Imaging Australian Spaces

Subject 102-511 (2009)

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

Credit Points:

12.50

Level:

9 (Graduate/Postgraduate)

Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

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

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: 2 contact hours/week , 8 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.

Prerequisites:

Admission to a relevant postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours program or enrolment in a relevant coursework Masters program

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

 CoordinatorDr Sara J Wills ContactSara Wills 
s.wills@unimelb.edu.au 

Subject Overview:	This subject allows students to examine the ways in which Australian space has been represented in a variety of cultural forms. The subject explores how these spaces - conceived in a visual, literary and physical sense - have developed, and how these have been represented and promoted in various contexts. Through a series of case studies, the subject examines topics and issues such as national space, spaces of silence and emptiness, legacies of colonial inscription on landscape, badlands and 'trauma-scapes', public space, the intersections of globality and locality, spatial entitlement and exclusion, spaces of belonging and the imaging of home, community space, power and the built and environment, and ruins and terrain vague. Key and recurring themes will be the spaces that 'haunt' the Australian imagination: cross-cultural, migrant and racialised spaces; anxieties about spaces and places and belonging; transnational understandings of Australia's place in the region and world; and how all these are shaped and affected by cultural memories of the past and the cultural politics of the present.
Objectives:	The subject will introduce students to various forms of visual and textual analysis, archival research and oral history research methods as well as extending the study of recent cultural theories on space and society.
Assessment:	Seminar presentation accompanied by a 1000 word discussion paper submitted within a week of the presentation 20% (allocated in week one); and a major essay of 4000 words 80% (due at the end of semester).
Prescribed Texts:	A subject reader will be available to purchase.
Breadth Options:	This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information:	Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:	be able to demonstrate that they can take responsibility for their own learning and academic endeavour; be able to think in theoretical and / or have strong foundation for empirical research be able to demonstrate the time-management skills required for conducting a sustained and developmental piece of independent study; be able to demonstrate skills of information retrieval, management of ideas, and orchestration of diverse sources in the process of research construction and presentation; be able to situate the significance of their research in the context of broader social, ethical and cultural contexts; be able to communicate their research findings in a clear and intelligible manner.
Related Course(s):	M.A.Australian Studies (Advanced Seminars and Shorter Thesis) Master of Art Curatorship (Coursework and Minor Thesis) Master of Arts (International Studies)(Adv. Seminars and Shorter Thesis) Master of Global Media Communication Master of International Studies Master of Landscape Architecture Postgraduate Diploma in Urban Design
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations:	Art History Art History Art History Australian Studies Australian Studies Cinema Studies Cinema Studies Cinema Studies Cultural Studies Cultural Studies Cultural Studies History History History

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