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Night Vision aims to create a new history of wakeful nighttime activities in the late ancient world by combining study of material remains (e.g. lighting and timekeeping technologies) with literary descriptions of what humans do at night. Grounded in our night studies network, the project will generate new knowledge of late ancient culture, illuminating overlooked people and experiences with the new analytical category of night vision. Expected outcomes include scholarly publications and a robust agenda of co-designed outreach with museums and observatories. This should provide significant benefit by consolidating historical night studies in the Australian academy and enriching the cultural knowledge of night for the Australian community.
This project aims to introduce a fresh conceptual framework for understanding ancient society and culture by emphasising nocturnity; write a new intellectual history of the late ancient Mediterranean through expert analysis of diverse literary and material sources relating to night, especially illuminating neglected actors and perspectives; create co-designed industry collaborations for mutually beneficial research and community engagement outcomes; and put Australia at the forefront of historical night studies, including by building capacity within a new generation of scholars.
The project unites an interdisciplinary team under three interrelated themes: Night Sky (observation and experiences of celestial bodies), Night Light (impact of lighting technologies and their evolution), Night Life (sociality of night). Each theme forms the basis of a collaboration with key GLAM-sector partners: Mount Stromlo Observatory; ANU Classics Museum (Canberra) and Ian Potter Museum (Melbourne); and Museums Victoria’s Immigration Museum respectively.
Australia Research Council Discovery Project A$378,678
2025-2028
Australian National University
Mount Stromlo Observatory
Museums Victoria
ANU Classics Museum
Ian Potter Museum