for Australian Studies.
The project will explore several historical, social and cultural connections between both countries, viz.:
- relations between Indian and Australian troops in the First world war
- comparisons of negotiations between the state and indigenous minorities
-textiles, trade and postcolonial texts
-comparative labour studies
-the writing of David Malouf
Outcomes will include:
- research papers,
- an international conference and proceedings,
- M.Phil and Doctoral theses,
- a reader on Australian Studies for Indian students.Read moreRead less
Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imaginati ....Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imagination, and bridging social, temporal and geographical distances between people. This research will strengthen the nation's social fabric by promoting inter-racial understanding, and by adding historical depth to present thinking about contemporary Aboriginal attitudes to literacy.Read moreRead less
Grounded Cosmopolitanism and Branded Cities: Australia, Europe and Asia. This project builds on contemporary debates in the social sciences and humanities to forge a new understanding of city identity and the experience of urban residency in key global regions, Australia and Asia, and Europe. It will explore the ways in which regional assumptions can be tested in other locations, against other ecologies of residence, and within other trajectories of theoretical design. It will foster excellent n ....Grounded Cosmopolitanism and Branded Cities: Australia, Europe and Asia. This project builds on contemporary debates in the social sciences and humanities to forge a new understanding of city identity and the experience of urban residency in key global regions, Australia and Asia, and Europe. It will explore the ways in which regional assumptions can be tested in other locations, against other ecologies of residence, and within other trajectories of theoretical design. It will foster excellent new Australian researchers in order to develop postdoctoral research, extending Australian potential for international and regional research leadership.Read moreRead less
Cross-cultural 'larrikins' in a Neo-liberal world: ideology and myth in postmodern Australia, Mexico and Brazil. This project will help to re-frame the Ozzie 'larrikin' as a cross-cultural mediator, a complex, inclusive figure able to draw together the many strands of multicultural Australia. At the same time it will help Australian business in Latin America by pointing out misleading assumptions about culture in management training, proposing in their stead a more flexible, better-informed and ....Cross-cultural 'larrikins' in a Neo-liberal world: ideology and myth in postmodern Australia, Mexico and Brazil. This project will help to re-frame the Ozzie 'larrikin' as a cross-cultural mediator, a complex, inclusive figure able to draw together the many strands of multicultural Australia. At the same time it will help Australian business in Latin America by pointing out misleading assumptions about culture in management training, proposing in their stead a more flexible, better-informed and thoroughly contemporary approach, through which Australian business people can be more sensitive and effective, economically successful, and ambassadors for their country. Read moreRead less
Open Cities: urban citizenship in Sydney and Berlin. This collaboration will contribute directly to National Research Priority "Safeguarding Australia: Understanding our region and the world". By analysing the differential dynamics of cultural citizenship in global cities such as Sydney, researchers, community service providers and policymakers will be given contemporary knowledge to invigorate their efforts to create and maintain a shared sense of security and belonging in a highly diverse cont ....Open Cities: urban citizenship in Sydney and Berlin. This collaboration will contribute directly to National Research Priority "Safeguarding Australia: Understanding our region and the world". By analysing the differential dynamics of cultural citizenship in global cities such as Sydney, researchers, community service providers and policymakers will be given contemporary knowledge to invigorate their efforts to create and maintain a shared sense of security and belonging in a highly diverse context. Drawing upon the latest research from European contexts will add rigour and validity to the research program and open opportunities for connecting with emerging EU research priorities concerned with managing identity formation across national boundaries.Read moreRead less
Culture in Transition: Creative Labour and Social Mobilities in the Asian Century. Australia's role in the Asian region is changing with the rise of China and India. This Project will benefit Australian communities by increasing knowledge about how the emergence of these nations impacts upon economic growth and innovation, intercultural relations and efforts of social inclusion. The Project will develop new media strategies to inform citizens about how labour relations and mobilities are shiftin ....Culture in Transition: Creative Labour and Social Mobilities in the Asian Century. Australia's role in the Asian region is changing with the rise of China and India. This Project will benefit Australian communities by increasing knowledge about how the emergence of these nations impacts upon economic growth and innovation, intercultural relations and efforts of social inclusion. The Project will develop new media strategies to inform citizens about how labour relations and mobilities are shifting in this regional context. It will also increase public awareness of the changing forms of global urbanism in Chinese and Indian cities and reposition Australian cultural research and policy in ways adequate to the economic and social challenges posed by the so-called Asian century.Read moreRead less
Bubbles on the surface: a place pedagogy of the Narran Lakes. The project will provide Aboriginal, ecological humanities, and pedagogical input into the problem of environmental sustainability in the Murray-Darling Basin, complementing current physical science initiatives. It will have immediate national benefit in the production of educational resources based on alternative and previously invisible stories of water in the Narran Lakes area, an icon site in the Murray-Darling Basin. The finding ....Bubbles on the surface: a place pedagogy of the Narran Lakes. The project will provide Aboriginal, ecological humanities, and pedagogical input into the problem of environmental sustainability in the Murray-Darling Basin, complementing current physical science initiatives. It will have immediate national benefit in the production of educational resources based on alternative and previously invisible stories of water in the Narran Lakes area, an icon site in the Murray-Darling Basin. The findings will have longer term national benefit by identifying the elements of a general pedagogy of place, drawn from the specific local case study of the Narran Lakes, which will be applied in adult and community education.Read moreRead less
Transnational Affect and the Moral Economies of Temporary Skilled Migration of South Indians to Australia. India is expected to surpass China soon as Australia's third largest migration source after New Zealand and the United Kingdom. A majority of Indian migrants to Australia work in highly skilled occupations, a large proportion of whom arrive on a temporary skilled migration visa (457). There is intense international competition for these highly educated and skilled migrant workers and this m ....Transnational Affect and the Moral Economies of Temporary Skilled Migration of South Indians to Australia. India is expected to surpass China soon as Australia's third largest migration source after New Zealand and the United Kingdom. A majority of Indian migrants to Australia work in highly skilled occupations, a large proportion of whom arrive on a temporary skilled migration visa (457). There is intense international competition for these highly educated and skilled migrant workers and this migration category represents a major new direction in Australia's migration policy. The proposed study will provide significant insights for policy makers into the impacts of the new temporary skilled migration scheme on both the temporary migrants and the wider Australian community. Read moreRead less
Creative Misreadings of Christianity in Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture. The project will intensify understanding of Asian interpretations of Western culture, especially Christianity, and Western reception of Japanese culture. While Australian collective perceptions of Japan are often still informed by the experience of the Second World War, the increasing popularity of manga and anime is fostering a different relationship between the two countries. By studying Japan's popular cul ....Creative Misreadings of Christianity in Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture. The project will intensify understanding of Asian interpretations of Western culture, especially Christianity, and Western reception of Japanese culture. While Australian collective perceptions of Japan are often still informed by the experience of the Second World War, the increasing popularity of manga and anime is fostering a different relationship between the two countries. By studying Japan's popular culture and its history of cultural negotiation, the project will further our knowledge of Japan's position in the twentieth-century world. It thus accords with National Priority 4, Safeguarding Australia: Understanding Our Region and the World. Read moreRead less
The Cultivation of Middle-Class Taste: Reading, Tourism and Education Choices in Urban China. In urban China, high-income professionals and consumers have enormous influence on the development of élite education, travel, and cultural pursuits, but also on the stability of the Party-State. Their choices will materially affect Australian economic strategy, and will impact the socio-political character of the entire region. This project works to support Australian understanding of the tastes, aspir ....The Cultivation of Middle-Class Taste: Reading, Tourism and Education Choices in Urban China. In urban China, high-income professionals and consumers have enormous influence on the development of élite education, travel, and cultural pursuits, but also on the stability of the Party-State. Their choices will materially affect Australian economic strategy, and will impact the socio-political character of the entire region. This project works to support Australian understanding of the tastes, aspirations and national priorities of this new formation: the Chinese middle class. The approach and outcomes of the research will enhance Australia's global position in innovative, relevant Asian scholarship, support good economic strategy, and provide an accurate socio-cultural lens through which to engage with Chinese and regional futures.Read moreRead less