Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies
ARC Cultural Research Network
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Proposed Research Directions

Outline of proposed research directions and the desirable Network configurations, infrastructure and facilities to support this research

The ARC Cultural Research Network will operate on two levels. At the national level, it will present a program of activities including symposia, colloquia, and master-classes aimed at sharing research approaches and resources, and disseminating high level expertise through metropolitan and regional centres. Also included among the national activities will be the oversight of the focus and activities of network nodes, where the work of developing specific research projects will be carried out.

There will be network nodes in each of the four areas of the research portfolio:

  • cultural literacies
  • cultural technologies
  • cultural identities and communities
  • cultural histories and geographies

In addition, there will be a fifth node devoted to the professional development of postgraduates and early career researchers.

The thematic network nodes will be focused on developing collaborative approaches to particular problems or projects: the understanding of Asian popular cultures, for instance, may be a focus of the cultural identities and communities node, while the relationship between youth and new media technologies might be a problem pursued within the cultural literacies node. Node members will generate these projects themselves as the first stage of development of the node and the achievements of the nodes will be evaluated in relation to their demonstrated capacity to generate genuinely interdisciplinary problem-based collaborations.

The network node devoted to the professional development of postgraduate students and early career researchers will coordinate activities aimed at complementing and enhancing existing mentoring, advisory, and support structures available to postgraduates and early career researchers. Activities will include the development of student bursaries to support travel to important research centres in their field (such as the existing bursaries to the Oxford University Internet Centre), assistance in developing short-term internships for postgraduates and ECRs in relevant industry locations, and travelling master-classes aimed at bringing high-profile researchers to the network participants.

The management structure of the network is as follows. The convenor will deal with the day-to-day management of the network. He will chair and seek advice from an elected Management Committee comprised of four representatives of the network, including one node convenor and at least one early career researcher. The Management Committee will function as an executive and will meet quarterly during the set-up period of the first twelve months, and six-monthly thereafter. The Management Committee is the first point at which consideration of all network and nodal plans and activities will occur. The full complement of network participants will meet annually, and plans for all activities, the management and/or modification of nodes, project development and other expenditure will be considered for approval at this meeting. All network expenditure is to be reviewed at this meeting on the advice of the Management Committee. The convenor and node convenors will report on their activities and expenditure to the Management Committee in the first instance, and then through that Committee to the annual network meeting.

Network nodes will be managed by a node convenor in consultation with a steering committee of no more than three network participants. The creation and dissolution of nodes will be possible, and will occur through the decision-making processes described above. Nodes will be porous, and network members will be able to move between them or to have multiple memberships. At least one of the nodes will be convened by ant ECR. Following a call for expressions of interest, node convenors will be appointed before the completion of the Networks application.

There is a strategic development component within the budget to respond to new initiatives, shifts in priority or focus, and other contingencies over the five years. This budget would be subject to the same accountability and reporting procedures as other forms of expenditure.

The support structure includes a full-time administrator and a part-time clerical support person at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland. They will be supplied with an office and other facilities in the CCCS. This structure will support the national program of activities. The nodes have a devolved budget that may include expenditure on administrative support, and node convenors will bring to the network a contribution in cash and/or kind from their institution such as an office or a small support budget. Most of the large-scale administrative work will occur in the CCCS, however, and the CCCS will dedicate up to two offices to this purpose.

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Among the details of the activities proposed by the network and discussed at its inaugural meeting on 20-21 January are the following:

  • Establishment of a feasibility study for the sharing of cultural research data from sources such as interviews, media recordings, image banks and so on through a web-enabled data-base, with a view to preparing a related LIEF grant application for the construction and management of such a facility.
  • Establishment of an interactive website serving the participants and presenting both research-oriented and network management information and debate.
  • Organisation of a program of national activities including symposia, colloquia, professional development seminars, and master-classes.
  • Organisation of nodal programs of focused discussion on specific research problems or projects, aimed at developing collaborative research projects.
  • Over the five years of the network funding, develop an integrated portfolio of collaborative cultural research projects for ARC program funding.
  • A specific program of activities aimed at the professional development of early career researchers and postgraduate students working on cultural research including advice on grants and other funding opportunities, research training, and research supervision.