Geographic Information Systems

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

85 hours

Admission into 101AA Ph.D.- Arts or DR-PHILART Doctor of Philosophy in Arts.

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

The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) workshop will provide an introduction to the GIS program. The elective will be taught by a leading international GIS scholar with a group of domestic and international researchers gathered for an academic workshop; PhD students will be able to participate in the workshop as an elective in the coursework program. GIS is a computing system that stores and analyses spatial and geographical data. This includes mapping data to provide graphical images of patterns. Using the GIS industry standard software, ESRI’s ArcGIS and ArcGIS online, this workshop will show how to conduct geospatial analysis of demographic, health and political issues (regional conflict, political participation, voting patterns, etc.) to improve future policies in these areas. Using both desktop and online GIS applications, the workshop will cover: principles of cartography, how to find and use demographic, health and political data in GIS, introduction to geospatial analysis methods, applied mapping skills using GIS software.

On successful completion of this subject, students should have:

• enhanced knowledge of the topic or area of scholarship taught in the module;
• an ability to reflect upon their own research work in relation to the content of the module; and
• enhanced engagement with leading-edge research in Arts today.

1. A 2,500-word assessment (100%), due after the end of the teaching period.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend 100% of classes in order to pass this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

The subjects will contribute, through teaching and discussion with academic staff and peers, to developing the skills and capacities identified in the University-defined Graduate Attributes for the PhD, in particular:

• the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge;
• an advanced ability to evaluate and synthesise research-based and scholarly literature; and
• an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field.