The Australian Academy of the Humanities is delighted to see four Fellows have been awarded grants under the Linkage Project scheme 2025 (Round 2) by the Australian Research Council.
The Linkage Project scheme promotes national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies.
Congratulations to all recipients, and all other HASS Linkages Projects which were successful.
Transforming Australian design culture through the department store 1954-75
Dr Mark Jones, Professor Peter McNeil FAHA, Dr Katarzyna Jezowska, Dr Jacqueline Strecker, Ms Claire Eggleston, Mr Roger Leong & Ms Anni Turnbull
Collaborating with the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences & Art Gallery of New South Wales Trust
This project aims to investigate the role of the department store in the transmission, diffusion and promotion of international design ideas and practises in postwar Australia. Partnering with Powerhouse and Art Gallery of New South Wales, this innovative study positions David Jones’ ground-breaking 1950s-70s international exhibitions as a case study, revealing the department store’s role as a driver of awareness and advancement of design cultures in Australia within a new narrative framework. By repositioning its role as a design catalyst, public archives and collections are reinterpreted and enhanced. Outcomes highlight the vital role of department stores in the present and their historical impact on Australian design cultures.
“Many people are no longer aware of how important department stores were in bringing new design and wider ideas to Australians before jet travel and the web,” said Peter McNeil FAHA, Honorary Professor at UTS. “This project is a great example of the power in bringing together the university and GLAM sector. During the grant period, we’ll develop a new model of embedded academic research within cultural and collecting institutions.”
“By repositioning the place of the department store in promoting modern design in postwar Australia, we will deploy the concept of design as diplomacy – which it was – and use its historical cases studies to connect to contemporary debates about consumerism and design.”
Inclusive arts for children with complex disabilities
Professor Jane Davidson FAHA, Dr Gillian Howell, Dr Anthea Skinner, Associate Professor Jo Raphael, Ms Cat Sewell, Ms Michelle Hovane
Collaborating with Polyglot Theatre & Sensorium Theatre Incorporated
This project aims to address the persistent exclusion of children with complex disability from full cultural participation by investigating how to create and sustain high-quality performances for and with this audience. Co-designed and delivered with leading inclusive arts organisations, it expects to generate new knowledge by mapping the national ecosystem, conducting case studies of best practice, and delivering peer learning exchanges between artists with and without disability. Expected outcomes include sector events, practice guidelines, and an evidence base to inform future investment. This should stimulate workforce development and new inclusive arts work, providing significant benefits by advancing cultural equity and participation.
Truth telling in the goldfields for 2029-2030
Professor Jane Lydon FAHA, Dr Katherine (Kate) Gregory, & Ms Sue Hanson
Collaborating with the State Library of Western Australia & Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre.
This project aims to model Truth-telling in preparation for Western Australia’s bicentenary through creating a collaborative, decolonised research process which ensures data sovereignty for First Nations participants and produces an overview history of the Goldfields region of Western Australia. This will inform new collection-based library practice, historical research and interpretation methods, and heritage management, and forthcoming commemorations across the nation. It will produce an exhibition in Kalgoorlie, and support state government Truth-telling through WA’s Sites of Truth Telling heritage program, while building a cohort of early career researchers with skills in history, heritage and interpretation.
“I am delighted to be collaborating with the Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre Aboriginal Corporation (GALCAC), based in Kalgoorlie, and the State Library of Western Australia, to develop new histories of the Goldfields region,” said Jane Lydon FAHA, the Wesfarmers Chair in Australian History, at the University of Western Australia.
“We are also working with the Western Australian government’s Sites of Truth Telling program. The project will be guided by the First Nations community, represented by GALCAC, and we aim to develop best practice methods for collaborative history-making which ensure Indigenous data sovereignty.”
Amplifying creative connections in cross-sector efforts to combat isolation
Professor Brydie-Leigh Bartleet FAHA, Professor Katherine Boydell, Professor Genevieve Dingle, Professor Cameron Parsell, Professor Catherine Althaus, Associate Professor Peter Hegedus, Dr Rae Cooper, Dr Emma Heard, Associate Professor James Baker & Dr Christen Cornell.
Collaborating with Micah Projects Ltd, Children’s Ground Limited, Upbeat Arts Ltd, Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education & Creative Australia
This project will forge Australia’s first arts–social–health sector alliance to tackle the escalating crisis of isolation and loneliness, especially in marginalised Australians. Responding to a critical need for equity-driven solutions, it will examine how the creative arts can be embedded in frontline community services to enhance the impact of these cross-sector efforts. Outcomes will include new interdisciplinary insights, multi-sectoral strategies, policy resources, and knowledge translation that will fuel more integrated and creative responses to this urgent issue. Benefits will span stronger socio-cultural connections for Australians most severely impacted, cost savings, and deeper embedding of the arts in national wellbeing policies.
“We are honoured to receive this grant, which recognises the urgent need to address social isolation and loneliness in Australia,” said Professor Bartleet, who is the Deputy Director (Research) of the Queensland Conservatorium.
“Over five million Australians face isolation and loneliness, impairing health, shortening lives and costing billions in lost productivity and care. These harms fall hardest on people facing marginalisation: those living in poverty, people with disabilities, survivors of domestic and family violence and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—who report loneliness at up to twice the national rate.
“Our Creative Connections Project aims to unite the arts, social and health sectors to embed creative programs in frontline services, delivering new evidence, policy-ready insights and practical models for change. By centring equity and First Nations-led design, our project hopes to strengthen belonging, improve wellbeing, and help build a more connected, resilient nation for those most impacted by disadvantage and exclusion.”
