Indigenous Land Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

This subject will incur additional fees in the vicinity of $900 per student to cover travel.

An enrolment quota applies to this subject. For detailed information on the quota subject application process, refer to the Quota Subject link on the Science Student Centre website: http://studentcentre.unimelb.edu.au/eastern/subject_information/quota_subjects

170 hours

At least some background in indigenous cultures, biogeography, ecology and/or physical geography. Interested students who are unsure if they possess sufficient academic background are welcome to contact the coordinator for advice.

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. This course requires all students to enrol in subjects where they
must actively and safely contribute to field excursions and laboratory activities. Students who
feel their disability will impact on meeting this requirement are encouraged to discuss this matter
with the Subject Coordinator and Disability Liaison http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/
students email: disability-liaison@unimelb.edu.au

As Australian landscapes continue to degrade under current land management practices, land managers and stake-holders are looking toward alternative and more sustainable land management strategies, such as indigenous land management and traditional knowledge. This subject looks at how indigenous people in Australia manage their environment and how management practices vary across the Australian landscape. The subject will examine indigenous land management in Australia and abroad, and evaluate how traditional knowledge and beliefs guide approaches to land management. We will examine examples where indigenous land management has been reintroduced to landscapes in Australia and investigate the potential application of similar schemes across different parts of Australia. The subject will be taught as a 14-day intensive during the mid-semester break, comprising lectures and field observations in western Victoria and the Northern Territory. These two very different regions will be used to examine the relationship between environmental context, indigenous land management and post-colonial history. Lectures will provide the necessary conceptual framework with which to engage and understand the different environmental contexts and indigenous land management practices of these regions.

More information about this subject and the field trips can be seen at: http://michaelsresearch.wordpress.com/geog90019/

This subject will incur additional fees in the vicinity of $900 per student to cover travel.

At the completion of this subject, students will have achieved the following objectives

• An appreciation of the philosophies underpinning indigenous land management in Australia;
• An appreciation of the biogeographic diversity of Australia and the various ways in which this governs the way in which people manage the land;
• Familiarity with the key literature and current debates on indigenous land management;

• 1500 word literature review, 30%;
• Group presentation, 30%;
• 2000 word theoretical essay, 40%.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• ability to comprehend some of the current debates in the field;
• software skills, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and more specialised software;
• basic introduction to indigenous Australian cultures;
• basic introduction to Australian biogeography;
• oral presentation skills;
• group field and research activities.