Grants awarded 2007
Faith, gender and cultural exchange: Australian missions in comparative perspective, 1800-1930.
Researchers: Prof Patricia Grimshaw, Dr Andy Brown-May
ARC Discovery Grant
The project will permit a fresh understanding of Australia's core tradition of British Christianity, an important cultural heritage which influences current views of national identity and which is of increasing significance in the face of the insecurities of globalisation. Through illuminating understandings of social, cultural and religious issues, in particular in relation to gendered aspects of religious faith within crosscultural encounters, it will contribute to greater understanding of societies and cultures across the AsiaPacific region. It will foster international scholarly interchange, dissemination of its findings giving increased profile for Australia within the fields of colonial studies, gender and mission history.
A history of psychiatric institutionalisation and community care in Australia 1830s-1990s
Researchers: Professor Elizabeth Malcolm, Dr Dolly MacKinnon and Dr John Waller (Michigan State University)
ARC Discovery Grant
A vigorous debate is underway in Australia currently over the policy of closing mental institutions and caring for the mentally ill in the community. Whereas doctors, politicians and journalists have contributed to this debate, regularly resorting to history to bolster their arguments, historians themselves have had relatively little to say. A genuinely national history of mental health care simply does not exist. This study provides that comprehensive history, in the belief that policy making in such a vital area of health cannot be undertaken effectively without an informed understanding of the successes and failures of the last 150 years.
Managing trust: a comparative historical study of political accountability in Australia
Researcher: Dr Jackie Dickenson
ARC Discovery Fellowship
Some Australian political leaders have acknowledged a crisis in their trust relationship with voters and seek ways to fix it. By historicising the 'crisis of trust' thesis, and testing its assumptions, I expect to demonstrate that, far from being alienated from voters, representatives both reflect and shape society's notions of trustworthiness. This knowledge offers political leaders new ways of approaching their relationships with voters in order to redress the trust dilemma. It also provides fresh, more positive ways of conceptualising trust relations generally, offering a way forward from the present cynicism, for a variety of trust relationships to be made anew.
Rediscovering historical contributions in environmental planning: Australia's Town Planning Associations
Researchers: Prof Robert Freestone, Dr Andy Brown-May, Dr Christine Garnaut, Dr Stefan Petrow, A/Prof J. Gregory, Dr Christopher McConville
ARC Discovery Grant
Admininstering Institution: University of New South Wales
Community based town planning associations (TPAs) made significant contributions to the development of urban planning in Australia from the early 20th century but have not featured prominently in traditional historical accounts. This national study corrects this imbalance by investigating how early agendas and achievements were influenced by citizen inputs in every capital city. The origins, activities, demise and survival of TPAs will be reconstructed, compared and contrasted. Unlike the predominant discourse of participation based largely on narrow oppositional politics, the study posits an enduring relevance of more broadly-based community groups for genuine collaborative planning.