Critical Criminological Foundations

This subject is not offered in 2016.

85 hours

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

Focusing on the nexus between theory and practice, this subject engages with critical criminological work today. Although it is described as an interdisciplinary discipline, criminology nevertheless has key concerns concerning the nature of crime, criminality and criminal justice processes. This subject focuses on contemporary areas of concern and interest in criminological theory and practice, as well as opening out onto the broader debates, past and present, within which these are situated. It examines areas of contemporary criminological and socio-legal interest (such as risk, space, postcoloniality, governance, representation) and seeks to connect them with the broader social, political and philosophical traditions with which they engage. It will provide graduate students with a sophisticated and critical grounding in criminological theory and practice today, but also seeks to reflect out on what current criminological concerns demonstrate about the more general enduring themes (such as identity; history; the relation between the state and the individual) at play for criminology.

Students who complete this subject 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. One 500-word essay proposal (20%), due during the teaching period.
2. One 2,000-word essay (80%), due at the end of the assessment period.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% 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.