Australian Studies

This course examines race and racism in contemporary Australia. It introduces theoretical tools from sociology to assist us in understanding how race and racism operate in Australia, who benefits from racism, and why racism is difficult to change. It looks at situations faced by First Nations people in their fight for sovereignty and justice, anti-migrant racisms, and how race, a social construction, is constantly shifting. The course also explores anti-racism efforts, why most are ineffective, and what might be more effective.

This course examines surfing's history, culture, and science with a unique practical immersion. Students will uncover the multifaceted nature of surfing in Australia, which will include examining surfing’s Polynesian roots in the First Nations cultures, its development by the modern surfing industry, as well as delving into the science that shapes the perfect wave. Students will examine the distinct surfing culture which has emerged and is still evolving through Australian music, film and literature. Students will also examine the effects of large businesses such as Billabong and Rip Curl on Australia’s surfing culture. 

This course examines  the history and foundational institutions and principles that underpin the Australian legal system. It covers current legal issues in Australia, and explores these in critical and comparative perspectives. 

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. 

The 2020s have seen the rise of numerous strategic problems for Australia. There are giant states in fierce competition, such as the United States and China, and emerging giants in India and Indonesia. There are also problems from below, such as climate change, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and terrorism. This course examines the security challenges facing Australia and explores how Australia should approach its region. 

This course, relying on economic frameworks, explores historical and contemporary Indigenous populations and these peoples’ participation in and marginalization from the contemporary Australian economy and society. Incorporating First Peoples ' diverse perspectives, we consider contemporary First Nations’ and other Indigenous peoples’ economic activities in an historical context. Students have the opportunity to develop insight into First Nations perspectives on economic development, wellbeing and prosperity. We explore First Peoples' innovative responses to contemporary challenges borne of the ongoing impacts of colonization and systemic bias. Topics change each year, and include the continuities of First Peoples’ practices in resource management and communal sustenance; innovative engagements with the settler and global economy; demographic and population change; land, water and sea rights; human capital development; income and wealth; participation in the labor market; and, entrepreneurship. 

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 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.