Into the protecting arms: the League of Nations and the extension of international assistance to unprotected persons in the Middle East and Europe, 1926 - 1928

The refugee dilemma in Europe in the years between the two world wars had a number of aspects: humanitarian, political, and diplomatic. It raised questions of migration, questions of international law, and questions of the fate of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Refugees were visible from the very last days of the war and remained a matter of serious international concern even beyond the outbreak of war again in September 1939. The refugee dilemma in Europe was, firstly, a humanitarian crisis because the size of the refugee population was without precedent. It was also a political problem because national governments had to contend with questions about the refugees' legal status and their legitimacy under national and international law, as well as balance humanitarian concerns with national political interests. The humanitarian and political aspects together created a crisis for the international community newly united in the League of Nations. One of its first great acts-to take these refugees into its protective care-was not even prescribed for it in its Covenant. But the refugee crisis facing Europe was so great that member states were united in the belief that the League had been established precisely to undertake a task of this kind.

Aura, real-time motion capture dance and 3D stereoscopic dance

Aura explored the potential of motion capture and 3D stereo projection to visualize 1950's dance philosopher, Susanne K. Langer's notion of 'virtual force'.

Changes in the Australian Commonwealth departmental machinery of government 1928-1982

The Commonwealth departmental machinery of government is changed by using Orders in Council to create, abolish or change the name of departments. Since 1906 governments have utilised a particular form of Order in Council, the Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO), as the means to reallocate functions between departments for administration. After 1928 successive governments from Scullin to Fraser gradually streamlined and increasingly used the formal processes for the executive to change departmental arrangements and the practical role of Parliament, in the process of change, virtually disappeared. From 1929 to 1982, 105 separate departments were brought into being, as new departments or through merger, and 91 were abolished, following the merger of their functions in one way or another with other departments. These figures exclude 6 situations where the change was simply that of name alone. Several hundred less substantial transfers of responsibilities were also made between departments. This dissertation describes, documents and analyses all these changes. The above changes can be distilled down to 79 events termed primary decisions. Measures of the magnitude of change arising from the decisions are developed with 157.25 units of change identified as occurring during the period, most being in the Whitlam and Fraser periods. The reasons for the changes were assessed and classified as occurring for reasons of policy, administrative logic or cabinet comfort. 47.2% of the units of change were attributed to policy, 34.9% to administrative logic, 17% to cabinet comfort. Further conclusions are drawn from more detailed analysis of the change and the reasons for the changes.

The Celebrity Aura Exhibition

The Celebrity Aura Exhibition was an art exhibition centred around 'celebrity aura' that featured 13 local artists. It was run by the School of Communication and Creative Arts and was held in conjunction with the Inaugural Celebrity Studies Journal Conference (12-14th December) at Deakin University.

The silent screen (1895-1928)

In chapter 1, Victoria Duckett introduces the silent screen years (1895–1927) by investigating the American poet Vachel Lindsay’s claim in 1915 that European stage acting was unsuited to film. This critique held sway for decades, during which commentators celebrated American, as opposed to European, contributions to the new craft of motion picture acting. European acting became associated with mannered staginess in contrast to a more subtle American style. Building on recent scholarship that questions this dichotomy, Duckett skillfully analyzes the screen performances of two women actors: the French Sarah Bernhardt, arguably the most famous late nineteenth-century actor, who electrified theater audiences but made relatively few film appearances, and the American Lillian Gish, who began her career as a child in stage melodramas but whose fame derived from her appearances in films. Duckett’s nuanced reading of Bernhardt’s performance in the film Camille (Film D’Art, 1911) and Lillian Gish’s in Broken Blossoms (D. W. Griffith, 1919) reveals that despite their differences, they both used their bodies expressively to convey meanings and emotions.