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Introduction to <i>The Museum Movement: </i><i>Carnegie Cultural Philanthropy and Museum Development in the Anglosphere, 1920-1940</i>
No full textHighlighting the key role played by the Carnegie Corporation in guiding museum development in the late colonial period, this book shows that the movement was strongly influenced by the racial politics of the period and that its focus on local histories and civic engagement sought to boost the historical legitimacy and continued vitality of small towns and their dominant white populations. Demonstrating that the ‘museum movement’ placed new emphasis on the importance of professionalisation, interpretation, and audience engagement, McShane shows how, by the late 1930s, the movement had helped lay the foundations of museology. This book also constructs a genealogy of the ‘new’ museology, the next wave of museum reform that emerged in the 1970s, by reflecting critically on the ‘newness’ of some of its ideas. Indicating that ‘new’ thinking about audience, display media, and the economics of culture has a longer history, this book also provides historical perspectives on current interests in informal and social learning, the formation of museum publics, and institutional convergence.The museum movement was an assemblage of people, ideas, and practices that sought to establish the significance – indeed the uniqueness – of museums and art galleries as elements of the informal or parallel education sector that contributed to personal, social, and civic formation through ideas-based exhibitions and constructivist education. As this book argues, the museum movement was particularly active in the interwar decades of the early twentieth century in the Anglosphere: the U.S., the U.K., and the dominions and colonies of the British Empire, and in these regions, it was substantially funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY). A key argument of this book, which this chapter foregrounds, is that the museum movement was most concerned with local museums, especially those in small communities or rural areas, as central to consolidating white settlement, but also as the sector most in need of professionalisation and modernisation. This chapter introduces the scope and theoretical framing of the analysis, focussing on the position of CCNY as a powerful agency of the associational state, the influence of progressivism as a body of thought and practice emphasising social reform through expert direction, and the racial and social dynamics of settler colonialism.</p
Challenging Capabilities: The Value of Design from Ntaria
No full textDesign is frequently concerned with improving human well-being and enhancing people’s quality of life, often discussed under the domains of “design for development,” “alternative design,” “social design,” “sustainable design” or “regenerative design.” Yet, approaches are often unsuitable for understanding and evaluating the value of design according to First Nations community perspectives and priorities, recognizing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the sovereign people of the land now called Australia. Working with First Nations communities necessitates self-determination and honoring local value systems, place-based knowledges, and ways of designing, which are often at odds with dominant Western values and understandings of design as “universal” or a “problem-solving” process. Focusing on what individuals are able to do and be—their capabilities—rather than economic measures or indicators, emphasizes the importance of context and is sensitive to local cultures, environment, and socioeconomic conditions, while promoting agency and the importance of people having control over their lives. The capability approach is a development theory pioneered by economist Amartya Sen and ethics philosopher Martha Nussbaum.1 Their approach asserts that human development should be concerned with the expansion of freedoms to live a valued life. This article explores the value of design in an Aboriginal community in Australia, drawing on a case study of co-developing a design education program in the community of Ntaria, in the Central Desert. I question whether the capability approach offers a framework to evaluate how design can contribute to self-defined lives that people value.2 The overarching study sought to gauge the value of design according to sixteen Aboriginal youth participants, who were engaged in a series of design workshops from 2016 to 2019.</p
Updated Evaluation of the Alexis Family Violence Response Model
No full textBackgroundThe Alexis Family Violence Response Model (Alexis- FVRM) is a coordinated police and social services response to recidivist family violence in Victoria. Following the success of the pilot program (2015- 2017 in Glen Eira, Bayside and Kingston), the Alexis- FVRM was expanded to include multiple regions in the South-Eastern metropolitan corridor of Melbourne and is currently active across multiple police divisions (e.g., Bayside, Prahran, Morwell and Wonthaggi).Aims and MethodThe current mixed-methods evaluation aimed to explore the effectiveness of the Alexis-FVRM since the rollout to other police divisions across Victoria. It comprised two stages:-an anonymous online survey to examine victim-survivors’ perceptions of the Alexis-FVRM (n = 18), and-an analysis of de-identified client data to examine risk levels for respondents (n = 101) and affected family members (n = 100) following Alexis-FVRM intervention.The evaluation also sought to provide an overview of the type of support provided by the Alexis-FVRM, and an exploration of engagement rates and modes of engaging victim-survivors and respondents.Key Stage 1 Survey ResultsOf the 18 complete survey responses, the majority of victim-survivor participants (78%, n = 14) viewed the Alexis-FVRM positively. Most felt supported by the Alexis-FVRM team and reported that the Alexis-FVRM had helped to connect them with relevant services (e.g., housing, mental health, medical).Most victim-survivor participants (78%, n = 14) reported that the Alexis-FVRM helped to reduce family violence in their lives. Zero victim-survivor survey participants reported that family violence became worse following Alexis-FVRM intervention.Key Stage 2 Results for RespondentsThe risk levels for respondents significantly reduced following Alexis-FVRM intervention. Of the 101 respondents in the dataset, 66% (n = 67) had lower risk levels at case closure compared to their initial risk ratings.Alexis-FVRM provided support to respondents for 13 to 286 days (on average 70 days), with key supports including assertive outreach, service planning and engagement, risk assessment, safety planning, brokerage, crisis response, psychoeducation, and socio-emotional support.Engaging respondents in family violence interventions is widely recognised as a challenging task. Alexis-FVRM practitioners reported successful contact with respondents in 83% of cases, with assertive outreach used in 85% of cases.For over a third of respondents (36%), their case was closed because their needs had been met by the Alexis-FVRM.Key Stage 2 Results for Affected Family Members (AFMs)Risk levels for AFMs significantly reduced over the Alexis-FVRM support period. Of the 100 AFMs in the dataset, 66% (n = 66) had lower risk levels at case closure compared to the initial risk ratings.The Alexis-FVRM provided support to AFMs for 4 to 313 days (100 days on average). For over half (52%) of the AFMs who were engaged with the Alexis- FVRM, the recorded reason for case closure was that the victim-survivor’s needs were met.Overall, the Alexis-FVRM provided a range of support to a diverse pool of respondents and victim-survivors in several police divisions across Victoria. Taken together, the two stages of the evaluation results are largely positive regarding the efficacy of the Alexis- FVRM. The evaluation results indicate that the Alexis-FVRM helped to reduce the risk of family violence for many of the respondents and affected family members, and that the victim-survivor survey participants generally felt safer and supported following the coordinated police and social services response.</p
Rapid Design of Efficient Mn3O4-Based Photocatalysts by Machine Learning and Density Functional Theory Calculations
No full textThe development of efficient photocatalysts for visible-light-driven pollutant degradation contributes to sustainable and green solutions to environmental challenges. However, optimizing catalyst composition and structure remains a costly and time-consuming process. Here, a comprehensive design strategy is presented for the fast development of efficient Al-doped Mn3O4-based photocatalysts, combining density functional theory (DFT), machine learning (ML), and laboratory experiments. DFT-calculated effective mass and bandgaps, serving as indicators of charge mobility and light harvesting, respectively, are employed as descriptors to determine the optimal Al dopant amount. Al0.5Mn2.5O4 is identified as a promising candidate due to its favorable bandgap and charge mobility. To further enhance performance, AlxMn3−xO4/Ag3PO4 heterojunctions are synthesized, leveraging ML to optimize the ratios between AlxMn3−xO4 and Ag3PO4. The best material is determined to be an Al0.5Mn2.5O4/35 wt%-Ag3PO4 composite, which exhibits a 27-fold increase in photocatalytic efficiency for methylene blue degradation under visible light compared to pristine Mn3O4. This study not only provided promising photocatalysts for practical pollutant degradation but highlighted the potential of computational and ML-guided approaches to accelerate photocatalyst discovery. These computational methods provide a framework for the rational design of advanced materials for environmental remediation applications.</p
Brand Activism and Collective Action: Mapping Challenges and Strategies
No full textDigital brand activism is a growing phenomenon in advertising and marketing. This conceptual paper advances this emergent literature by examining firms’ implementation of brand activism on social media and consumers’ varied reactions. It highlights the benefits of social media as the primary vehicle for campaign dissemination, as well as its propensity to amplify criticisms and polarization. However, the unique contributions of digital brand activism to the broader societal agenda remain underexplored. We propose collective action as the primary goal for change-oriented digital brand activism and underscore the significance of outcome expectancy in achieving this goal, offering a clear pathway for mobilizing consumers and demonstrating how individual contributions can be pooled to create significant social impact. We adopt the theory synthesis approach to summarize and integrate knowledge to advance a framework that identifies (1) key challenges that arise for digital brand activism, and (2) corresponding literature-informed strategies to overcome these challenges and achieve collective action.</p
Refashioning: Accelerating Circular Product Design at Scale Final Project Report
No full textThe Refashioning project developed, piloted, and evaluated an open-source guide to help fashion product development teams implement circular design. Circular design means to consider the full lifecycle of clothing with the goals of reducing waste and pollution, ensuring that the garment and its materials can be kept in use as long as possible, and regenerating nature. The Refashioning Circular Design Guide provides actionable and measurable criteria for implementing circular design within large-scale fashion retailers and assess their long-term impact. The project was supported by the Victorian Government's Circular Economy Innovation Fund as part of the Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC), and Country Road Group. This final project report outlines the guide development and testing process. </p
DRSABC—RESUS in an EMERGENCY: A Collective Diagramming of Emergency (Im)mobilities
No full textEmergencies or disasters have been acknowledged by mobilities and migration researchers for some time as crucial interruptions or threats to mobile life. Indeed, in the first edition of the journal Mobilities, Kevin Hannam, Mimi Sheller and John Urry suggest, through a range of disruptive events, natural disasters, environmental crises, and pandemics predating COVID-19, that “issues of ‘mobility’ are centre-stage.” In this collaborative paper we present and reflect on a workshop on “Emergency (Im)mobilities” which took place in Brisbane Meanjin, Australia in 2023, where we engaged in an activity to explore different key terms and concepts attached to, and that might have potential for, research on “emergencies” in mobilities. While some of the authors have worked directly on, and had experience in, more obvious emergencies including so-called “natural disasters,” others reflected on the workshop theme through their own interests in creative arts, literature, migration studies, and more. We offer this reflective, collaborative, and creative paper to future mobilities research that engages in emergencies and crisis in order to reflect on current and future emergency aesthetics (in its sensory,
emotional and affective registers), including diagrams, procedures and communications that simultaneously shape our engagement as researchers and as community members who have faced, and will continue to face, emergencies that both mobilise and immobilise us.</p
JungleSoundscape002bis.wav
No full textProject recordings - JungleSoundscape002bis.wavSenseScapes, an interactive sound installation, was inspired by the issue of noise pollution in the workplace and developed through the expertise of participating academics and the RMIT Vietnam School of Communication and Design's interest in creating interactive design installations on the RMIT University Vietnam campus. The project was framed as a part of the “Interactive Campus” project: “SenseScapes – an audio-visual interactive biophilic eco-system.” The project consisted of three phases: 1) preliminary research and audio samples collection, 2) the creation of an interactive sound installation, and 3) the creation and post-processing of accompanying visuals. The audio samples were collected by the investigators during the field trips around the natural forestry landscapes of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.This sample was collected during the 1st phase of the project and further utilized in the process of creating an interactive installation.</p
STE-009-TREE_WIND.wav
No full textProject recordings - STE-009-TREE_WIND.wavSenseScapes, an interactive sound installation, was inspired by the issue of noise pollution in the workplace and developed through the expertise of participating academics and the RMIT Vietnam School of Communication and Design's interest in creating interactive design installations on the RMIT University Vietnam campus. The project was framed as a part of the “Interactive Campus” project: “SenseScapes – an audio-visual interactive biophilic eco-system.” The project consisted of three phases: 1) preliminary research and audio samples collection, 2) the creation of an interactive sound installation, and 3) the creation and post-processing of accompanying visuals. The audio samples were collected by the investigators during the field trips around the natural forestry landscapes of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.This sample was collected during the 1st phase of the project and further utilized in the process of creating an interactive installation.</p
RE-ORIENT: RECLAIMING SPACES THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SELF-PORTRAITURE
No full textOn a bend along the Yarra River a white tent was erected in 1837, 5 years after the founding of Melbourne. What stands there today, is a 150-year-old grandiose white building called the Customs House. It was built, like the tent, on the unceded Aboriginal lands of the Woi wurrung people. From controlling what was brought into the country, the Customs House gained power to also control immigration into Victoria. Famous for ‘The Dictation Test’, immigrants were required to a pass a language test in any European language other than their own. The customs officers were able to exclude all non-Europeans, and thus the early beginnings of the White Australia Policy. The physical building is one of the most continuous in the English colonial tradition, with its towering architecture and stark whiteness profoundly defining who belongs in the building. For the past 25 years, it has been home to the Immigration Museum, a place that celebrates and nurtures the stories and collective histories of First Peoples, migrants and their descendants within Victoria.
Re-Orient is a site-specific self-portrait photographic project set within this building that explores post-colonial identity and migration. As a female Eurasian Australian artist, I perform my cultural gendered identity and ‘re-orient’ myself through the physical spaces of the museum. The project is shaped by my own family’s migrant journeys – and the knowledge that my ancestors would not be welcome – along with the museum’s archival migrant images and stories, to further recognise the transnational histories that shape Melbourne.
This paper weaves together photography with empirical research, discussing how phenomenological and performance-based methodologies are instrumental in reclaiming and redefining colonial spaces. It presents how the Eurasian body can shift our understanding of territories and identities, and how the photograph can represent a re-imaging of cultural identities.</p