ARC Funding Success

NEER would like to congratulate the following Network Participants on their success in the Australian Research Council funding round for 2008 (commencing 2009):

Discovery Projects commencing 2009:

Prof SW Gaukroger

Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1690-1755

2009: $141,000; 2010: $100,000; 2011: $ 07,000; 2012: $79,000; 2013: $191,000

Administering Organisation: The University of Sydney

It is important that we understand the values underlying our culture, and one form of such understanding is historical. The idea that science provides the standards for all forms of cognitive enquiry is an intrinsic part of modern culture, and the notions of impartiality and objectivity that it is taken to express are closely tied in with estimations of the value of our culture. The history of how this conception emerged in the early modern period shows that there was nothing self evident in the assimilation of cognitive values to scientific ones, however, or in the extrapolation of these to general cultural and political values.

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Prof DT Garrioch

Confraternities and religious culture(s) in Enlightenment Paris

2009: $65,000; 2010: $39,000; 2011: $43,000 

Administering Organisation: Monash University
Understanding how religious culture interacts with economic and social change is important in a world where such change presents huge challenges, which is one reason why religious history is undergoing a revival in Australia and internationally. This project will expand this area of research, and in doing so will also reinforce Australia's outstanding international reputation for innovative and independent work in French, urban, and religious history.

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Dr KA Green

A History of Women's Political Thought in Europe 1700 1800

2009: $103,000;  2010: $116,000; 2011: $129,000

Administering Organisation: Monash University

This research will contribute to Australia's reputation for innovative scholarship on women and feminism and foster the development of models of active female citizenship and political participation by deepening our knowledge and understanding of the contribution that women made to political philosophy in the pre revolutionary period.

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Prof CF Zika; A/Prof SM Broomhall; Dr JS Spinks

Approved Reading the signs: disaster, apocalypse and demonology in European print culture

2009: $129,000; 2010: $58,943; 2011: $89,000; 2012: $94,000
   
Administering Organisation: The University of Melbourne

Religious identity and belief have been critical to understanding, explaining, controlling and also exploiting natural disaster within the cultures of early modern Europe. Religion continues to shape responses today to phenomena such as climate change, drought and pandemic. By exploring religious responses to natural disaster, this project will both promote Australia's high international reputation for early European research, and also offer new perspectives for contemporary public discussion of natural disasters and the fears they generate. It will foster
cross institutional research, and in mounting a major public exhibition, promote awareness of Australia's rich artistic and historical collections.

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Dr JP Macarthur; Dr AS Leach; Dr M Delbeke

The Baroque in Architectural Culture, 1880 1980

2009: $98,000; 2010: $90,000; 2011: $83,028
   
Administering Organisation: The University of Queensland

This project will show the significance of historical architecture in the present day, and lead to better understanding of the cultural role of building. It will enhance the reputation of Australian research on the architectural history of early modern Europe, and on issues of historical method. It will train emerging researchers and develop a research environment for further research on this field. The project will foster international connections and collaborations
and support the publication of internationally relevant research.

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Prof YA Haskell

Mapping the Latin Enlightenment: Centres and Peripheries

2009: $83,000; 2010: $130,000; 2011: $35,000

Administering Organisation: The University of Western Australia

An Australian will lead an international team to reclaim the massive but neglected Latin language culture of 18th C Europe, restoring 'lost' authors influential in their day and assessing the contribution of Latin literary and scientific networks to Enlightenment culture. Our national conversation on the Enlightenment will expand from a near exclusive focus on France and England to Italy and the Netherlands, countries of historical importance to Australia and our region. The project will further enhance Australia's high reputation in Italian literature studies, setting a new direction in the field by tracking the influence of Latin humanism beyond the Renaissance. Outcomes include a monograph, critical anthologies, and research training.

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Dr EM Lamb

Reading Children in Early Modern Culture

2009: $60,978; 2010: $ 67,000; 2011: $68,420; 2012: $60,991
   
Administering Organisation: The University of Sydney
This project will offer new understandings of childhood as a historically  and culturally contingent construct that will impact on perceptions of childhood in twenty first century Australia. It will use local and international archives to uncover a variety of early modern texts that were produced for children but have not yet been considered in terms of child readership. It is important to explore the significant historical links between children and literature as it will enable us to access the history of this marginalized group and will result in a more nuanced understanding of the cultural processes of educating children and the important role of literature in defining childhood identities, issues that continue to be relevant today.