Australian Studies

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.

This course examines a wide range of different art practices to give a holistic view of Indigenous arts and their role in facilitating a voice and its use as a tool for social change. It covers the role of art as a tool for resistance and self-actualisation within Indigenous communities, studying the effects of cultural reclamation and artistic practice on the mental and spiritual well being of a people.

This course examines Australia's foreign and security policies since Federation, with a focus on contemporary issues such as defense planning and operations and engagement with the global economy. It explore Canberra's stance on terrorism, nuclear affairs, asylum seekers, and global environmental management.

This course combines formal classes with exploratory field trips. Traditional lectures are used as a space for conveying important concepts and information to students. Formal lectures are also supported by smaller tutorial classes where collaboration, discussion, and group work are employed to facilitate social learning and increase student knowledge and understanding of key ideas. The traditional lectures and tutorials are then enhanced by two unique expeditions into significant coastal and mountainous regions of New South Wales. These bushwalking field trips into The Royal National Park and Blue Mountains give students a chance to experience and be immersed in two distinctive Australian ecosystems.

This course examines key issues and themes relating to Australian society and culture across a wide time-frame including before colonization and the most recent past. It covers the brutalities of the colonial process; the relationships of the Europeans to this 'new' land; the developing society in the Antipodes; the new cultural forms of nationalism in the late nineteenth century; the importance of White Australia; the impact of wars and Depression; and the cultural shifts of liberation movements.