UNESCO - Agency of Cultural Globalisation? Analysis of the Conflict between Universal Values and Local Cultural Identity in the Asia-Pacific Region. Economic globalisation is accompanied by cultural globalisation. Whether to accept or attempt to resist this impact on local cultures is a critical issue for communities and governments throughout the Asia-Pacific region. This project will identify and evaluate those activities of UNESCO and its associated bodies, ICOMOS, ICOM and ICCROM, that tend ....UNESCO - Agency of Cultural Globalisation? Analysis of the Conflict between Universal Values and Local Cultural Identity in the Asia-Pacific Region. Economic globalisation is accompanied by cultural globalisation. Whether to accept or attempt to resist this impact on local cultures is a critical issue for communities and governments throughout the Asia-Pacific region. This project will identify and evaluate those activities of UNESCO and its associated bodies, ICOMOS, ICOM and ICCROM, that tend to impose a common stamp on cultures across the world, as well as the local resistance to those activities. Four fields covering tangible and intangible culture will be investigated: heritage places, museums, folklife and heritage education. Outcomes include improved heritage management; outputs include a book and refereed journal articles.Read moreRead less
Cultural Heritage Site Significance, Management and Interpretation in China and Australia: A Comparative Analysis in a Cross-Cultural Framework. The Nara Document 1994 asserts that East Asians see 'cultural heritage' differently from Westerners and that conservation practice should reflect the culture in which it takes place. Given Australia's growing tourism links with China, and China's growing importance in the Asia-Pacific, it is timely to reflect on the Chinese understanding of cultural her ....Cultural Heritage Site Significance, Management and Interpretation in China and Australia: A Comparative Analysis in a Cross-Cultural Framework. The Nara Document 1994 asserts that East Asians see 'cultural heritage' differently from Westerners and that conservation practice should reflect the culture in which it takes place. Given Australia's growing tourism links with China, and China's growing importance in the Asia-Pacific, it is timely to reflect on the Chinese understanding of cultural heritage. Conversely China's relatively new cultural heritage industry can learn from Australian practice. This project aims at better mutual understanding by researching key issues of site significance, management and interpretation. The research will fill a gap in the literature and provide a model for further cross-cultural heritage analysis.Read moreRead less
Complex and nonlinear pattern analysis in architectural space, form and program: developing computational tools to support social and cultural design. In a country that is experiencing increasing urban density there is an urgent need for the development of tools and models for the production of socially and culturally responsive environments. The Fellowship develops a new quantitative and qualitative understanding of the experiential and semiotic characteristics of buildings. The project, assis ....Complex and nonlinear pattern analysis in architectural space, form and program: developing computational tools to support social and cultural design. In a country that is experiencing increasing urban density there is an urgent need for the development of tools and models for the production of socially and culturally responsive environments. The Fellowship develops a new quantitative and qualitative understanding of the experiential and semiotic characteristics of buildings. The project, assisted by developments in robotics technology, produces a leading-edge computational model for analysing complex and non-linear patterns in architectural space, form and program from a social and cultural perspective. Such a model will assist design practitioners, scholars, town planners and policy writers to shape rich, responsive and inclusive architectural environments.Read moreRead less
Layers of meaning: Historical studies in central Victoria's regional heritage 1834-1950. This project will provide a deeper understanding of a region that is central to understanding Australian history during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It will also the strengthen the social fabric of regional communities as local inhabitants will be better able to identify with their region, in the process providing them with a sense of place within their community. There will also be economic ben ....Layers of meaning: Historical studies in central Victoria's regional heritage 1834-1950. This project will provide a deeper understanding of a region that is central to understanding Australian history during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It will also the strengthen the social fabric of regional communities as local inhabitants will be better able to identify with their region, in the process providing them with a sense of place within their community. There will also be economic benefits including the development of infrastructure and increased employment opportunities that will flow from the development of a cultural tourism plan. This will provide an integrated strategy for interpreting and promoting central Victoria at internatioanl, national, state, regional and local levels. Read moreRead less
Cultural change in its environmental context: exploring, interpreting, and managing archaeologically rich, large-scale cultural landscapes in the Mediterranean Basin. (1) Production of a Holocene climate history and evaluation of long-term human response to environmental change in Mediterranean to continental climate zones. (2) Development of relationships with international researchers, including leading scholars from Italy, Bulgaria, the United States, and the Netherlands. (3) Extension of Aus ....Cultural change in its environmental context: exploring, interpreting, and managing archaeologically rich, large-scale cultural landscapes in the Mediterranean Basin. (1) Production of a Holocene climate history and evaluation of long-term human response to environmental change in Mediterranean to continental climate zones. (2) Development of relationships with international researchers, including leading scholars from Italy, Bulgaria, the United States, and the Netherlands. (3) Extension of Australia's leadership in Mediterranean archaeology to the Balkans through building institutional relationships and initiating a presence in Bulgaria (arguably the most promising country in its region for archaeological research). (4) Development of innovative remote sensing methods for archaeological reconnaissance with wide applicability, including in Australian contexts and by other Australian research projects.Read moreRead less
Aliens and Others: Representing citizenship and internments in Australia during WW2. This project will consider an episode in Australia's wartime history, the classification and internment of aliens in Australia during WW2, and analyse its different representations in historical discourse and personal and collective memory. In partnership with the National Museum of Australia and the National Archives of Australia, an on-line interactive exhibition and an archive incorporating written, spoken an ....Aliens and Others: Representing citizenship and internments in Australia during WW2. This project will consider an episode in Australia's wartime history, the classification and internment of aliens in Australia during WW2, and analyse its different representations in historical discourse and personal and collective memory. In partnership with the National Museum of Australia and the National Archives of Australia, an on-line interactive exhibition and an archive incorporating written, spoken and visual memory will be developed, a public conference presented and scholarly articles written. These outcomes will be a dynamic multi-layered analysis of the changing interactions between history, personal and social memory.Read moreRead less
Old brains, new data - early evolution of structural complexity in the vertebrate head. Of the all the complex structures biology has provided, the evolution of the vertebrate brain and its sensory organs is perhaps the most enigmatic. The fossil record occasionally provides a chance to trace this evolution, but only with the use of novel X-ray scanning techniques can these secrets be detailed in three dimensions. Exploiting the exceptional fossil record from Australia and China, this team will ....Old brains, new data - early evolution of structural complexity in the vertebrate head. Of the all the complex structures biology has provided, the evolution of the vertebrate brain and its sensory organs is perhaps the most enigmatic. The fossil record occasionally provides a chance to trace this evolution, but only with the use of novel X-ray scanning techniques can these secrets be detailed in three dimensions. Exploiting the exceptional fossil record from Australia and China, this team will for the first time collect a vast comparative data base which will yield clues on the early evolution of the ear, eye and brain. Read moreRead less
Working the Land: Women's Rural Labour and the Making of a Nation, Australia, 1901-1945. Dr Ford's research delivers social, cultural and economic benefits to Australia, particularly for rural Australia, for women and for aging Australians. Her work will increase community understanding about working life in rural Australia; the relationship between land, agriculture, gender and national identity; and the ways women combined family responsibilities with farm work - issues central to debates abou ....Working the Land: Women's Rural Labour and the Making of a Nation, Australia, 1901-1945. Dr Ford's research delivers social, cultural and economic benefits to Australia, particularly for rural Australia, for women and for aging Australians. Her work will increase community understanding about working life in rural Australia; the relationship between land, agriculture, gender and national identity; and the ways women combined family responsibilities with farm work - issues central to debates about the role of rural Australia and work/life balance. Her project will contribute to rural communities' sense of identity, as well as promote heritage tourism, important to regional economic development. It will also develop partnerships between universities and rural communities and improve the global visibility of Australian research.Read moreRead less
New Approaches to Modelling and Analysing Long-Memory Random Processes. The project aims to develop new approaches using infinite-dimensional Markov processes to solving important long-standing problems from the theory of long memory random processes and their applications. It aims to: construct a class of new representations of random processes; derive inequalities for the key numerical characteristics; and, devise and investigate numerical methods for computing the characteristics and for perf ....New Approaches to Modelling and Analysing Long-Memory Random Processes. The project aims to develop new approaches using infinite-dimensional Markov processes to solving important long-standing problems from the theory of long memory random processes and their applications. It aims to: construct a class of new representations of random processes; derive inequalities for the key numerical characteristics; and, devise and investigate numerical methods for computing the characteristics and for performing statistical inference on the long memory models. The accuracy of numerical approximations will be analysed using simulations on supercomputers. Expected outcomes include models and results of practical importance with applications such as intrusion detection problems, cell motility for biological data and telecommunication.Read moreRead less
Remembering Places of Pain and Shame: Conservation of the Asia-Pacific Region's 'Difficult' Heritage of Imprisonment Sites. This project will contribute to theoretical and practical discourses relevant to Australia's cultural heritage industry. Its findings will have implications for the work of national and state industry bodies (Australian Heritage Council, Australian Dept of Environment and Heritage, Heritage Victoria) and professional organisations (Australia ICOMOS). The project findings ma ....Remembering Places of Pain and Shame: Conservation of the Asia-Pacific Region's 'Difficult' Heritage of Imprisonment Sites. This project will contribute to theoretical and practical discourses relevant to Australia's cultural heritage industry. Its findings will have implications for the work of national and state industry bodies (Australian Heritage Council, Australian Dept of Environment and Heritage, Heritage Victoria) and professional organisations (Australia ICOMOS). The project findings may lead to concrete results such as the addition of new places to international, national and state heritage registers and their protection for the benefit of the community at large. The project will also provide Early Career Researcher training and enhance possibilities for future research collaboration with heritage and tourism industry partners. Read moreRead less