Researching Australia: Issues, Agendas

Subject 102-310 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2009.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2.5-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: 2.5 contact hours/week , 5.5 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: 25 points at first year and 37.5 points at second year of Australian Studies subjects, and admission to third year
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Contact

Dr Fay Anderson
Phone: 47021
Subject Overview: How do you develop research expertise on Australia and so contribute to informed debate about issues facing the nation? This topic enables students to draw on their experience of the Australian Studies major to pursue research on an issue of contemporary concern to Australia. Areas for research will be identified at the start of semester, and students will develop research and writing techniques over the semester to produce a ‘position paper’ on a specific issue, suitable for presentation to government, other organisatons or industry. Research questions can be developed in relation to topics such as national identity, international relations, the environment, various social and political movements or issues and the media.
Objectives:
Assessment: 500 word research proposal 15% (due mid-semester), and a 3500 word 'position paper' 85% (due during the examination period). Students must attend 75% of the seminars in order to be eligible for assessment.
Prescribed Texts: Subject readings will be distributed by staff at the beginning and throughout semester.
Recommended Texts: Prescribed and essential texts are listed above in the Handbook entry. The broader reading list will include: Steven Angelides and Barbara Baird, Histories of Sexualities; Larissa Behrendt, Achieving Social Justice: Indigenous Rights and AustraliaÂ’s Future; Judith Brett and Anthony Moran, Ordinary PeopleÂ’s Politics; Susan Carruthers, The Media at War; David Carter, Dispossession, Dreams and Diversity; Inga Clendinnen, The History Question: Who Owns the Past?; Tim Flannery, Country; Patricia Grimshaw et al, Creating a Nation; Ghassan Hage, Against Paranoid Nationalism; Clive Hamilton, Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough; Peter A Jackson and Gerrard Sullivan, Multicultural Queer: Australian Perspectives; Phillip Knightley, The First Casualty; Mark Peel, The Lowest Rung; Richard White, Inventing Australia
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • be able, through competent use of the library and other information sources, to define areas of inquiry and methods of research;
  • through engagement in the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences, have demonstrated the ability to think in theoretical terms:
  • have an understanding of social, ethical and cultural context, the contextualisation of judgments, a critical self-awareness, and an openness to new ideas and possibilities
  • demonstrated, through essay writing and discussion, the ability to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Australian Studies

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