Posthumanities

Living in space

Over the last 50 years, more than 500 people have left earth and orbited into space. This research is investigating how humans adapt to space travel by applying archaeological methods to the habitation design of the International Space Station.

Using NASA data, researchers will examine astronauts’ interactions with objects and spaces. The results may be applied to future design of long duration space missions to maximise survival and efficiency. 

Researcher:

• Dr Alice Gorman

Posthuman Aesthetics

Members of the theme are publishing a series of jointly authored articles on posthuman aesthetics and more-than-human collaborations. Aesthetics explores sensitivities to other beings and other possible ways of being as problem-solving actions. What the field of the posthuman adds to aesthetics is the assumption that human capacities are always achieved in collaboration with the non-human: materials and tools, other living things, other imagined things, and even divinities.

Changing minds on climate change

Scientists and world-experts have been vocal on impending climate disaster – yet this approach has been largely unsuccessful in advancing evidence-based climate policy in Australia.

Our research is looking at the approaches to climate advocacy through the eyes of conservative policymakers to deliver strategies for more effective climate protection policies.

Researcher:

• Dr Peter Tangney

Digitisation and the immersive reading experience

Tully Barnett is investigating how reading and literature work in the post-print age, since digitisation is the future of the preservation of and access to Australia's literary and cultural record. The project is using digitisation case studies to generate a history of digitisation and the policies that govern it. It will develop recommendations for cultural infrastructure projects, nationally and internationally, and provide significant benefits including improved knowledge and policy for the future protection and development of digital text technologies.

Aboriginal Walking Tracks

Professor Stephen Muecke’s team is working with Aboriginal people in the Kimberley and South Australia on how Aboriginal walking tracks can revitalise intergenerational knowledge transfer, foster knowledge exchanges with academic disciplines, and build community businesses. Most often following traditional song-lines and trade routes, the practice of walking them under the guidance of Traditional Owners reproduces knowledge-based practices of paying attention, reciprocal care, and responsiveness to multiple life forms. These values and skills are transferable to young people participating, while also training students and attracting tourists. This project will develop a flexible model for trails as small businesses, as pedagogical experiences and as national policy for expanding this valuable tourism sector.

Researcher:

• Professor Stephen Muecke

Slow digitisation, community heritage and the objects of Martindale Hall

Associate Professor Jane Haggis and Dr. Tully Barnet and their team are working on a more sustainable model for the digital preservation of historically significant objects, stories and places at Martindale Hall in the Clare Valley. This project is generating new interdisciplinary knowledge about Martindale Hall and similar colonial grand houses and their collections of objects. In collaboration with the Ngadjuri traditional owners, the project is developing a new method that embeds digitisation in historical and cultural knowledge and assists organisations to make better decisions about when and how to digitise.

Researcher:

• Associate Professor Jane Haggis and Dr. Tully Barnet