Interdisciplinary Foundation Subject
100-181: Australian Indigenous Studies
This subject is offered in semester two.
Subject Description
This subject will provide students with an introduction to the complexity, challenges and richness of Australian Indigenous life and cultures. Social and political issues will be considered at both local and national levels. Students will have the opportunity to understand Indigenous histories and apply various disciplinary perspectives through the experience of Indigenous cultural forms including sport, fine arts, museum exhibitions and performances. Perspectives from disciplines such as Art History, History, Politics, Criminology, Anthropology, Health Sciences, Literary Studies, and Cultural Studies will provide students with a multi-faceted introduction to Indigenous studies and Indigenous society. Subject matter will sometimes be reframed so that students will have the opportunity to appreciate a larger context, and to understand the linkages and correspondences between Australian Indigenous Studies and related fields.
Subject Objectives
Students who complete this subject should:
- have an awareness of the extent of the Indigenous presence in Australia and an understanding of the diverse histories of Aboriginal communities;
- have an appreciation of the range of Aboriginal political, cultural and intellectual responses to colonisation;
- have an ability to analyse and critique popular discourses and representations of Aboriginals;
- have an informed awareness of political, social, economic, cultural and health issues as they relate to Aboriginal communities.
Interdisciplinary Foundation Skills
Students who complete this subject should:
- understand a range of disciplines and methodologies appropriate to the texts, artefacts, theoretical structures and social practices with which they are concerned;
- have developed a capacity for critical thought and analysis through the construction and articulation of lucid, logical arguments;
- have developed oral and written skills through essay writing and tutorial participation;
- have acquired the tools for independent and targeted research, using library and other information services;
- have the ability to organise and manage their time through the planning of class assessments and the meeting of set due dates.