Australia

This course examines the conceptual frameworks and technologies that shape the making of screen-based media and contemporary art practices. Through a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials, and screenings, students explore the evolution of experimental film, video art, and independent filmmaking from the 1960s to the present. Students engage in the production of a self-directed digital film that may be realized in any style or genre. They learn the applied skills and competencies needed to use of studio facilities and equipment.

This course examines the world's most powerful film industry. It produces a historical and conceptual map of the institution that dominated the global film industry in the twentieth century, and which continues to do so today. In focusing on cinema as a socio-cultural and economic force, both in the United States and across the globe, it examines how Hollywood has historically produced and distributed a powerful cultural imaginary and devised methods to encourage audiences to consume it. The course considers Hollywood as an early example of a genuinely global industry that initially sustained itself through the implementation of a range of industrial, economic, cultural, legal, quasi-legal, and indeed illegal conventions and practices, i.e., the star system, the production code, the studio system, the genre system, monopolistic practices like vertical integration, and the Classical Hollywood style of film-making.

This course examines some of the most important concepts and ideas in political thinking, with particular attention to the major traditions of Western political thought from Machiavelli to 20th century political theory. Emphasis will be on such core concepts as sovereignty, power, liberty, democracy and equality, and how these concepts have framed political debates within the Western tradition. While some of the focus will be on the original form and contestation of these ideas in their historical context, there will be a strong emphasis on how these initial debates led into more recent, 20th century political thinking and problems. Attention will also be paid to how these concepts have been taken up in ideological formations, which include (but are not necessarily limited to) liberalism, Marxism, and conservatism. 

The course introduces the Japanese sound system, basic greetings as well as a number of basic Japanese structures and vocabulary expressed in Hiragana and Katakana syllabaries that are essential to basic Japanese communication. They are taught through five social/cultural topics following the textbook, Nakama Book 1a chapters, which include: greetings and introductions, discussion of daily routines, discussion of Japanese cities, discussion of Japanese homes, and discussion of leisure time. In each topic, while studying the language, students are challenged to discover different approaches to viewing the world around them linguistically and culturally, and are given the opportunity to understand current sociocultural issues in Japan. They are also inducted into the learning routine necessary to succeed in the fast-paced learning of a foreign language.

This course provides students with the opportunity to address complex problems identified by industry, community, and government organizations. With mentorship from a major industry partner and an academic lead, students integrate their academic skills and knowledge by working in diverse teams across disciplinary boundaries. Students research, analyze and present solutions to a real-world problem, and build on their interpersonal and transferable skills by engaging with and learning from experts in the field.

This course examines the key conceptual, theoretical and and political debates relevant to humanitarianism as a field of study and practice; the historical evolution of the legal frameworks and organizations that shape contemporary humanitarian practice; and various theoretical and analytical approaches to important humanitarian issues in global politics.

This course examines environmental systems including the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere and their interaction with each other in a wide range of landscape settings using examples from Australia and internationally. Particular emphasis is on the need for, and application of knowledge of the fundamental attributes of environmental systems to mitigate adverse human impacts through an informed environmental management decision making process.