Studies in Building Cultures and Markets

This subject is not offered in 2013.

120 hours

Admission into one of the following courses:

Master of Construction Management (MC-CONMG2Y and MC-CONMG3Y) Master of Architecture (MC-ARCH2Y and MC-ARCH3Y) Master of Property (MC-PROP2Y and MC-PROP3Y) Master of Urban Planning (MC-URPL).

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

This subject investigates the organization of the construction industry in various country environments, with an emphasis on the strategic selection of construction technologies and methods according to specific social, economic, legal and technological contexts as well as regional traditions.

Consisting of a seminar component and a travel component (which can vary each year depending on the focus provided by the subject coordinator), the subject will expose students to unfamiliar cultures, places and people, thus stimulating their ability to reflect critically on the Australian construction environment.

The subject will incur travel costs in addition to tuition fees. Faculty subsidies may, however, be available to each enrolled student.

• To observe and record building industry operations in non-Australian contexts, and provide an international perspective in construction.
• To enable comparisons of construction markets, technologies and processes in different countries and regions.
• To help students understand contingent relationships between construction technologies and national cultures.
• To gauge the impact of cultural drivers within construction.
• To encourage students to identify and engage critically with issues of geographic specificity in construction.

• Class participation (10%).
• Case studies and professional reports equivalent to at least 5,000 words (90%).

None specified

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

At the completion of the subject students should have developed the following skills and capabilities:

• Ability to understand and navigate social and cultural differences;
• Ability to undertake ideal-type analysis;
• Ability to understand the type of industrial data required in socio-technical studies;
• Ability to derive theoretical positions from empirical analyses;
• Ability to prepare and conduct technical interviews with industry representatives;
• Ability to combine data from primary and secondary sources for the development of a scholarly argument;
• Ability to translate these data into a cohesive piece of original research.