Australian Studies

This course examines Indigenous Australian peoples and their music making; diverse forms of Indigenous performance; and how Indigenous Australian performers simultaneously resist and use colonialist constructions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performance to create new and exciting forms.

This course examines the institutions, practices and principles of representative democracy and justice, within a comparative context. It covers the Australian constitutional framework, the separation of powers and the judicial system, the "unwritten constitution" of governing conventions, and human rights. It also considers the role of political parties, the media, and questions of citizenship in regard to sex and gender, race, and class. These elements of Australian representative democracy, as well as the controversial issues that they cover, are compared to their counterparts in other countries. 

This course examines the connection between land and culture to the continuity and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Students learn about Country and Indigenous relationships with, responsibilities to and care of place, and the maintenance of land, language and culture. A rights based perspective is used to explore Indigenous political history and activism in maintaining and protecting Country and culture. 

This course examines Australian politics from a historical perspective. It explores the foundation and working of democracy, the formation and transformation of the party system, and the relationship of politics to broader changes in society. The first part follows a chronological structure, beginning with traditional Indigenous government and extending through the colonial era to the present day, while the second examines a range of themes such as federation, nationalism and republicanism, women, gender and politics, rural politics, Indigenous politics and the media.

This course examines the background, context, conduct and implications of politics relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (TSI) communities and policy affecting Indigenous Australians. It explores aspects of inclusion and exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the formal political system, internal power relations within and between communities, social movements and representative bodies, Australian Indigenous politics with those of other nations, and looks at a range of policy areas.

This course examines Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through time. It explores the historical, cultural institutional and political relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, in the past and how these continue in the present. Topics include Indigenous resistance and activism, constitutional recognition, kinship, racism in sport, Indigenous astronomy, sovereignty, First Nations literature, and criminology and incarceration. 

This course introduces students to Indigenous Australia in a stimulating, in-depth study of traditional and contemporary forms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural expression. Ranging from dreaming and ancient knowledges, ceremony and lore, to the lives and societies of Indigenous peoples today, students learn about Aboriginal kinship, language, story and art, Indigenous agriculture, aquaculture and astronomy, and contemporary Indigenous cultures and cultural currents. Students explore traditional and contemporary Indigenous life, with special emphasis on the integrity, strength, and wisdom that has underpinned such extraordinary continuity.

This course examines the social function of popular culture in Australia with particular emphasis on the period from the 1960s to the present. It explores how popular culture is produced and consumed and asks how specific forms and practices (such as cinema, music, sport, and food) contribute to concepts of individual and national identity. The course does not attempt to define a uniquely Australian form of popular culture. Rather, students examine the distinctive ways in which cultural activity and practice, whether originating in Australia or overseas, have been produced and consumed in Australia.