Research
Why humanities and social science-based wine research?
Wine drinking is not just an ordinary activity of daily life, but an extraordinary one. As opposed to food, for which we have a fundamental biological drive, wine is a matter of choice, of taste, and often denotes a cultured, not just cultural, identity.
As such its history is studied in Europe, even Britain, as a trade commodity and a value-laden drink. Yet trade and consumption are dependent on production, which is under-researched historically and sociologically.
Current projects |
Vines, Wine and Identity
Supported by the ARC Linkage Project scheme, this project focuses on Australia's oldest wine region, the Hunter Valley NSW, to understand how a product that 50 years ago was considered 'unAustralian' has become a lifeblood of some regions and a new national drink... read more.