The Design and Decoration of Burial Chambers in Old Kingdom Egypt. This project represents a significant attempt to understand the rationale behind the evolving design and decoration of Ancient Egyptian burial chambers. The undertaking of this important research by Australian based scholars will continue to establish Australia as a leading nation in the important international discipline of Egyptology, while also continuing to forge a relationship with Egypt. During an era in which Australians h ....The Design and Decoration of Burial Chambers in Old Kingdom Egypt. This project represents a significant attempt to understand the rationale behind the evolving design and decoration of Ancient Egyptian burial chambers. The undertaking of this important research by Australian based scholars will continue to establish Australia as a leading nation in the important international discipline of Egyptology, while also continuing to forge a relationship with Egypt. During an era in which Australians have in general engaged in discourses of insecurity and threat, our project will resonate with many contemporary concerns, asserting a link between the growing sophistication of society and a concomitant sense of threat and insecurity.Read moreRead less
The digital restoration of the Dublin Kephalaia codex and its importance for the history of religions. This is a project at the forefront of the emerging use of digital technology to render legible manuscripts long regarded as unreadable. The unique fourth century codex, now housed at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle, has been known of since 1929. The latest developments in image enhancement, especially the pseudocolour technique, offer the first chance for an international team led ....The digital restoration of the Dublin Kephalaia codex and its importance for the history of religions. This is a project at the forefront of the emerging use of digital technology to render legible manuscripts long regarded as unreadable. The unique fourth century codex, now housed at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle, has been known of since 1929. The latest developments in image enhancement, especially the pseudocolour technique, offer the first chance for an international team led from the University of Sydney to read and publish the text. Its contents record discussions about religion, human nature and the natural world held by sages from East and West at the court of the Persian king; and illuminate the dynamic cultural interchange between India and the Mediterranean world that characterised late antiquity.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100676
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,350.00
Summary
From Sivasasana to Agama: The (Trans)formation of Balinese Hindu Canon. This project is an interdisciplinary study of the foundational textual canon underpinning the reformed version of Hinduism that developed on Bali from the early 20th century. It aims to provide a new perspective on modern and contemporary Balinese Hinduism in the light of the premodern Hindu religious discourse, analysing neglected sources of textual and historical data. The approach is designed to do justice to the sophisti ....From Sivasasana to Agama: The (Trans)formation of Balinese Hindu Canon. This project is an interdisciplinary study of the foundational textual canon underpinning the reformed version of Hinduism that developed on Bali from the early 20th century. It aims to provide a new perspective on modern and contemporary Balinese Hinduism in the light of the premodern Hindu religious discourse, analysing neglected sources of textual and historical data. The approach is designed to do justice to the sophisticated and centuries-old Balinese tradition of translation and exegesis of Sanskrit sources from the Indian Subcontinent, which still plays an important role in contemporary Bali.Read moreRead less
Interreligious Relations between Muslims and People of other Faiths. Traditional Islamic law and theology developed a wide range of negative positions about people of other faiths. Based on extensive fieldwork, this project aims to understand how and to what extent prominent Muslim religious leaders are transforming these negative positions to positive ones today in Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Singapore. The project will lead to an evidence-based understanding of the potential for future ....Interreligious Relations between Muslims and People of other Faiths. Traditional Islamic law and theology developed a wide range of negative positions about people of other faiths. Based on extensive fieldwork, this project aims to understand how and to what extent prominent Muslim religious leaders are transforming these negative positions to positive ones today in Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Singapore. The project will lead to an evidence-based understanding of the potential for future interreligious harmony in these countries. Since positive interreligious relations are of domestic, regional and global concern for social cohesion and peace and security, the outcomes of this project will be of significant interest to both scholars and policymakers in Australia.Read moreRead less
Reception of Historical and Critical Approaches to the Qur’an in Muslim Educational Institutions. This project examines the impact of historical and critical-reformist approaches to the Qur’an in Muslim societies by examining their influence on educational institutions in four strategic Muslim countries/regions: Indonesia, Turkey, Iran and the Gulf. Understanding this impact will provide crucial insights into future dynamics of Muslim religious thought on the Qur’an, which has far-reaching legal ....Reception of Historical and Critical Approaches to the Qur’an in Muslim Educational Institutions. This project examines the impact of historical and critical-reformist approaches to the Qur’an in Muslim societies by examining their influence on educational institutions in four strategic Muslim countries/regions: Indonesia, Turkey, Iran and the Gulf. Understanding this impact will provide crucial insights into future dynamics of Muslim religious thought on the Qur’an, which has far-reaching legal, social, cultural and political effects in Muslim societies. By conducting interviews with university lecturers and students, this project will measure how historical and critical-reformist Qur’anic scholarship is currently perceived and how it is reconciled with orthodox religious ideas.Read moreRead less
Pre-Christian Religions of the North: A History of Research and Reception. The Australian community, like others that share a predominantly Western culture, is indebted to the conceptual world of pre-Christian Nordic religions for many fundamental ideas, artistic and literary expressions and significant misconceptions: consider the fantasies of Tolkien, the significance of naming a boat Loki in the 2008 Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race, and the underlying ideology of Nazism. This project will reveal ....Pre-Christian Religions of the North: A History of Research and Reception. The Australian community, like others that share a predominantly Western culture, is indebted to the conceptual world of pre-Christian Nordic religions for many fundamental ideas, artistic and literary expressions and significant misconceptions: consider the fantasies of Tolkien, the significance of naming a boat Loki in the 2008 Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race, and the underlying ideology of Nazism. This project will reveal our community's general debt to Nordic religions through a study of how people have understood and used them from the Middle Ages until now, thereby revealing one of our culture's major influences.Read moreRead less
Skilfully planting the trees of light - Manichaean texts in Chinese. Manichaeism spread rapidly and successfully along the Silk Road and arrived in China before the Tang dynasty. This project will throw light on Manichaean missionary techniques through close examination and full publication of the surviving texts in Chinese from Dunhuang and Turfan and their parallels in Middle Iranian, Old Turkish and Coptic.
Recently discovered rare manuscripts of mediaeval Pali subcommentaries: a missing link in Buddhist textual transmission. The project will "enhance Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with its regional environment through a greater understanding of languages, societies and cultures" (Research priority 4: Understanding our region and the world); it will deepen our understanding of religious and cultural traditions of many Buddhist countries, which constitute a substantial part of Australi ....Recently discovered rare manuscripts of mediaeval Pali subcommentaries: a missing link in Buddhist textual transmission. The project will "enhance Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with its regional environment through a greater understanding of languages, societies and cultures" (Research priority 4: Understanding our region and the world); it will deepen our understanding of religious and cultural traditions of many Buddhist countries, which constitute a substantial part of Australia's regional environment, and advance our knowledge of Buddhism, the fastest growing religion in Australia. Since this is the first project of its kind in the field of Pali studies, it will increase the international prestige of Australian research capability and open new possibilities for international cooperation in the field.Read moreRead less
Unfinished business: on Marxism and religion. 'Unfinished Business' makes a significant contribution to issues that have returned with vigour to public debate: the role of religion in ostensibly secular societies and the relation between theology and political radicalism. It offers a much needed reference work that sets current debates within a rich tradition.
A Buddhist Debate and Its Contemporary Relevance. The aim of this project is to engage with one of the central debates in Tibetan philosophy concerning truth, realism and epistemic justification. It plans to explore the implications of this debate for subsequent Tibetan thought and for contemporary Western analytic philosophy. The project plans to analyse previously unstudied texts and demonstrate the fecundity of a traditional method of collaborative cross-cultural philosophy today in which Tib ....A Buddhist Debate and Its Contemporary Relevance. The aim of this project is to engage with one of the central debates in Tibetan philosophy concerning truth, realism and epistemic justification. It plans to explore the implications of this debate for subsequent Tibetan thought and for contemporary Western analytic philosophy. The project plans to analyse previously unstudied texts and demonstrate the fecundity of a traditional method of collaborative cross-cultural philosophy today in which Tibetan and Western scholars work together to develop joint analyses. It may also demonstrate that the metaphysical and epistemological ideas and arguments developed in these debates can contribute to Western philosophy.Read moreRead less