Confronting Historical Injustice in Indonesia: Memory and Transnational Human Rights Activism. Since the 1990s there has been a boom in memory and in human rights activism relating to historical injustice in Indonesia. Using an innovative framework of the concept of ‘regions of memory’ this project examines how human rights activists located within and outside Indonesia use memory for the purposes of achieving human rights outcomes. Through national and international collaborations this project ....Confronting Historical Injustice in Indonesia: Memory and Transnational Human Rights Activism. Since the 1990s there has been a boom in memory and in human rights activism relating to historical injustice in Indonesia. Using an innovative framework of the concept of ‘regions of memory’ this project examines how human rights activists located within and outside Indonesia use memory for the purposes of achieving human rights outcomes. Through national and international collaborations this project will analyse why transnational activism concerning crimes from the Japanese occupation (1942-45), the independence struggle (1945-1949) and the 1965 mass violence escalated at particular points in time and deepen our understanding of the relationship between memory and human rights.Read moreRead less
A history of Filipino migration and identity, 1906-2010. The purpose of the research is to write a history of Filipino migration over the long twentieth century from the perspective of the migrants themselves. The story that emerges will help us understand migrant activism and explain how migration has had an enormous impact on the host countries including Australia as well as the Philippines.
The peopling of East Asia and Australasia. This project aims to recover DNA sequences from ancient human remains from Australia and Asia some dating back 45,000 years. The project will use this information to identify the geographic origin of these people and to determine their genetic histories.
Shifting the foundations of Zoroastrian history: A fresh focus on Khorezm. This project aims to explore the importance for Zoroastrianism of images of Avestan gods in Uzbekistan. Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion, but little is known of its early development. Recent finds of massive six-metre-high murals of Avestan gods decorating the royal ceremonial centre of Akchakhan-kala in Khorezm provide evidence of early formal Zoroastrian practices, in a region not considered a centre of early relig ....Shifting the foundations of Zoroastrian history: A fresh focus on Khorezm. This project aims to explore the importance for Zoroastrianism of images of Avestan gods in Uzbekistan. Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion, but little is known of its early development. Recent finds of massive six-metre-high murals of Avestan gods decorating the royal ceremonial centre of Akchakhan-kala in Khorezm provide evidence of early formal Zoroastrian practices, in a region not considered a centre of early religious development. The project will study this data and its implications for later religious beliefs, drawing particularly on evidence for burial practices in the early Islamic period and indigenous tribal practices. The project aims to enhance understanding of one of the world’s significant religions.Read moreRead less
The Silk Roads in the Bronze Age: critical links between Eurasia and China. The early rise of China's great civilization owed its rapid momentum to important technological innovations that were brought in from the far distant Eurasian steppes, but almost nothing is known of how or why this process took place. The project aims to explore these questions through excavations at one of China's most important Bronze Age archaeological sites in western Xinjiang. The innovations include the cultivation ....The Silk Roads in the Bronze Age: critical links between Eurasia and China. The early rise of China's great civilization owed its rapid momentum to important technological innovations that were brought in from the far distant Eurasian steppes, but almost nothing is known of how or why this process took place. The project aims to explore these questions through excavations at one of China's most important Bronze Age archaeological sites in western Xinjiang. The innovations include the cultivation of wheat and barley, complex metallurgical techniques in bronze, silver and gold, the domesticated horse and the spoke-wheeled chariot, which became a universal weapon of war across the ancient world. The project aims to test theories of cultural transmission through interactive GIS modelling of environment and land use potential.Read moreRead less
Imagining India in white Australia: Inter-colonial relations and the empire, 1901-1950. This project will take a historical perspective on the Australia-India relationship within the broader context of the British Empire, focussing on important developments during a period, 1901-1950, that often falls outside the purview of International Relations studies, delivering a deeper understanding of past intercolonial relations.
Modern human origins and early behavioural complexity in Australia and Southeast Asia. This project tackles a fundamental issue in world prehistory: how and when did humans first cross from Southeast Asia into Australia. Three new archaeological excavations using novel methods of analysis will assess the nature of behavioural complexity and human evolution at the time when Australia was first colonised over 45,000 years ago.
Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans in southern Russia. This project will endeavour to yield new insights into human evolution by addressing the critical question of when Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans occupied the Altai region of Russia: the only place on Earth where these three groups of humans are known to have existed. No consensus exists on the timing of key events, the nature of any interactions or the impact of environmental changes. This project plans to use optical dat ....Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans in southern Russia. This project will endeavour to yield new insights into human evolution by addressing the critical question of when Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans occupied the Altai region of Russia: the only place on Earth where these three groups of humans are known to have existed. No consensus exists on the timing of key events, the nature of any interactions or the impact of environmental changes. This project plans to use optical dating to construct a highly resolved timescale for the archaeological and human fossil assemblages over the last 800 000 years. This may transform our understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of human occupation by these three groups and their behaviours in similar or different environments.Read moreRead less
Traffic in women and girls in the Asia Pacific region, 1865-1940. This project will offer a critical analysis of historical narratives on the traffic in women within Asia Pacific networks. It will position Australian history at the forefront of international research on transnational history, informed by race and gender studies and considers parallels with today’s human trafficking debates.
Kingship, art and cult practice: decoding symbolism in an ancient Central Asian royal city. Hidden in the elaborate imagery of the richly ornamented 'Ceremonial Complex' recently uncovered at the ancient 'Royal City' of Kazakly-yatkan in Uzbekistan is a wealth of symbolism relating to cult, kingship and the divine. The study of this magnificent corpus has broad relevance for the history of all the lands across the ancient Persian world.