IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technologies: The Global Experience. The 40th anniversary of the birth of the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) will occur in 2018. This project aims to produce a history of IVF and the range of assisted reproductive technologies with which it is associated. These new forms of conception, gestation and parenting have transformed understandings of the family and have led to regulatory and policy responses and public debate, which can only be u ....IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technologies: The Global Experience. The 40th anniversary of the birth of the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) will occur in 2018. This project aims to produce a history of IVF and the range of assisted reproductive technologies with which it is associated. These new forms of conception, gestation and parenting have transformed understandings of the family and have led to regulatory and policy responses and public debate, which can only be understood in a global frame. A series of transnational case studies, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region, will be designed to explore the development of the present consumer, medical and regulatory environments and provide a historically informed basis for dealing with policy deliberations locally and internationally.Read moreRead less
Indigenous land claims in historical context. By enlightening the history of Indigenous legal opposition to dispossession from the beginning of colonisation, this project will provide a means of engaging with the political challenges and responses posed by legal conflicts with Indigenous peoples over the question of land.
How Do Stone Tools Reflect Cognition Among the First Australians and their Precursors? The popularity of the Indonesian 'hobbit' (Homo floresiensis) discovery provides an ideal platform for interpreting Australasian prehistory to a wider community. This project explores the arrival of modern humans in Indonesia, their interaction with 'hobbits', and the colonisation of Australia by comparing the different ways these hominins made stone tools. Although research indicates a significant level of ....How Do Stone Tools Reflect Cognition Among the First Australians and their Precursors? The popularity of the Indonesian 'hobbit' (Homo floresiensis) discovery provides an ideal platform for interpreting Australasian prehistory to a wider community. This project explores the arrival of modern humans in Indonesia, their interaction with 'hobbits', and the colonisation of Australia by comparing the different ways these hominins made stone tools. Although research indicates a significant level of behavioural unity in our genus, 'hobbits' were not like us. 'Us' refers, of course, to modern humans, and hence this research is of global relevance. By applying a 'design space' model to toolmaking in the past, this project will demonstrate that the earliest trends in technology apply equally to human groups throughout the world. Read moreRead less
A new timeline for Human evolution using a pioneer non-destructive direct dating methodology. Knowledge of the timing and distribution of the human lineage is critical for developing and testing evolutionary hypotheses. Unfortunately, many existing chronologies are based on the dating of materials thought to be stratigraphically associated with the fossil, rather than the fossil itself. Significant, recent advances in dating methods allow for the accurate non-destructive direct dating of human r ....A new timeline for Human evolution using a pioneer non-destructive direct dating methodology. Knowledge of the timing and distribution of the human lineage is critical for developing and testing evolutionary hypotheses. Unfortunately, many existing chronologies are based on the dating of materials thought to be stratigraphically associated with the fossil, rather than the fossil itself. Significant, recent advances in dating methods allow for the accurate non-destructive direct dating of human remains. This project offers to establish a reliable and consistent chronology for modern human occurrences. This proposal is significant in addressing fundamental problems in our understanding of modern human expansion, by the application of newly-developed techniques that will allow for the reliable direct dating of key modern human fossils. Read moreRead less
World War One Refugees in Austria-Hungary and the international community, 1914-1923. This project investigates how refugee movements in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War One contributed to the empire's collapse in 1918. It explores the impact of war, forced migrations, nationalism and the international community on the breakdown of modern state and civil society structures in Central and Eastern Europe.
The function of images in magical papyri and artefacts of ritual power from Late Antiquity. A study of images in magical papyri and related artefacts from Late Antiquity, drawn for the purpose of healing and protection or to achieve success in personal relations and business. The research outcome will be a new holistic understanding of the design and use of such objects, and the transmission of traditions of knowledge in ancient society.
The Spandrel Hypothesis: Towards a unified theory of stone flaking. The archaeological story of human evolution and prehistory has a strong Old World bias – the impression is that main events were in Africa and Europe and Australasia was mostly irrelevant. This is particularly true where stone tools are concerned: Australasian tools appear not to track the progression in technology that appears to be present in the Old World Standard Sequence. This project will test whether the Standard Sequence ....The Spandrel Hypothesis: Towards a unified theory of stone flaking. The archaeological story of human evolution and prehistory has a strong Old World bias – the impression is that main events were in Africa and Europe and Australasia was mostly irrelevant. This is particularly true where stone tools are concerned: Australasian tools appear not to track the progression in technology that appears to be present in the Old World Standard Sequence. This project will test whether the Standard Sequence has been overinterpreted and the pattern recognised for Australasia is in fact applicable world-wide. The results of the project will enhance the way Australia interprets itself and the Australasian region to the rest of the world. This is a goal of Research Priority 4 (Safeguarding Australia).Read moreRead less
The global history of organic farming. The first global history of the organic farming movement explains how organic farming changed land-use, government policy and consumer habits. Understanding how this scientific and cultural movement arose, where it succeeded and where it failed, helps to better formulate policy that promotes sustainable agriculture, human health and climate.
The original field anthropologist: Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay in Oceania, 1871-1883. This project restores the nineteenth-century Russian anthropologist Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay to a central position in the histories of anthropology and of the European exploration of Oceania. Interviews with the source communities amongst which he lived will be used to analyse his field drawings and journals, most never previously published in English.
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.