Australian National University

The course aims to give students the analytical skills to compare and contrast the multiple paths to prosperity and critically assess the prospects and challenges for Asian economies and their citizens to thrive in the future. It moves beyond the mainstream approach to assessing country-level economic performance by incorporating seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, as explained in the book Doughnut Economics, in a holistic exploration of the economic growth and development patterns in the dynamic Asian region. These include shifting the goal beyond GDP to broader measures of sustainable development and human wellbeing; understanding the importance of economic and political systems beyond the textbook 'free market'; recognizing the critical role of governments in supporting equitable and regenerative development; and questioning whether the 20th-century obsession with economic growth is compatible with 21st-century development challenges.

This course is designed to help students to deepen their understanding of key concepts in security studies and then apply them to real world situations. Students will be provided with a series of case studies from the post 1945 era and contemporary conflicts to develop their knowledge of concepts and theories introduced in this course. 

This course examines a range of legal skills that are crucial for successful legal studies and for professional practice. Students learn the essential skills that enable them to engage with and use our principal sources of law - case law and legislation. In addition to teaching students how to analyze case law and legislation and to formulate legal arguments, the course also covers the key legal principles of statutory interpretation and the role of the courts in interpreting statutes.

This course examines five security concepts and their relevance to security in the Asia-Pacific region. These concepts are order/hierarchy, alliances, polarity/balance of power, international reputation ("credibility"), and historical memory. It covers these concepts through case studies such as the Korean War, the Taiwan Strait crises, the history (and future) of alliances in Asia, the Vietnam War, the Sino-U.S. rapprochement, the post-war order, and territorial disputes.

This course examines the main issues of Southeast Asian security, giving due attention to traditional concerns with interstate conflict as well as non-traditional themes like the economy and the quality of democratic governance. It also provides a grounding in the Cold War-era conflicts that shaped the region as we know it today. The central focus, however, is on contemporary internal armed conflict rooted in processes of state formation and state decay (for instance, ethnic conflict in Myanmar, separatist violence in Indonesia or the attempts to create an autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines). Key internal conflicts affecting the human security of millions of Southeast Asians, as well as near neighbors like Australia, will be analyzed in their unique historical and cultural context, and related to cross-cutting questions with broad inter-disciplinary significance negotiating views from above and below, from inside and outside. 

This course examines the structure and themes of Australian public law, providing a bridge to all other public law study in the curriculum. In essence, the course examines how public power is structured, distributed, and controlled in Australia. The distinctive roles played by the legislature, the executive and the judiciary receive special attention. Subsidiary themes in the course are protection of individual rights in the Australian legal system, and constitutional change and evolution in Australia. The following topics will be covered the constitutional and legislative framework for Australian public law; major concepts and themes in Australian public law, including federalism, separation of powers, constitutionalism, representative democracy, rule of law, liberalism and Indigenous sovereignty; the Legislature, including the structure of Australian legislatures, parliamentary supremacy, and express and implied constitutional limitations on legislative power; the Executive, including the structure of Executive government, executive power, and liability of the Crown; the Judiciary, including the constitutional separation of judicial power, and the administrative law implications of judicial separation; constitutional change and evolution, including constitutional amendment.

This course examines the biological, behavioral, social and ecological determinants of health from scientific, social, cultural and policy perspectives. It covers current and historical health challenges faced locally and globally. 

This course examines the basic skills and techniques associated with relief printing processes such as lino and woodcuts. Using a combination of autographic (drawing) and reprographic techniques, hand tools and machines, students will develop a body of work in the studio over the course of the semester. To complement the studio-based delivery, students will participate in lectures and tutorials contextualizing relevant conceptual, historical and contemporary practices.

This course examines the dynamics of political economy in the contemporary Middle East. There is a focus on how political actors and social forces influence, and in turn are influenced, by political economy structures and development strategies. In particular, the effects of state institutions, international actors, social classes, and new groups such as private sector businesspeople are assessed, and their roles considered in the context of political economy theoretical approaches. Particular case studies focus on recent trends in the region, especially: the growth of Islamic models of economic development; the processes and outcomes of economic reform; the impacts of globalization and foreign penetration of the region; and the ways in which new industries and technologies are shaping the political economies of the region.

This course examines the security challenges facing the Pacific Islands and, in particular, Australia’s role in the security of the region. This includes cooperation on transnational crime and counterterrorism; intervention and stabilization; criminal justice assistance; governance capacity-building; natural disaster response; and substantial development assistance. It also considers ways in which Pacific understandings of security differ from Australia’s, and the implications of this for Australia’s engagement with Pacific Island governments, security agencies and societies. It also assesses the outlook over the next decade for security in this strategically important and rapidly changing region.