PhD Research Scholarship in Australia

Objects of Possession: Artefact Transactions in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, 1870-2013.

ARC Discovery Project DP110102291.
James Cook University, School of Arts and Social Sciences
Chief Investigators: Associate Professor Rosita Henry, Associate Professor Russell McGregor, Dr Mike Wood, Dr Shelley Greer, Professor Ton Otto.

Project Description:
This multi-disciplinary project will provide a systematic history of ethnographic collecting in
the Wet Tropics of North Queensland. Covering the period from the 1870s to the present, it
will explore the diverse ways in which Aboriginal people, collectors and museums have
expressed their interests and property rights in the collected artefacts. It will also analyse the
ways in which Aboriginal people of the Wet Tropics have vested these artefacts with their
regional and other identities. By doing so, it will shed new light on current debates about the
ownership and value of Indigenous artefacts and contribute to the development of innovative
ways of presenting Indigenous peoples' connections with their material cultural heritage.

Expectations:
The successful applicant will have an academic background (Honours degree or higher) in
one or more of the disciplines of anthropology, archaeology or history. She or he will join the
multi-disciplinary research team listed above, and will be enrolled as a PhD candidate at
James Cook University, based at either the Townsville or Cairns campus. He or she is
expected to participate in research team meetings and contribute to the success of the
overarching research project.

The applicant will define his or her own PhD topic within the parameters of the project as a
whole. Potential PhD topics include, but are not limited to: histories of local indigenous
museums in the Wet Tropics; histories of property claims as they relate to transactions in
indigenous artefacts from the Wet Tropics; analyses of specific collections or categories of
artefacts deriving from the Wet Tropics. Interdisciplinary topics are particularly encouraged
but single-discipline topics are also welcome.

Value: A stipend of $22,500 per annum (tax free) for three years plus $7000 project support.
Applications, including CV and a two-page outline of proposed PhD topic, must be
submitted by 14 February 2011.

The successful applicant is expected to begin work on the project on or before 1 April 2011.

Applications should be sent to:
Graduate Research School
James Cook University
Townsville, Qld, 4811

The Scholarship Application form and Referee Report from can be found at:
http://www.jcu.edu.au/grs/scholarships/index.htm

For further information please contact:
Associate Professor Rosita Henry: rosita.henry@jcu.edu.au or Associate Professor Russell
McGregor: russell.mcgregor@jcu.edu.au or Dr Mike Wood: michael.wood@jcu.edu.au
For assistance with application procedures please contact Dr Lauretta Grasso at:
Lauretta.Grasso@jcu.edu.au