AUSTRALIA

This course examines conceptual, methodological, and ethical issues at the center of current debates in the field of cognitive neuroscience. It explores how brain-behavior relationships are identified and used to inform models of cognition; methods of measuring and influencing cerebral activity; the neural mechanisms underlying a wide range of mental processes, such as attention, perception, and memory; and the implications of advances in our knowledge of the brain for psychiatric and neurological populations and society at large.

This course examines the legal framework and regulatory systems which underlie all business activity and the legal implications of commercial conduct. It covers the Australian legal system and key areas of substantive business law including contracts, torts (in particular negligence and privacy), property and securities, white collar crime, intellectual property, competition and consumer law (in particular advertising, product liability and unfair contracts), business structures and operations, misleading and unconscionable conduct and dispute resolution.

This course examines knowledge of core business functions and analytical tools and applies these to the problems faced by modern organizations and decision-makers. There is a strong focus on the need to collectively arrive at decisions within decision groups, and to argue for these choices through typical business communication formats (e.g. business plans, slide packs, formalized reviews).  

This course examines Australia’s rich and complex Aboriginal linguistic heritage in contemporary and traditional contexts. It covers language and the land, kinship and social organization, narrative and conversation, language acquisition, language contact, language and education, language maintenance and revival. There will be a focus on how new ways of speaking are created, how languages are lost, and the ways in which Aboriginal speakers are teaching and reviving their traditional languages today. 

This course examines the ways in which processes of colonization and de-colonization affect contemporary politics, resistance, transition, justice, the global order and localized and global challenges. 

This course examines the ways in which contemporary practices of visual communication are being reshaped by digital media. It provides an overview of the digitization of key visual media such as photography, cinema and video, and addresses the social and political implications of the growing use of digital networks as primary forms for the distribution and consumption of images. Students will engage with key issues for 21st century media industries including: how professional organizations such as news media and institutions such as courts deal with the changing ground for claims to truth and realism by media such as photography, film and video; the implications of photo-sharing and social networking websites as new cultural forms for the circulation of images; the blurring of lines between amateur and professional media production, and the growing use of visual communication by activists and NGOs.

Drawing principally on Marxist anthropology, post-structuralism and post-colonialism, this course looks cross-culturally to explore the interrelationships between diverse forms and sources of power, the roles of colonialism and corporate globalization in configuring and sustaining local relations of inequality, and the rise of resistance movements that explicitly challenge exclusions based on class, gender, and ethnicity. Special attention will be paid to the effects of multinational corporations on local power relations and patterns of inequality throughout the world via brand marketing, legal reform, and corporate social responsibility. Case studies will be drawn from Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

This course examines the fundamental presuppositions of every area of human life and inquiry. This course looks at philosophy by taking up questions about the nature of knowledge, the human mind and its relation to the body, the principles of right action and of a good life, and freedom and constraint in a just political order. It examines both contemporary and historically influential approaches.

This course examines influential theories of nature and the environment in philosophy and a range of interdisciplinary writings, from Aristotle to the present.  The course explores the following questions: Is there a connection between how nature has been conceived in philosophy and science and the current environmental crisis? Is the notion of nature still a meaningful term in the Anthropocene?  What is the difference between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’? How should humans understand their relationship to ‘nature’? These questions will be addressed from a range of perspectives, such as: Phenomenology, Critical Theory, German Romanticism, environmental ethics, Ecofeminism, contemporary thought and non-Western approaches. Drawing on these diverse traditions, the course examines possible alternatives for understanding the human-nature divide.

This course examines the primary structural materials adopted in commercial and residential projects in Australia. It covers the composition of concrete, with a detailed analysis of the properties of its components, including cement, aggregates, and the most utilized admixtures. Students will learn how to design concrete mixes in accordance with Australian Standards. Additionally, the course presents a discussion on alternative sustainable materials that can be used in the concrete mix. The course also examines other structural construction materials, such as steel, masonry, and timber, with discussions presented on their physical and chemical properties, along with design and planning considerations that need to be accounted for. The final part of the course examines finishing material, including ceramics, claddings, curtain walls, painting, and glass.