Settler society in the Australian colonies: The political and cultural changes of the 1830s - 1860s in imperial context. This project directly addresses issues identified as central by the national summit on the Australian history curriculum convened by the Federal Minister for Education in August 2006. Professor John Hirst reported in The Sydney Morning Herald on 21 August that the summit had agreed on a list of 'big questions' for school history curricula. The list includes the transition from ....Settler society in the Australian colonies: The political and cultural changes of the 1830s - 1860s in imperial context. This project directly addresses issues identified as central by the national summit on the Australian history curriculum convened by the Federal Minister for Education in August 2006. Professor John Hirst reported in The Sydney Morning Herald on 21 August that the summit had agreed on a list of 'big questions' for school history curricula. The list includes the transition from a convict to a free society, and relations between men and women. Current knowledge of these topics and their interconnection is limited. This project will advance our understanding of a key historical period, and the formation of Australian national identity.Read moreRead less
Rethinking Impartial Humanitarianism: Lessons from the Recent History of the Asia-Pacific Region. Australia today is increasingly involved in complex international humanitarian missions, involving cooperation with other nations and with international non-government organizations. These actions have profound implications for relationships between Australia and other countries. Through an investigation of key case studies from the Asia-Pacific region, this project will create a deeper understandin ....Rethinking Impartial Humanitarianism: Lessons from the Recent History of the Asia-Pacific Region. Australia today is increasingly involved in complex international humanitarian missions, involving cooperation with other nations and with international non-government organizations. These actions have profound implications for relationships between Australia and other countries. Through an investigation of key case studies from the Asia-Pacific region, this project will create a deeper understanding of the long-term experiences, possibilities and limitations of impartial humanitarian action. It will thus contribute to global debates about humanitarianism, and to better-informed Australian engagement in responding to humanitarian crises in our region and the wider world.Read moreRead less
The silent wilderness speaks: the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles. When Charles Bean, with his Classical education, wrote about Gallipoli, he imagined it in the context of three millennia of wars and human lives. Bean's historical vision has been lost. Gallipoli has become increasingly important to Australians as a site of national memory and pilgrimage, yet the events of 1915 exist in a bubble, divorced from the historical landscape that spawned them. We will give back to Australi ....The silent wilderness speaks: the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles. When Charles Bean, with his Classical education, wrote about Gallipoli, he imagined it in the context of three millennia of wars and human lives. Bean's historical vision has been lost. Gallipoli has become increasingly important to Australians as a site of national memory and pilgrimage, yet the events of 1915 exist in a bubble, divorced from the historical landscape that spawned them. We will give back to Australians the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, placing a key part of Australia's history in its true geographical context: an area which has been lived in and regularly fought over for thousands of years. Given the significance attached to Gallipoli, the project will also enhance Australian-Turkish relations.Read moreRead less
Water and the making of urban Australia since 1900. This project aims to produce new understandings of both the historical drivers of today’s urban water systems, and how these systems have impacted on human and ecological welfare. This will be achieved through the first integrated and comparative historical study of the provision, use and cultures of water in Australia’s five largest cities from 1900 to the present. Such historical knowledge is critical at a time when the water systems of Austr ....Water and the making of urban Australia since 1900. This project aims to produce new understandings of both the historical drivers of today’s urban water systems, and how these systems have impacted on human and ecological welfare. This will be achieved through the first integrated and comparative historical study of the provision, use and cultures of water in Australia’s five largest cities from 1900 to the present. Such historical knowledge is critical at a time when the water systems of Australia’s largest cities are under growing pressure from environmental change and population growth. Project findings will inform the development of policies and practices that produce sustainable, equitable urban water systems.Read moreRead less
Australia and the Antarctic Treaty System - A historical investigation. The legitimacy of Australia's Antarctic claim rests not only on scientific work and a continuing physical presence, but on the level of Australia's cultural and political engagement with Antarctica. This research project will contribute, in a profound way, to the nation's international responsibilities to Antarctica. It will also contribute to a key policy priority of the Australian government, which is to strengthen its inf ....Australia and the Antarctic Treaty System - A historical investigation. The legitimacy of Australia's Antarctic claim rests not only on scientific work and a continuing physical presence, but on the level of Australia's cultural and political engagement with Antarctica. This research project will contribute, in a profound way, to the nation's international responsibilities to Antarctica. It will also contribute to a key policy priority of the Australian government, which is to strengthen its influence in the Antarctic Treaty System. In a very specific sense, the research will consolidate Australia's political, scientific and scholarly leadership in the international Antarctic community by contributing to the hosting of the 2012 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting through a significant publication to be made available to all delegates.Read moreRead less
The two lakes project: a research history of Lakes Mungo and Gregory. This project investigates the history of research relations between scientists and Traditional Owners at Lakes Mungo and Gregory. Connecting recent histories of agency and reconciliation with deep time, it will produce a publicly accessible narrative that increases national understanding of significant stories in the peopling of our continent.
Don Dunstan and political and social reform in Australia. Don Dunstan, Premier of South Australia in 1967-68 and 1970-79, was an extraordinarily influential politician whose sweeping reforms led the way nationally and internationally in areas ranging from constitutional reform, Aboriginal land rights, equal opportunities, decriminalisation of homosexuality and civil liberties to urban planning, the arts and food culture. This project will produce the first full-length, comprehensive biography of ....Don Dunstan and political and social reform in Australia. Don Dunstan, Premier of South Australia in 1967-68 and 1970-79, was an extraordinarily influential politician whose sweeping reforms led the way nationally and internationally in areas ranging from constitutional reform, Aboriginal land rights, equal opportunities, decriminalisation of homosexuality and civil liberties to urban planning, the arts and food culture. This project will produce the first full-length, comprehensive biography of Dunstan. It will also use Dunstan’s political and cultural transformation of South Australia to examine the wider dynamics of reform in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s, to understand how and why such change occurred at both state and national levels.Read moreRead less
Scientific voyages in the Antipodes. Thomas Huxley, John McGillivray and the Darwinian Revolution. This project examines the scientific British survey expeditions to Australasia during the nineteenth century. The research focuses on the importance of Australasia in the formation of Darwinism, one of the key scientific and social theories of modern western culture. Environmental change and scientific and cultural heritage in our region will be traced back to these early scientific voyagers.
Naming Oceania: geography, raciology and local knowledge in the 'fifth part of the world', 1511-1920. A history of the marriage of space and race in our region restores Australia to regional histories and wider Oceania to global histories. It offers a grounded basis to grasp how regional, national and local nomenclatures and identities mutated over 400 years, in contexts of European exploration, imperialism, colonisation, emergence of the science of race and intensifying face-to-face encounters. ....Naming Oceania: geography, raciology and local knowledge in the 'fifth part of the world', 1511-1920. A history of the marriage of space and race in our region restores Australia to regional histories and wider Oceania to global histories. It offers a grounded basis to grasp how regional, national and local nomenclatures and identities mutated over 400 years, in contexts of European exploration, imperialism, colonisation, emergence of the science of race and intensifying face-to-face encounters. By uncovering traces of past naming systems, Indigenous and foreign, the research will show how present names and boundaries of states, places and people are constructs rather than eternal truths. It will cast light on the antecedents to modern Australian regional interventions, neighbourly relations and conceptions of racial or ethnic differences.Read moreRead less
A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, an ....A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, and economic policy. Through a closer, long term understanding of multinationals – their magnitude, motives to settle here, corporate structures, and adaptation to local conditions – our findings will inform public debate and policy about the roles of foreign investment and foreign enterprises in the Australian economy today.Read moreRead less