English

This course examines the impact of China’s opening and internationalization on the Chinese economy, and proceeds to examine the challenges of the rise of China to the global economic order. Topics include the impact of China on world trade and investment, the internationalization of Renminbi and its prospect as a global reserve currency, China’s bilateral and regional trade agreements, China and global energy and environmental issues, China’s impact on international bodies of economic coordination and governance (such as the Group of Twenty, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund), and the analysis and assessment of the challenges of China to global economic, monetary, and financial governance.

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of psychoanalytic theory, including the structural model, object relations theory, and self-psychology. The course develops knowledge of psychic conflict, unconscious processes, and the interpretation of dreams. The course provides skills in understanding transference and countertransference and analyzing contemporary applications of psychoanalysis. The course includes an introduction to psychoanalysis including an overview of psychanalytic model and its historical development. The course reviews the Topographic model including an analysis of unconscious processes and their influence on thoughts, emotions, and behavior; working on dreams; and the Oedipus Complex. The course discusses the Structural model including an understanding the structure of the mind, including the id, ego, and superego, and the stages of psychosexual development; psychic conflict and compromise; and an introduction to defense mechanisms and their role in psychological processes. The course reviews the object relations theory including an introduction to object relations theory and its contribution to psychoanalytic understanding, and an analysis of the role of attachment, separation-individuation processes. The course also discusses self-psychology and narcissistic personality with a focus on Heinz Kohut perspective, and the contemporary application of psychoanalysis, and its use in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field.

The course focuses on the differing approaches and styles used by global media. Students investigate press and journalism business models, issues of globalization, and examine cross-national differences in terms of ethics, media content, and access to creative industries. It also considers theories around social change and globalization.

This course examines foundational practical skills for spatial analysis using relevant real-world datasets with a strong environmental and urban focus. Students will develop quantitative problem solving and spatial thinking skills applied to real-world problems such as sea-level rise and housing inequality. 

Dylan Trigg argues that time and place are the twin pillars of identity, and that selfhood is constructed in the space in between them (A Phenomenology of the Uncanny, xiii). This course is concerned with that space in between, with the ways in which time and place interact to create or facilitate experience in children’s literature. Across a literary chronology that moves from 1954 to 2016, the course provides access points into diverse and complex representations of place and interpretations of time in books written for children and young people. Students engage with a broad range of texts, exploring how the central concepts have developed in the latter part of the 20th century, across a variety of modes and genres, using the core texts as touchstones for discussion and analysis. 

This course is to help students evaluate, both politically and aesthetically, the way Nordic films convey their social and cultural values and commitments. Given the belief in film's historical and social significance, it is the particular purpose of this course to look at Nordic films from 1945 to the present and analyze how they perceived and conjured up the social and cultural landscape. In addition, we will also look at some of the major political events and social and cultural trends that dominated a decade and left a mark on its films. In order to achieve these goals, we will examine three different areas more closely: a) state control and support of film production; b) film cultural characteristics, both those which seem to point in the direction of a unity in Nordic contexts and those that define each country respectively; c) Nordic cinema in transition in times of transnationalism and globalization.

This course introduces the world of imaginative sketching. It provides confidence and skills in expressing ideas visually, regardless of ones drawing level. Topics include line walking, class portraits, left-hand sketch, blind contours, and Rorschach sketch.

This course examines perspectives on biomedicine through the lens of art. Students follow a series of original podcasts that bring together leading Australian scientists and artists to discuss how real-world scientific problems can be solved through artists’ creative thinking. The topics investigated represent the most pressing biomedical concerns including death, stem cell technology, the brain and consciousness, cancer, personhood and infectious diseases.

Gain insight into a variety of approaches to ensuring that children grow up healthy and with opportunities to become contributing members of society. The historical roots, current issues, and future challenges related to children’s well-being are addressed in this course by covering a broad spectrum of related topics, including family life, the influence of the turbulent 20th century on youth and education, regional and national differences in educational systems, preventive youth health care, public policy on social services and divorce support, parental leave, and daycare provision. Students also learn about alternative educational approaches, such as those developed by Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner, Célestin Freinet, and A. S. Neill. The course includes guest speakers and incorporates guest talks and site visits to relevant museums/exhibitions.