Famine in the Modern World

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

3 contact hours per week.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject explains the causes of hunger and famine. It examines the problems of hunger, famine, poverty and population growth, and as it does so it introduces key issues, concepts and theories central to geography and development studies. The subject is structured around an examination of two contrasting theories of hunger and famine. The 'Malthusian' theory argues that famine is a matter of the balance of population and environmental resources. Evidence is drawn together from demography, environmental change and degradation, and the environmental impact of the green revolution. The 'political economy' theory argues that famine is a matter of the distribution of food. Evidence is drawn together to explain differences in access to food within and between societies, including the implications of agribusiness and the global food trade and the effect of war on food supply. The subject also considers the ways in which aid, food, and development policies are informed by these theories. Students who complete the subject should be familiar with these theories and the causes, extent, and possible solutions to famine and food problems. This subject is an introduction to geography and development studies.

• understand the causes of hunger and famine;
• understand variations in the availability of food, and the reasons for these;
• understand relations between population, environmental change and food supply;
• understand how solutions to hunger are designed on the basis of particular theories about the causes of hunger;
• have developed skills in empirical and theoretical evaluation of theories of hunger and famine; and
• have gained a basic understanding of the discipline of geography and the interdisciplinary field of development studies.

A 2-hour examination (worth 40%, in examination period), a 1000-word paper (worth 15%, due mid-semester), a 1500-word paper (worth 25%, due at the end of semester) and tutorial exercises (worth 20%).

None.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Music

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Upon successful completion of this subject, students will:

• be capable of thinking critically;
• be capable of testing theories with evidence;
• be capable of demographic analysis;
• be capable of writing logical essays following standard formats; and
• be capable of working in groups.