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Handbook 1997 : Faculty of Arts : Australian Studies

Faculty of Arts

Australian Studies

Convener: Dr June Senyard (Department of History)

The Faculty of Arts offers a program in Australian Studies housed in the Department of History. Defining Australia and Australians has been a major preoccupation of cultural production in this country. The Australian Studies program allows students to integrate knowledge of the Australian situation drawn from other disciplines and to apply different methodological approaches to the ways in which ideas of identity and tradition have been communicated.


Strengths of the Area of Study

The program addresses questions concerning the production and reproduction of a distinctive culture and provides opportunities for the concentrated study of sport, language and everyday life as distinctive aspects of the Australian cultural tradition.


Career Opportunities

A degree with a major in Australian studies is of relevance to graduates entering education, librarianship, the public service, the media or other roles where an understanding of preoccupations in Australian cultural production is of significance.


Prerequisites

Entry to the program will usually be at second-year level. The normal prerequisite for entry to a major in Australian Studies is the completion of 25 points at first-year level which focus on Australia. Students should consult the coordinator for approval of their subject choice but could consider the following as appropriate:

First year subjects

Department of History
131-109 Australian History A: the Colonial Experiment
131-111 Australian History B: Towards 2001
131-116 Colonisers and Colonised: South Africa, Canada and Australia in an Imperial Age
131-117 Constructing National Identities: South Africa, Canada and Australia in A Postcolonial Age
131-120 Introduction To Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

Department of English
106-103 Modern Australian Writing
106-104 Women's Writing, Women's Lives

Department of Political Science
166-101 Australian Politics: Institutions, Parties and Issues
166-102 Contemporary Issues in Australian Politics: Citizenship and the Nature of the Polity
166-103 Australian Society: Class, Gender, Race and Sexuality
166-104 Change and Conflict in Australian Society
166-107 Politics of the Media

Department of Fine Arts
111-106 Introduction To Cinema B: Film and History Silent Beginnings to Cinematic Spectacle


Requirements for a Major

A major in Australian Studies requires the completion of five subjects at second and third-year level for a total of 83.3 points. The program offers a core of subjects taught by the departments of the Faculty lecturers in Australian Studies and a range of options offered by the departments of the Faculty. Of the five subjects, two should be taken from the list of second and third-year Australian Studies subjects listed below. The three remaining subjects may be selected from subjects offered by Faculty departments. Students may choose other subjects, subject to approval by the course coordinator. Students should consult with the course coordinator regarding their individual program.

Second and third year subjects

Australian Studies Subjects
100-201 Australia Now: Environments, Cultures, Institutions 16.7 2nd and 3rd year
131-203 The Oral Tradition in Australia
131-204 Australian Sporting Culture
131-209 The Australian Way of Life
131-278 Myths of Australia

Department of English
106-241 Postcolonial Writing
106-268 Reading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Textual Production
106-275 Australian Authorship
106-290 Contemporary Cultural Studies
106-295 Feminist Cultural Studies

Department of Fine Arts
111-216 Colonialism/Postcolonialism and the Art of Australia 1770-1900
111-217/317 Nationalism and Modernism in 20th Century Australian Art
111-223 Myths and Legends in Australian Art 1840-1950
111-227 Perspectives On Contemporary Aboriginal Art
111-248 Television and Australian Import Culture
111-251 Theorising the Body in Australia
111-254 Commodity Culture: Myth, Meaning and Advertising
111-333 You Beaut Country: Australian Art and Design in the 1950s
111-344 Making Gender: Art, Film and Spectatorship in the West 1850-1995
111-362 Australian Cinema

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
121-214 Urban Geography: the Post-Modern City
121-218 Australia and the Pacific Rim in a Global Economy
121-219 Environmental Politics and Management
121-220 Water Resources

Department of History
131-205 War and Australian Society 1788-1918
131-210 Crime, Law and Punishment in Colonial Victoria
131-211 War and Australian Society Since 1919
131-215 Making Melbourne Marvellous (B) - A Zone in Transition: the Inner Suburbs
131-219 Changing Concepts of 'Woman's Place': Europe, the United States and Australia, 1790-1950
131-220 Gender and Society
131-253 Koori and Non-Koori Histories: Colonial and Post Colonial Interchanges in Australia
131-259 The Migrant Experience
131-260 Migration and Australian Society
131-279 The Browning of Australia: Australian Environment History
131-290 Exhibiting Histories and Cultures

Department of HPS and Anthropology
136-227 Science in Australian Society
136-272 Ethnic Nationalism and the Modern World

Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
175-214 Language in Aboriginal Australia
175-234/334 Language and 'Race'

Department of Political Science
166-203 Australian Political Economy
166-209 Transforming Australian Culture: State, Society and the Australian Way of Life
166-210/310 Australia's Constitutional System in Comparative Perspective
166-225 Public Policy - Making in Australia
166-231 Australia in the International Political Economy
166-232 Political Psychology
166-233/333 Political Psychology B
166-243 Australian Foreign Relations


Entry to Honours

Students wishing to enrol in a combined Honours course in Australian Studies are required to reach an average grade of H2B and admission to honours in another area of study within the Faculty.


Honours Requirements

Combined honours in Australian Studies requires the completion of one single semester unit in Australian Studies (16.7 points), three semester units in another Department to be discussed with Coordinator and a thesis in either Department.


Opportunities for Further Study

A range of multi-disciplinary postgraduate courses are offered to meet the needs of both established professionals and others wishing to pursue further research in the area of Australian Studies.


For More Information

Contact:

Dr June Senyard

History Department

The University of Melbourne

Telephone: (03) 9344 5963

Subject Descriptions

131-203 The Oral Tradition in Australia
131-204 Australian Sporting Culture
100-201 Australia Now: Environments, Cultures, Institutions
131-209 The Australian Way of Life

Fourth Year Honours
100-402 Nation/Community/Citizen
131-414 Australian Sport: Makers and Readers


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Handbook 1997 : Faculty of Arts : Australian Studies
Status:                   OFFICIAL 1997
Last Modified:            Wednesday March 12 3:36 pm
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Authorised by:            Academic Registrar
Email Enquiries:          Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
Copyright © University of Melbourne 1997.