A Cultural and Intellectual History of Automated Labour . This project will trace how debates about labour automation have been shaped by cultural depictions of work, from the eighteenth century to today. It will produce new knowledge about how people have viewed industrial transformation, from the steam engine to modern forms of labour saving - electronic, digital, biological, and artificial intelligence. The project will combine historical study with an examination of the way artists and write ....A Cultural and Intellectual History of Automated Labour . This project will trace how debates about labour automation have been shaped by cultural depictions of work, from the eighteenth century to today. It will produce new knowledge about how people have viewed industrial transformation, from the steam engine to modern forms of labour saving - electronic, digital, biological, and artificial intelligence. The project will combine historical study with an examination of the way artists and writers have responded to labour automation. Expected benefits include informing public debate about the future of work, and shaping policy in arts-science museums and laboratories. Outcomes will include publications, public forums, conferences, training of research students and international collaboration. Read moreRead less
Excavating MacGregor: re-connecting a colonial museum collection. Sensing the impacts of colonisation, the first Administrator of British New Guinea William MacGregor made a significant collection of objects specifically for its future citizens. This comprehensive legacy of 13 000 objects did not remain in the country but was dispersed to three Australian and six overseas museums. Our aim is to re-assemble and re-connect this material by 'excavating' its private and official components. This res ....Excavating MacGregor: re-connecting a colonial museum collection. Sensing the impacts of colonisation, the first Administrator of British New Guinea William MacGregor made a significant collection of objects specifically for its future citizens. This comprehensive legacy of 13 000 objects did not remain in the country but was dispersed to three Australian and six overseas museums. Our aim is to re-assemble and re-connect this material by 'excavating' its private and official components. This research aims to focus on the makers and traders to disentangle the social relationships embedded in the objects. Using material-centred, assemblage-based archaeological approaches, we aim to investigate how indigenous groups used objects to negotiate with the new colonial government.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101054
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,023.00
Summary
Inside Others: Early Christian Protagonists and their Impairments. This project aims to uncover how disability functions in the portraits of key early Christian figures and their receptions over time. Its innovative approach combines disability studies, emotions studies, literary criticism, social history, and reception studies. It expects to generate new knowledge by intervening in disability readings of late antique literature, introducing a new category of impaired protagonists and constructi ....Inside Others: Early Christian Protagonists and their Impairments. This project aims to uncover how disability functions in the portraits of key early Christian figures and their receptions over time. Its innovative approach combines disability studies, emotions studies, literary criticism, social history, and reception studies. It expects to generate new knowledge by intervening in disability readings of late antique literature, introducing a new category of impaired protagonists and constructing the first reception history of disability in early Christianity. It intends to enhance Australia’s capacity in interdisciplinary studies of antiquity and contribute to critical reflection on the nature of impairment in light of urgent questions arising from the Disability Royal Commission and Covid-19 measures.Read moreRead less
Beyond Empire: Transnational religious networks and liberal cosmopolitanisms. This project aims to study religion as a dimension of international affairs between 1860 and 1950. It will examine the contribution of faith-based activity, networking and thought to global governance and peace building institutionalised in the United Nations, universal human rights and humanitarianism that shaped the second half of the twentieth century. The project will explore the emergence of these faith-based cosm ....Beyond Empire: Transnational religious networks and liberal cosmopolitanisms. This project aims to study religion as a dimension of international affairs between 1860 and 1950. It will examine the contribution of faith-based activity, networking and thought to global governance and peace building institutionalised in the United Nations, universal human rights and humanitarianism that shaped the second half of the twentieth century. The project will explore the emergence of these faith-based cosmopolitanisms at the interstices of multi-faith, multi-cultural and multi-racial webs of connection and their significance for Australian, regional and global history. This could show how secular and inter-faith activisms can produce cosmopolitan visions of practical co-existence.Read moreRead less
Saibai Island language and cultural knowledge project. This project aims to record the Saibai Island Kalaw Kawaw Ya dialect, using the Australian Descriptive Framework. The diaspora of Saibai Islanders, the impact of climate change, and the ageing and passing away of knowledge custodians make it crucial to capture the language and cultural knowledge. Under the direction of elders and cultural knowledge custodians, this project will record and document the dialect, particularly ‘Big’ Sabai langua ....Saibai Island language and cultural knowledge project. This project aims to record the Saibai Island Kalaw Kawaw Ya dialect, using the Australian Descriptive Framework. The diaspora of Saibai Islanders, the impact of climate change, and the ageing and passing away of knowledge custodians make it crucial to capture the language and cultural knowledge. Under the direction of elders and cultural knowledge custodians, this project will record and document the dialect, particularly ‘Big’ Sabai language. It will use recording technology and digital analysis to document cultural knowledge and language for current and future generations of Saibailagal (Saibai people). A culturally appropriate endangered language community methodology that preserves language and cultural knowledge will benefit Indigenous communities and researchers.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101190
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,574.00
Summary
Early Jewish and Christian religious traditions. This project aims to bridge the study of early Jewish–Christian relations during late antiquity by focusing on the analysis of objects, such as amulets. Many of the narratives around surviving artefacts from antiquity conflict with inherited ideas about the boundaries between early Judaism and Christianity and raise questions that challenge assumptions about religious interaction. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the study of reli ....Early Jewish and Christian religious traditions. This project aims to bridge the study of early Jewish–Christian relations during late antiquity by focusing on the analysis of objects, such as amulets. Many of the narratives around surviving artefacts from antiquity conflict with inherited ideas about the boundaries between early Judaism and Christianity and raise questions that challenge assumptions about religious interaction. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the study of religion as it was practiced historically. Bringing together modern theories of comparison and social exchange, the project will offer unique insight into how religious interactions between people of different faiths actually unfold in everyday situations. It will also contribute to the implementation of primary-school curricula on religion in antiquity.Read moreRead less
Beyond migration and diffusion: The prehistoric mobility of people & ideas. The project plans to build on the strength of current collaborations between archaeologists and geochemists to ask novel questions about the movement of people and ideas in prehistory. The project plans to examine spatial and temporal patterns in population mobility to clarify their relationship with the appearance of new and exotic materials, technologies and practices. The project focuses on the ways in which the movem ....Beyond migration and diffusion: The prehistoric mobility of people & ideas. The project plans to build on the strength of current collaborations between archaeologists and geochemists to ask novel questions about the movement of people and ideas in prehistory. The project plans to examine spatial and temporal patterns in population mobility to clarify their relationship with the appearance of new and exotic materials, technologies and practices. The project focuses on the ways in which the movement of individuals and groups of people is both an instigator and a response to sociocultural change, using both key European and Pacific Island examples, to help build a comparative archaeology of phenomena of rapid social and economic change, with pertinence to general theories of innovation and adoption.Read moreRead less
Australian violence: understanding victimisation through history. This project aims to undertake the first national study to investigate longitudinal trends in the history of interpersonal violence in Australia. Interpersonal violence is a major national challenge and violence prevention is a policy concern. By analysing case-level data for ten thousand criminal prosecutions over modern Australian history, the project will assess long-term trends in violent events and their relation to historica ....Australian violence: understanding victimisation through history. This project aims to undertake the first national study to investigate longitudinal trends in the history of interpersonal violence in Australia. Interpersonal violence is a major national challenge and violence prevention is a policy concern. By analysing case-level data for ten thousand criminal prosecutions over modern Australian history, the project will assess long-term trends in violent events and their relation to historical change. Tracking the rise and fall of prosecuted violence, the project will test current scholarly understanding about the history of violence, yield new insights about historical victimisation, and provide a critical background for understanding contemporary violence.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
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