Global Inequalities In The Anthropocene

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours

One of:

Completion of 50 points at Level 1 subjects

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

Inequality is a global phenomenon – something widely found to be growing within and between nations. This subject takes a critical geographic perspective, focused on understanding the variety of scales at which inequality appears. It looks beneath national comparative statistics on global inequality to (1) investigate the ways in which inequality is generated and materially experienced in selected societies, social groups and places, and (2) analyse how new forms and conditions of inequality may be emerging with the advent of conditions termed the Anthropocene (an epoch in which environmental conditions on our planet are profoundly influenced by human action). The subject examines ideas of justice that propose ways of reducing inequality, in the light of processes generating a variety of inequalities at different scales, and for different social groups and places. Examples will be drawn from urban, regional, neighbourhood and national contexts in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

At the successful completion of this subject, students will have:

• Knowledge of perspectives on inequality that take into account variations between places and the reasons for this, and the way that inequalities materialise at different scales
• Research skills to enable the investigation of the complex causes of inequality and how these are experienced and understood
• Understanding of some place-specific experiences of inequality

A one-hour test due week 5 (25%). A 10 minute oral presentation due towards the end of semester (25%). A 2000 word essay assignment due in the examination period (50%).

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

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science

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 have skills in:

• reading, writing and speaking in theoretically-aware and comparative ways
• conducting library searches for relevant, critical literatures
• using a case study approach to explore processes and problems situated in particular contexts, relating data and information to conceptual arguments