Living with Smallpox in Early Modern Britain (c.1580–1780 CE). This project aims to examine how people in the past made sense of an acute infectious disease, including its long-term effects on individuals and their communities. Using traditional techniques and digital tools, it anticipates reconstructing how the experiences of the majority – who survived – were shaped by their socio-cultural circumstances, and tracing how those experiences changed over time, particularly in relation to advances ....Living with Smallpox in Early Modern Britain (c.1580–1780 CE). This project aims to examine how people in the past made sense of an acute infectious disease, including its long-term effects on individuals and their communities. Using traditional techniques and digital tools, it anticipates reconstructing how the experiences of the majority – who survived – were shaped by their socio-cultural circumstances, and tracing how those experiences changed over time, particularly in relation to advances in medical technology and public health. Expected outcomes include insight into historical responses to pandemics, as well as enhanced knowledge of the emergence of modern techniques for regulating public health, with benefits for our understanding of similar challenges in the present day. Read moreRead less
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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Singing the News: Ballads as News Media in Europe and Australia, 1550-1920. This project aims to take advantage of new digitisation projects to reveal how songs in premodern Europe and later in Australia were used for disseminating news to the public. By analysing ballads across four centuries and five languages, the project expects to show how news-songs not only informed the public but also helped to forge national identities by exploiting the emotive and communal nature of song. Expected outc ....Singing the News: Ballads as News Media in Europe and Australia, 1550-1920. This project aims to take advantage of new digitisation projects to reveal how songs in premodern Europe and later in Australia were used for disseminating news to the public. By analysing ballads across four centuries and five languages, the project expects to show how news-songs not only informed the public but also helped to forge national identities by exploiting the emotive and communal nature of song. Expected outcomes include an innovative digital platform offering licensed recordings of ballads, a public exhibition of song treasures in Australian collections, and a re-written history of the news media industry. Benefits may include new insights into how the modern notion of Australian national identity emerged through song.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101070
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$351,135.00
Summary
Modernism's East Asia: Semi-Asiatic Literature and Global Modernity . This project aims to harness two important topics in the humanities: the global significance of culturally hybrid nations for global modernity, and the significance of East Asian Studies for World Literature. It compares the reception of French and Russian literatures in the West and East Asia by examining texts written mainly in English, French, and Japanese. Its expected outcome is a reevaluation of East Asia's role in the c ....Modernism's East Asia: Semi-Asiatic Literature and Global Modernity . This project aims to harness two important topics in the humanities: the global significance of culturally hybrid nations for global modernity, and the significance of East Asian Studies for World Literature. It compares the reception of French and Russian literatures in the West and East Asia by examining texts written mainly in English, French, and Japanese. Its expected outcome is a reevaluation of East Asia's role in the conceptualization of global modernism and modernity in the arts and society. Its innovative methodology combines East Asian Studies, English and French Literature, philosophy, and the history of ideas. It intends to fortify Australia's position in the humanities and increase its understanding of its own diverse history.Read moreRead less
How to Feel Safe at the End of the World. This project aims to provide the first history of how early modern families created conditions to feel safe in times of crisis, revealing how ideas of safety, security and hope for the future were conceived and put into practice. Its innovative research focus explores how histories, personal and national, inform psychosocial conditions of safety and security for families and build resilience within the next generation. Expected outcomes highlight the rol ....How to Feel Safe at the End of the World. This project aims to provide the first history of how early modern families created conditions to feel safe in times of crisis, revealing how ideas of safety, security and hope for the future were conceived and put into practice. Its innovative research focus explores how histories, personal and national, inform psychosocial conditions of safety and security for families and build resilience within the next generation. Expected outcomes highlight the role of families as agents of historical change and help parents, teachers, children and youth to manage anxiety, build hope and improve life opportunities. This historical perspective on a contemporary problem has the benefit of supporting families struggling with today's changing world.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100098
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,859.00
Summary
Law, Literature and Naturalization in an Age of Empire. The history of naturalization offers significant insights into how sociocultural and legal limits on citizenship evolved, and how these limits were imposed and experienced before the advent of border restrictions. Deploying innovative methods at the intersection of literary, legal and cultural history, this project aims to provide the first global account of Jewish naturalization during the British empire’s expansion, a crucial phase in imm ....Law, Literature and Naturalization in an Age of Empire. The history of naturalization offers significant insights into how sociocultural and legal limits on citizenship evolved, and how these limits were imposed and experienced before the advent of border restrictions. Deploying innovative methods at the intersection of literary, legal and cultural history, this project aims to provide the first global account of Jewish naturalization during the British empire’s expansion, a crucial phase in immigration history. This account will generate new knowledge about how minority communities are incorporated into the state. Its benefits include a new framework to document the lives of migrants and refugees and the development of novel cultural resources to address the social challenges of migration. Read moreRead less
From foraging to farming. Human adaptations during major transitions. This project aims to investigate the causes that led to the human demographic explosion occurred during the Neolithic Revolution by analysing dental tissues through cutting-edge methods. This project expects to generate novel insights about the diet, health and weaning practices in Mediterranean human populations from the last 30,000 years. Expected outcomes of this project include the creation of new data on early life dietar ....From foraging to farming. Human adaptations during major transitions. This project aims to investigate the causes that led to the human demographic explosion occurred during the Neolithic Revolution by analysing dental tissues through cutting-edge methods. This project expects to generate novel insights about the diet, health and weaning practices in Mediterranean human populations from the last 30,000 years. Expected outcomes of this project include the creation of new data on early life dietary transitions in archaeological populations, enhancing capacity to build interdisciplinary collaborations, and refining methods and concepts to study the diet of the past. This should provide significant benefits to Australian research in evolutionary anthropology, nutrition and in dentistry.Read moreRead less
Learning from the Past? Evaluating the impact of Holocaust museum education. This project will determine and assess the long term educational impact of Holocaust education programs. Developed in partnership with Australia’s three Holocaust museums, our innovative methodology will enable a comprehensive understanding of these programs' potential to shape ethical thinking and engender behavioural change. The outcomes will generate more targeted and effective programs that engage students on cognit ....Learning from the Past? Evaluating the impact of Holocaust museum education. This project will determine and assess the long term educational impact of Holocaust education programs. Developed in partnership with Australia’s three Holocaust museums, our innovative methodology will enable a comprehensive understanding of these programs' potential to shape ethical thinking and engender behavioural change. The outcomes will generate more targeted and effective programs that engage students on cognitive and affective levels. With the rise of antisemitism, Islamophobia and political extremism in Australia and abroad prompting policy initiatives in which cultural institutions are characterised as agents of social change, maximising the long-term educational benefits of these programs is imperative.Read moreRead less
Images of Power in the Roman Empire: Mass Media and the Cult of Emperors. Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion, but are they following a path well-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that mass media and images played in securing and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman empire from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments will shed new light on the dynamic wa ....Images of Power in the Roman Empire: Mass Media and the Cult of Emperors. Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion, but are they following a path well-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that mass media and images played in securing and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman empire from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments will shed new light on the dynamic ways that popular media were used to mediate between emperors, their officials, provincial elites and the wider populace, and show how leaders used mass media in the Roman world. Social and cultural benefits include a better understanding of the ways that leaders today handle such media to influence public opinion.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100530
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$456,802.00
Summary
Neanderthal hunting ability and the extinction of archaic humans. This project aims to investigate a critical factor in explaining Neanderthals extinction: their hunting abilities. The research expects to generate new knowledge of archaic humans behaviour using an innovative approach combining traditional archaeological analytical methods with ground-breaking biomolecular techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of new knowledge in human evolutionary history and impr ....Neanderthal hunting ability and the extinction of archaic humans. This project aims to investigate a critical factor in explaining Neanderthals extinction: their hunting abilities. The research expects to generate new knowledge of archaic humans behaviour using an innovative approach combining traditional archaeological analytical methods with ground-breaking biomolecular techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of new knowledge in human evolutionary history and improved techniques to understand past human extinction events. This should provide significant benefits for Australia to become a primary power in studying human past and deep history, while enhancing capacity by becoming the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to implement ancient protein studies in archaeology.Read moreRead less