Contrasting colonial collectors: an examination of nineteenth-century collectors of Victorian Indigenous cultural artefacts, violence and antiquarianism
Description:
The motivations and methodologies for collecting Indigenous Australian cultural material from colonial Victoria from 1802–1900 have varied widely. Some collectors enacted frontier war to disarm a colonised people and dispossess them of their land. Others sought to salvage a material scientific record of the culture of a race they believed was doomed to imminent extinction or build museum collections for public education. Some sought souvenirs or gifts to document tourism experiences, and some acquired exotic material for commercial enterprise. This dissertation offers a historical overview of political and scientific paradigms underpinning the collection of Indigenous Australian cultural material from nineteenth-century Victoria and characterises the resulting collecting practices. The nature of the collection methods and the content of the collections were examined. The dynamics of relationships between nineteenth-century collectors, Indigenous Australian communities, the source of collections, and collecting institutions were analysed following on from Nicholas Thomas’s entangled objects framework and using the methodologies of Geertz’s thick description, McBryde’s ethnohistory, Denzin’s interpretive biography and Thomas, Znaniecki and Shaw’s biographical analysis. By examining evidence in the primary sources of Indigenous Australian value for colonial material and colonial value of Indigenous material, this dissertation deconstructed the nature of the relationships between agents. It explored the nexus between objects, institutions and individuals. The case studies add depth to the understanding of the collections of Victorian cultural material still held in museums.
Description:
The motivations and methodologies for collecting Indigenous Australian cultural material from colonial Victoria from 1802–1900 have varied widely. Some collectors enacted frontier war to disarm a colonised people and dispossess them of their land. Others sought to salvage a material scientific record of the culture of a race they believed was doomed to imminent extinction or build museum collections for public education. Some sought souvenirs or gifts to document tourism experiences, and some acquired exotic material for commercial enterprise. This dissertation offers a historical overview of political and scientific paradigms underpinning the collection of Indigenous Australian cultural material from nineteenth-century Victoria and characterises the resulting collecting practices. The nature of the collection methods and the content of the collections were examined. The dynamics of relationships between nineteenth-century collectors, Indigenous Australian communities, the source of collections, and collecting institutions were analysed following on from Nicholas Thomas’s entangled objects framework and using the methodologies of Geertz’s thick description, McBryde’s ethnohistory, Denzin’s interpretive biography and Thomas, Znaniecki and Shaw’s biographical analysis. By examining evidence in the primary sources of Indigenous Australian value for colonial material and colonial value of Indigenous material, this dissertation deconstructed the nature of the relationships between agents. It explored the nexus between objects, institutions and individuals. The case studies add depth to the understanding of the collections of Victorian cultural material still held in museums.
Description:
This study introduces a practical energy conversion (EC)-type modeling framework capable of converting the optimum compaction properties of fine-grained soils between any two rational compaction energy levels (CELs). Model development/calibration was carried out using a database of 242 compaction test results — the largest and most diverse database of its kind, to date, entailing 76 fine-grained soils (covering liquid limits of 16–256%), with each soil tested for at least three different CELs. On establishing the framework, an independent database of 91 compaction test results (consisting of 34 fine-grained soils tested for varying CELs) was employed for its validation. The proposed EC-based models employ measured optimum water content (OWC) and maximum dry unit weight (MDUW) values obtained for a rational CEL (preferably standard Proctor) to predict the same for higher and/or lower compactive efforts (covering 214–5416 kJ/m3). The 95% lower and upper statistical agreement limits between the predicted/converted and measured OWCs were obtained as
Description:
This study introduces a practical energy conversion (EC)-type modeling framework capable of converting the optimum compaction properties of fine-grained soils between any two rational compaction energy levels (CELs). Model development/calibration was carried out using a database of 242 compaction test results — the largest and most diverse database of its kind, to date, entailing 76 fine-grained soils (covering liquid limits of 16–256%), with each soil tested for at least three different CELs. On establishing the framework, an independent database of 91 compaction test results (consisting of 34 fine-grained soils tested for varying CELs) was employed for its validation. The proposed EC-based models employ measured optimum water content (OWC) and maximum dry unit weight (MDUW) values obtained for a rational CEL (preferably standard Proctor) to predict the same for higher and/or lower compactive efforts (covering 214–5416 kJ/m3). The 95% lower and upper statistical agreement limits between the predicted/converted and measured OWCs were obtained as
Description:
Background The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the psychosocial well-being of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] population like other communities internationally. Objectives We aimed to identify the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping amongst community members across the UAE. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey across the UAE during November 2020. Adults aged
Description:
Background The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the psychosocial well-being of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] population like other communities internationally. Objectives We aimed to identify the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping amongst community members across the UAE. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey across the UAE during November 2020. Adults aged