Mapping Creativity in Captivity during WWII. The project will map the little known cultural production by Italian Prisoners of War from 1940 to 1947. By analysing Italian detainees' creativity in Australia and elsewhere in the world, it will develop a new transnational approach to understanding the experience of captivity and of the many interactions between individuals and communities during WWII. The expected outcomes include new cross-cultural knowledge of migration and wartime experiences an ....Mapping Creativity in Captivity during WWII. The project will map the little known cultural production by Italian Prisoners of War from 1940 to 1947. By analysing Italian detainees' creativity in Australia and elsewhere in the world, it will develop a new transnational approach to understanding the experience of captivity and of the many interactions between individuals and communities during WWII. The expected outcomes include new cross-cultural knowledge of migration and wartime experiences and of the beneficial power of creative action for individuals’ wellbeing, still relevant today as we witness emergency lockdowns and peoples dislocated by wars. International collaboration and digital resources will bring the results beyond an academic audience to public and policymakers alike.
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Hello, Mr America: Americans on R&R Leave in Australia in the Vietnam War. This project will provide the first comprehensive history of an important but neglected aspect of Australia's relationship with the United States. From 1967 until 1971 nearly 300,000 American servicemen - one tenth of the total number of Americans who served in Vietnam - travelled to Australia for their R&R Leave. What began as a matter of military expediency became an exercise in cultural diplomacy that left lasting econ ....Hello, Mr America: Americans on R&R Leave in Australia in the Vietnam War. This project will provide the first comprehensive history of an important but neglected aspect of Australia's relationship with the United States. From 1967 until 1971 nearly 300,000 American servicemen - one tenth of the total number of Americans who served in Vietnam - travelled to Australia for their R&R Leave. What began as a matter of military expediency became an exercise in cultural diplomacy that left lasting economic, social and political legacies in Australia. Outcomes include a deeper understanding of the history of the US-Australian alliance, the international history of the Vietnam War, and Australian history during a period of dramatic transformation. Outputs will include a book, journal articles, and a symposium.Read moreRead less
Life outside institutions: histories of mental health aftercare 1900 - 1960. This project aims to show that post-institutional care is central to the history of mental health before the era of deinstitutionalisation. It expects to break new ground by examining patterns of discharge from psychiatric institutions from 1900 to 1960, linking these with the development of mental health aftercare services for people leaving hospitals in Australia before these institutions closed. Planned outcomes of t ....Life outside institutions: histories of mental health aftercare 1900 - 1960. This project aims to show that post-institutional care is central to the history of mental health before the era of deinstitutionalisation. It expects to break new ground by examining patterns of discharge from psychiatric institutions from 1900 to 1960, linking these with the development of mental health aftercare services for people leaving hospitals in Australia before these institutions closed. Planned outcomes of this project include a sole-authored monograph and co-edited book, a higher degree research thesis, and public engagement. This should provide significant benefits by connecting processes of institutional discharge to the wider community with later patterns of post-institutional care.
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Responding to Sexual Harm: An Australian Historical Criminology Approach . Despite sustained interventions from the 1970s onwards, sexual harm is a problem of enormous magnitude within Australia. The project focuses on contemporary histories of reform, aiming to understand how social, political, legal and cultural contexts have shaped experiences and conceptualisations of sexual harm. This project expects to generate vital knowledge on the impacts of recent historical reforms on diverse communit ....Responding to Sexual Harm: An Australian Historical Criminology Approach . Despite sustained interventions from the 1970s onwards, sexual harm is a problem of enormous magnitude within Australia. The project focuses on contemporary histories of reform, aiming to understand how social, political, legal and cultural contexts have shaped experiences and conceptualisations of sexual harm. This project expects to generate vital knowledge on the impacts of recent historical reforms on diverse communities, advance mixed methods and co-design approaches in historical criminology, and enhance Australia’s research capacity by training a new team of topic matter experts. By understanding the impacts of past reform, findings should provide significant benefits in informing future reforms and responses to sexual harm.Read moreRead less
Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these co ....Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these collections to shape memory and generate wider historical literacy. Benefits include providing insight into inclusive physical and digital collecting practices, which enables the project to address UNESCO’s goal of achieving greater access to decision-making about culture, heritage and the formation of social identities.Read moreRead less
Mapping the Frontiers of Private Property in Australia. This project aims to develop a new DH dataset, systematically documenting and mapping the first generation of Australian private property ownership. The project expects to generate new knowledge of this phenomenon in New South Wales from 1788 onwards, using historical records to develop a digital map that shows where, when and to what extent parcels of land in NSW moved from Crown ownership into private hands. Expected outcomes include an o ....Mapping the Frontiers of Private Property in Australia. This project aims to develop a new DH dataset, systematically documenting and mapping the first generation of Australian private property ownership. The project expects to generate new knowledge of this phenomenon in New South Wales from 1788 onwards, using historical records to develop a digital map that shows where, when and to what extent parcels of land in NSW moved from Crown ownership into private hands. Expected outcomes include an open access map that will for the first time enable scholars to place the history of property ownership into conversation with other aspects of Australian history. Among its benefits it will enable future scholarly work and citizen engagement to effectively extend knowledge of Australia's property history.Read moreRead less
The Rise of Decline in the Later Roman Empire. This project aims to examine the evidence for the decline of the Western Roman Empire. For over two centuries, historians have debated whether the Western Roman Empire was in decline prior to its political disintegration in the 5th century AD. This project takes a new approach by rejecting the notion that Late Roman decline can be empirically quantified. Instead, through the examination of historical, administrative, religious and literary texts it ....The Rise of Decline in the Later Roman Empire. This project aims to examine the evidence for the decline of the Western Roman Empire. For over two centuries, historians have debated whether the Western Roman Empire was in decline prior to its political disintegration in the 5th century AD. This project takes a new approach by rejecting the notion that Late Roman decline can be empirically quantified. Instead, through the examination of historical, administrative, religious and literary texts it will explore why the Late Roman elite often chose to present their own period as an age of decline. This project aims to test the hypothesis that references to economic, political and moral decline were often the result of fissures within Late Roman society prompted by radical structural reorganisation by a centralising imperial government and a newly empowered Christian Church.Read moreRead less
Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945. This project looks at female domestic care workers from India and China who travelled to Australia and elsewhere during the period of British colonialism. Accompanying colonial families along circuits of empire between Australia, Asia, and the UK over two centuries, these were extraordinarily mobile women. By exploring the historical experiences and cultural memories of these earliest global domestic workers, the project ....Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945. This project looks at female domestic care workers from India and China who travelled to Australia and elsewhere during the period of British colonialism. Accompanying colonial families along circuits of empire between Australia, Asia, and the UK over two centuries, these were extraordinarily mobile women. By exploring the historical experiences and cultural memories of these earliest global domestic workers, the project aims to illuminate a broader transcolonial history of domestic work. Expected outcomes include a number of publications and a website; and the project offers the social and cultural benefits to be gained by advancing our historical understanding of the forgotten cross-cultural relationships that have shaped our world today.Read moreRead less
Pearls, People, and Power: the Transformation of the Indian Ocean World. This multidisciplinary project aims to be the first transoceanic investigation of pearling in the Indian Ocean World (IOW), focusing on the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, India/Sri Lanka, Sulu Sea and northern Australia. It will use commodity-based historical analyses and object-centred biographies to undertake comparative studies of labour systems, trade networks and the cultural value of pearls/pearl shell during an era marked by ....Pearls, People, and Power: the Transformation of the Indian Ocean World. This multidisciplinary project aims to be the first transoceanic investigation of pearling in the Indian Ocean World (IOW), focusing on the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, India/Sri Lanka, Sulu Sea and northern Australia. It will use commodity-based historical analyses and object-centred biographies to undertake comparative studies of labour systems, trade networks and the cultural value of pearls/pearl shell during an era marked by the spread of European imperialism and industrialisation. The project includes historical, ethnographic and film components and is expected to produce texts, films and museum displays. It is also designed to deliver a new understanding of the IOW past, and a new appreciation of Australia's place in IOW history.Read moreRead less
Personal liberty, British identity and surveillance in the antipodes, 1780s - 1830s. By studying surveillance in colonial Australia and South Africa, this project will come to a new understanding of what defined British liberty. It will demonstrate that our country's history lies at the centre of one of the most pressing questions of our time-how far do concepts of freedom remain tied to national and cultural particularity?