Selves and History

This subject is not offered in 2013.

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Admission into the postgraduate diploma, postgraduate certificate or fourth year honours in Australian Indigenous studies.

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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 will engage in a detailed and nuanced investigation and discussion of issues central to Aboriginal identity in contemporary Australia. Analysis will be undertaken through considering issues relating to affirmative action, and contemporary racism. Discussion will be framed within the context of contemporary theoretical and legal debates around these issues, and where possible contexted with reference to cognate developments in other countries, for instance New Zealand, the United States, France and Great Britain. A developed theoretical perspective will be used to problematise and elucidate the multiple impacts of Australian coloniality, racism and nationalism on Aboriginal conceptions of self. This subject will extend, in a more intensive and theoretically refined manner, ideas encountered in the undergraduate program.

Students who successful complete this subject will:

• understand issues related to self and other in Australian Indigenous Studies in relation to comparative issues in an international context;
• achieve a higher-level understanding of the isomorphic fluidity of relations between Settler policies and representations, and Aboriginal people; and
• understand the dynamic and operative possibilities of theory in relation to creation of the self.

5000 word essay 100% (due in the examination period). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% (or 10 out of 12) classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Any student who fails to meet this hurdle without valid reason will not be eligible to pass the subject. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject. Essays submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised 2% per day. Essays submitted after two weeks of the assessment due date without a formally approved application for special consideration or an extension will only be marked on a pass/fail basis if accepted.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students who successfully complete this subject will:

• have a sophisticated understanding of the role of theory in Australian Indigenous studies;
• develop the ability to undertake high-level individual research;
• gain a developed understanding of the ethical requirements of research in Australian Indigenous studies; and
• appreciate the enhanced intellectual outcomes of collegiality.