Australia

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. 

This course examines the deep connection between film and architecture. Both are art forms that shape and articulate our experience of space and place, influencing how we perceive and interact with the built environment. Through themes of space, place, and time, students will explore cinematic perspectives and methodologies for spatial analysis and design. By analyzing and making short films, students will also explore opportunities and strategies for storytelling, documentation, research and critique of the built environment. 

This course examines the practice of painting within a contemporary art context. Working individually and collaboratively in the studio, students will complete a range of practical tasks that will give them a foundation in painting practice. It covers how to use painting tools, materials, supports, and how to work with color and tone to create paintings. 

This course examines the disciplinary foundations for architectural design. Through small scale and experimental design projects, students will explore the main concepts and activities of architectural design. There is a focus on making and thinking about human inhabitation including space, form, order, structure, material, scale and proportion. It covers manual and digital representational techniques as primary design communication tools, and explore the relationship between plan, section, elevation and three-dimensional forms.

In this course, students will focus on the design and fabrication of functional and/or wearable objects in response to architecture and interior spaces. Students will apply jewellery and metal fabrication skills and small-scale production methods to develop a series of designs that engage with spatial and conceptual relationships between architecture and the body. The designs outcomes will be contextualized by contemporary practices in Jewellery and Object Design.