Australia

This course examines the body of law known as International Law or sometimes ‘Public International Law', as distinct from ‘Private International Law'. The field of International Law deals with many aspects of the functioning of the international community (including the relations of States with each other and with international organizations); it also affects many activities that occur within or across State boundaries (including the treatment by States of their citizens, environmental law, military operations, and many other areas). 

This course examines the issues related to risk of ground instability, which concern all civil engineering projects. Students will learn how to identify, evaluate and mitigate hazards including landslides, sinkholes and earthquakes. They will develop the ability of assessing the impact of these hazards on the natural and built environment. They will acquire analytical skills to quantify ground (in)stability and foresee natural and entropic causes of ground failure. They will learn how to design engineering solutions to mitigate these risks.

This course will introduce the perspectives of the major, and the scales at which the varied scientific disciplines of Evolutionary Biology, Physiology, Psychology and Geography understand ‘the human’. A question will be identified, that will be analyzed by each of the four disciplines in turn. For example, questions chosen for study in the subject might be: how does a particular disease, in a certain time and place, spread from being an epidemic to a pandemic; what is the relationship of humans to particular natural disasters; over the next century, should (and will) most humans become vegetarian? In the final week of semester, the views of ‘the human’ that are held by the four disciplines will be compared and contrasted, in light of what has been revealed in studying the question chosen for focus. This concluding discussion will demonstrate the aspects of the human to which each discipline gives priority, and at which scales.

This course examines foundational international relations theories encompassing realist, liberal-internationalist and constructivist perspectives to ongoing and emerging political dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region. It complements comparative political perspectives on regional governance by applying state-centric and key sub-state based perspectives on understanding how the region ‘matters’ in a global context. Various perspectives on international political economics, foreign policy analysis, international security and regional/international institutions will supplement the theoretical perspectives that underwrite the subject’s conceptual approach.

This course examines differences in diverse people’s experiences of urban life, the opportunities and challenges it offers them, and their ability to shape the city. It looks at how how social differences such as class, gender, ethnicity, race, and disability have been understood in urban studies from varied theoretical perspectives, including liberalism, Marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. It explores these themes with case studies from many cities around the world, with a particular interest in Melbourne, where students will undertake independent field research. Specific issues to be investigated include: the social and cultural lives of rich, poor, middle-class and gentrifying neighborhoods; the negotiation of gender roles and relations in the private and public spheres of the city; intergenerational conflicts in urban housing and labor markets; inequalities in the spatial distribution of urban infrastructures such as roads, transport, education and health services; racial segregation and conflict; the displacement and marginalization of Aboriginal communities in Australian cities, and their activism. 

This course examines he study of public policy. It provides an overview of the main theories of public policy processes and examples of their application in the scholarly literature. The course will review the key challenges facing public policy makers. The approach will blend theory and case studies.

This course examines web technologies needed to design and prototype web-based user interfaces. In this course, students will prototype screen-based designs using scripting and markup languages such as HTML, CSS.

This course examines the science and scientific methods within the life, environmental and Earth sciences. In particular, the course will introduce students to the research undertaken in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) and its application to contemporary environmental problems, management and issues. The course also focuses on skills including relevant quantitative techniques, methods for collecting environmental data including new technologies, sampling and experimental design, methods for visualizing environmental information (graphics, mapping) and communicating results.

Spanish is the language of over four hundred million people. It is spoken officially in 23 countries, and it is the second language of the United States, where there are some 45 million Spanish speakers. Spanish is also one of the four major languages of the European Union alongside English, French, and German. If you are interested in learning one of the most commonly spoken first languages in the world and have no prior knowledge of the Spanish language, then this is the right course for you. Based on a communicative and culture-based approach, this course is designed to help you quickly develop your proficiency in basic oral and written Spanish. Vocabulary and basic Spanish grammar are presented in contexts that are relevant for everyday language use. Students will also learn basic language learning strategies to make the learning process more effective.

This course examines conventional and alternative perspectives on leadership and provides a range of leadership case studies.