Ethnic 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 offers an introduction to the field of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Tracing the development of CRT out of a critique of Critical Legal Studies in the USA, students explore the philosophical underpinnings of CRT, its critiques of ahistoricism, meritocracy, and "colorblind" policy. Students examine how the field itself has internationalized and engaged with other fields of study such as education, women's studies, film studies, and literary criticism, and how it has been subjected to academic criticism from within and without the field, most notably by Marxist scholars and liberal multiculturalists.

This course offers an introduction to Māori analyses of topics that are often discussed and sometimes controversial, and that continue to shape contemporary life in New Zealand. Topics include aspects of world view, philosophy and social organization; the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Waitangi and European immigration; and contemporary issues including Treaty claims, ownership of the foreshore and seabed and constitutional issues.

This course explores concepts of race and ethnicity. Theories and models of inter-group relations provide the tools for understanding and analyzing race/ethnic relations and ethnicity in selected societies. This course refers to Malaysia/Singapore, Southeast Asian, and other societies where relevant. The topics explored also include race/ethnicity and the nation-state; ethnicity and citizenship/multiculturalism; ethnic identity; gender and ethnicity; race/ethnicity and its representations; race/ethnicity and crime.