How infectious diseases became ecological: a global history. This project aims to investigate the conceptual history of disease ecology. During the twentieth century, infectious diseases researchers, many of them Australian, drew on animal ecology and evolutionary theory so our knowledge of how germs and parasites interact with human hosts might become more dynamic and broadly biological. The goal of this transnational historical research is to clarify the connections of animal ecology and evolu ....How infectious diseases became ecological: a global history. This project aims to investigate the conceptual history of disease ecology. During the twentieth century, infectious diseases researchers, many of them Australian, drew on animal ecology and evolutionary theory so our knowledge of how germs and parasites interact with human hosts might become more dynamic and broadly biological. The goal of this transnational historical research is to clarify the connections of animal ecology and evolutionary biology with biomedicine, and show how contemporary understandings of biosecurity and disease preparedness emerged from this conjunction.Read moreRead less
Ancient Egyptian papyri: unlocking secrets to the history of writing. This project aims to investigate the chemical composition of papyri from ancient Egypt and their inks to identify scribes, date texts, detect forgeries, match fragmentary texts, and illuminate environmental and technological change. Papyrus and carbon-based ink were the primary writing materials in the ancient Mediterranean world from 2600 BCE to 1000 CE, but the uncertain provenance and date caused by clandestine excavation a ....Ancient Egyptian papyri: unlocking secrets to the history of writing. This project aims to investigate the chemical composition of papyri from ancient Egypt and their inks to identify scribes, date texts, detect forgeries, match fragmentary texts, and illuminate environmental and technological change. Papyrus and carbon-based ink were the primary writing materials in the ancient Mediterranean world from 2600 BCE to 1000 CE, but the uncertain provenance and date caused by clandestine excavation and the antiquities trade limits our understanding of them. The non-destructive and inexpensive analysis will provide new understanding of environmental, technological, and socio-cultural change in ancient cultures from Egypt to Rome by providing new insights into writing technology, scribal identity, dating, and authenticity.Read moreRead less
The Aboriginal land estate in New South Wales. This project aims to investigate Aboriginal economic activity via the first extensive place-based ethnographic study of New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Land Council. It examines approaches to managing lands for economic development and community benefit, especially the leveraging of communal land holdings for economic advancement as the return of land to the NSW Aboriginal community will escalate from 2017. Yet the benefits of land-based entreprene ....The Aboriginal land estate in New South Wales. This project aims to investigate Aboriginal economic activity via the first extensive place-based ethnographic study of New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Land Council. It examines approaches to managing lands for economic development and community benefit, especially the leveraging of communal land holdings for economic advancement as the return of land to the NSW Aboriginal community will escalate from 2017. Yet the benefits of land-based entrepreneurialism in NSW have never been reviewed. The project will provide significant benefits, including improved policy settings and insights into Aboriginal worlds.Read moreRead less
Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the ....Theatre and autocracy in Ancient Greece. This project aims to study the relations between theatre and autocratic power in antiquity. Theatre, from the start, appealed just as much to autocrats as to democrats and throve in autocratic states for half a millennium after the extinction of the Classical democracies. While many studies trace ancient Greek theatre’s links to democracy, none explore its links to specific tyrants, monarchs or emperors. This project will examine how autocrats moulded the world’s first mass medium of communication to consolidate their power, and how competing interests used the theatre to share, limit or challenge that power.Read moreRead less
Shop Talk: Department Stores, Shoppers and Consumer Capitalism, 1945-2025. This project aims to provide a deeper understanding of shopping and its significance in everyday Australian life by using oral history interviews with shoppers, workers and managers who have engaged with department stores since 1945. This project expects to produce the first history of the country’s post-war department stores. Expected outcomes include new, more nuanced perspectives of shopping and the challenges affectin ....Shop Talk: Department Stores, Shoppers and Consumer Capitalism, 1945-2025. This project aims to provide a deeper understanding of shopping and its significance in everyday Australian life by using oral history interviews with shoppers, workers and managers who have engaged with department stores since 1945. This project expects to produce the first history of the country’s post-war department stores. Expected outcomes include new, more nuanced perspectives of shopping and the challenges affecting the retail sector via a range of publications, international collaborations, and an archive of oral history recordings. This should provide significant benefits to researchers examining the retail sector, to Australians working in retail, and to ordinary Australians, whose stories will be placed on the historical record.Read moreRead less
Forging antiquity: Authenticity, forgery, and fake papyri. This project aims to situate typology of forged papyri in a historical analysis of the development of forgery, authentication techniques, and public debates over forgeries from the 19th century to the present day. The project will contextualise technical study of fakes within authentication strategies in ancient papyri, traditional and emerging de-authentication practices, and the cultural context of forgery. A typology of forged papyri ....Forging antiquity: Authenticity, forgery, and fake papyri. This project aims to situate typology of forged papyri in a historical analysis of the development of forgery, authentication techniques, and public debates over forgeries from the 19th century to the present day. The project will contextualise technical study of fakes within authentication strategies in ancient papyri, traditional and emerging de-authentication practices, and the cultural context of forgery. A typology of forged papyri will enable collecting institutions to better assess fakes, permit easier detection of forgeries in antiquities markets, and provide a tool for scholars asked to assess the authenticity of papyri offered for sale or donation.Read moreRead less
The ‘Peace’ of Lausanne (1923): Genesis, Legacies, Paradoxes. This study aims to revisit the foundation of the modern Middle East by investigating the still valid 1923 Peace Treaty of Lausanne. Through a combined analysis of the Treaty's prehistory, protracted negotiations and paradigmatic impact, it will reassess the Conference's and Treaty's role in Modern History. By exploring international diplomacy's endorsement of authoritarian rule, demographic engineering and mass violence, it will probl ....The ‘Peace’ of Lausanne (1923): Genesis, Legacies, Paradoxes. This study aims to revisit the foundation of the modern Middle East by investigating the still valid 1923 Peace Treaty of Lausanne. Through a combined analysis of the Treaty's prehistory, protracted negotiations and paradigmatic impact, it will reassess the Conference's and Treaty's role in Modern History. By exploring international diplomacy's endorsement of authoritarian rule, demographic engineering and mass violence, it will problematise the notion of realpolitik and challenge views that the Treaty of Lausanne led to sustainable peace in Turkey and its neighbourhood. This will prompt a re-evaluation of topical questions like border disputes, the Kurdish conflict, post-Ottoman state-building, the caliphate, and the Armenian genocide.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101799
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$418,988.00
Summary
Islamist Militias, the Military and Indonesia’s Authoritarian Turn. This project examines the relationship between Islamist militias and the Indonesian military. Adopting a multi-scalar approach, it assesses this relationship nationally and in Aceh, a province with a long history of military–militia relations and Islamisation of political life. In the first attempt to systematically locate current developments in their historical context, this study will draw on interviews and archival research ....Islamist Militias, the Military and Indonesia’s Authoritarian Turn. This project examines the relationship between Islamist militias and the Indonesian military. Adopting a multi-scalar approach, it assesses this relationship nationally and in Aceh, a province with a long history of military–militia relations and Islamisation of political life. In the first attempt to systematically locate current developments in their historical context, this study will draw on interviews and archival research to document and analyse the extent to which the military is using long-established tactics of civilian mobilisation to reassert its political power. The analysis it generates will provide new insight into the role of the military in Indonesia’s current authoritarian turn.Read moreRead less
Remaking the British world after 1815. This project aims to examine the pivotal role of commissions of inquiry in reforming law throughout the British Empire from 1815–1840. Using traditional methods and digital tools, this project will investigate the design, instantiation and impact of inquiry on colonial law, the imperial constitution and the mechanisms of imperial governance across the empire. The outcomes will include enhancement of our understanding of law reform, the historical functions ....Remaking the British world after 1815. This project aims to examine the pivotal role of commissions of inquiry in reforming law throughout the British Empire from 1815–1840. Using traditional methods and digital tools, this project will investigate the design, instantiation and impact of inquiry on colonial law, the imperial constitution and the mechanisms of imperial governance across the empire. The outcomes will include enhancement of our understanding of law reform, the historical functions of commissions of inquiry, and the legacy of British imperial rule throughout the world.Read moreRead less
Planetary Health Histories: Developing Concepts. This historical research project aims to explain the conceptual development of the new planetary health, the principal means of assessing impacts of climate change and global environmental degradation on human health. Using a novel combination of history of science and medicine, environmental history, international history and Indigenous studies, this research is expected to show how environmental health and disease ecology have been re-framed and ....Planetary Health Histories: Developing Concepts. This historical research project aims to explain the conceptual development of the new planetary health, the principal means of assessing impacts of climate change and global environmental degradation on human health. Using a novel combination of history of science and medicine, environmental history, international history and Indigenous studies, this research is expected to show how environmental health and disease ecology have been re-framed and scaled up in the past century to address the effects of global warming. The project will examine critically this intellectual formation, exploring its potential in global health and revealing its blind spots and omissions, especially in relation to Indigenous knowledge and structural inequalities.Read moreRead less