Texts and Violence

Subject 191-438 (2008)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2008.Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.500
Level: Undergraduate
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

Semester 2, - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

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Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: .
Prerequisites: Admission to the Master of Criminology 200-point program or fourth-year honours or a postgraduate program in criminology, socio-legal studies or political science.
Corequisites: .
Recommended Background Knowledge: .
Non Allowed Subjects: .
Core Participation Requirements: .

Coordinator

Professor Alison Young
Subject Overview:

Violence is an issue of great social, individual and cultural concern. This subject investigates some of the ways in which violence is represented, talked about, and interpreted. The subject focuses on two issues: how to interpret textual representations of violence (such as those in newspapers, legal discourse, literature, art, and social policy); and how to analyze the significance of textual representations of violence in the context of policy-making, preventing and responding to violence. The subject includes an emphasis on interpretive and analytical skills, covering discourse analysis, aspects of literary criticism, techniques of newspaper analysis, and understanding legal discourse. The subject engages with violence in a range of forms, including domestic violence, sexual assault, terrorism and the Holocaust. In case studies and readings, there will be a focus on violence and trauma (whether individual or collective), problems of memory and commemoration after violence, and the difficulties of doing justice to the experience of victimization.

Assessment: A 1500 word critical analysis of one of the theory and method topics covered in the subject, together with relevant reading, due mid-semester (30%); a 3500 word essay on a case study covered in the course or on a relevant topic agreed in consultation with the course coordinator, due at the end of semester (70%).
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop
Recommended Texts:

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Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

  • Have highly developed cognitive, analytical and problem-solving skills;

  • Have an advanced understanding of complex concepts and the ability to express them lucidly in writing and orally;

  • Have sophisticated awareness of cultural, ethnic and gender diversities and their implications;

  • Have an ability to plan work and to use time effectively.
Notes:

This subject was previously available a 191-438 Criminal Fictions. Students who have completed Criminal Fictions may not enrol in this subject.

Related Course(s): Master of Criminology (CWT)
Master of Public Policy and Management (Coursework)
Master of Social Policy
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Criminology)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Socio-Legal Studies)

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