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Handbook 1997 : Faculty of Arts : Cultural Studies

Faculty of Arts

Cultural Studies

Convener: Simon During (Department of English)

The Faculty of Arts offers an interdepartmental program in Cultural Studies housed in the Department of English. The program allows students to study the interrelationships of popular, national and class cultures and sub-cultures, as they are formed in and through everyday life, the contemporary print media, broadcasting, film and popular music.

The program combines interdepartmental coursework in the methodologies of cultural studies as a discipline. It also provides opportunities for concentrated study of specific areas of cultural production, and specific issues in and sites of cultural politics, including those of nation, class, gender, ethnicity and race. It addresses questions about the social functions of culture, the institutions in which culture is produced and transmitted, and its role in the formation of identities.


Strengths of the Area of Study

The Cultural Studies program at the University of Melbourne has three areas of focus: post-colonialism, theories of transgression (in particular queer theory), and theories of the popular media and media technologies. Students may choose to either focus on one of these areas or strands, or they may choose to select subjects from across these areas.


Career Opportunities

The Cultural Studies program is of particular interest and value for students planning to work in the arts, in the media, and in cultural policy.


First-Year

Students interested in undertaking a major in Cultural Studies are strongly advised to enrol in both of the following subjects, but they are not formal prerequisites for second year Cultural Studies.

Recommended first-year subjects

106-101 Contemporary Culture and Media
106-106 Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life

Students who intend to continue working in the postcolonial strand of the program are advised to enrol in one or both of the following subjects, though again it is not a formal prerequisite for second year Cultural Studies.

Recommended first-year subjects (Postcolonial strand)

131-120 Introduction To Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
166-123 'The World Is an Amazing Place': the Politics of Other Cultures

Prerequisites

Students can enter the Cultural Studies program at 2nd year level after having completed 50 credit points at first year level from across any one or more of the following departments:


Requirements for a Major

For a major in Cultural Studies students are required to pass five subjects, totalling 83.3 points, in the following way:

All students must complete the foundation subject 106-290/390 Contemporary Cultural Studies. Of the remaining 4 subjects, at least three should be taken from the list of second or third year subjects below. Where students elect to take only three subjects from this list, one subject may be taken from the list of 'Optional Departmental Subjects'.

Second Year and Third Year Cultural Studies subjects

1st Semester
106-218 Reading Sexuality
106-247 Postmodernism
106-268 Reading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Textual Production
106-283 From Rock To Rap: Cultural Formations
106-290 Contemporary Cultural Studies
106-296 Imagining Hollywood
106-297 Modernity, Spectacle and the Popular Media
111-251 Theorising the Body in Australia
131-290 Exhibiting Histories and Cultures

2nd Semester
106-261 Postcolonial Cultural Studies
106-270 Art/Pornography/Blasphemy/Propaganda
106-293 Popular Culture
106-295 Feminist Cultural Studies
111-256 The Entertainment Experience: Cross-Media Forms and Interactive Technologies
136-209 Critical Theories
131-276 Representations of Gender
191-328 Crime and Culture

Not available 1997
106-291 Sites of Culture
111-248 Television and Australian Import Culture
111-254 Commodity Culture: Myth, Meaning and Advertising
131-276 Representations of Gender
166-242 An/Other China: Theorising Everyday Life


Optional Departmental Subjects

Optional subjects may be taken in conjunction with Interdepartmental Cultural Studies subjects. Students should consult with the relevant department for timetable verification. Students should check that they meet the enrolment prerequisites, if any, of the following subjects. Prerequisites may be waived for students undertaking an interdepartmental program. Please consult a Faculty Course Adviser for details.

Optional Departmental Subjects

Department of Classics and Archaeology
150-277 The Greeks in Australia

Department of English
106-240 Novel and Film
106-241 Postcolonial Writing
106-246 Popular Fiction

Department of Fine Arts
111-243 Postmodern Prospects: Issues in Contemporary Art and Criticism
111-344 Making Gender: Art, Film and Spectatorship in the West 1850-1995
111-333 You Beaut Country: Australian Art and Design in the 1950s

Cinema Studies (Department of Fine Arts and Cinema Studies)
111-246 International Art Cinema
111-247 Contemporary Hollywood Cinema

Department of Geography
121-207 Landscapes of Power: New Cultural Geographies

Department of History
131-201 Varieties of History: History and Media
131-204 Australian Sporting Culture
131-208 Saracens, Heathens, Cannibals and Savages: Colonising discourses in the self-fashioning of Christendom/Europe/the West
131-219 Changing Concepts of 'Woman's Place': Europe, the United States and Australia, 1790-1950
131-220 Gender and Society
131-290 Exhibiting Histories and Cultures

Department of HPS and Anthropology
136-206 Gender, Science and Technology
136-251 Theoretical Foundations of Sociology
136-271 The Human Cosmos: Myth, Ritual and Society
136-277 Power, Ideology and Inequality
136-281 Culture Change and Protest Movements

Department of Philosophy
161-228 Philosophy of Feminism: Issues in Contemporary Feminist Thought
161-241 French Feminisms
161-242 Philosophy and Literature

Department of Political Science
166-223 International Relations

Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
175-214 Language in Aboriginal Australia
175-219 Language in Society

Faculty of Music 1
740-144 Music Cultures of the World - An Introduction

Students interested in further subjects in Ethnomusicology and Australian Music Studies should consult the Faculty of Music entry.

Enquiries about the Cultural Studies Program should be directed to the Cultural Studies coordinators in the Department of English.


Entry to Honours

Students wishing to enrol in a Combined Honours course in Cultural Studies are required to reach an average standard of H2A or above in the Cultural Studies major.


Honours requirements

Entry into the combined honours is available to those who have completed a major in Cultural Studies with an average of H2A or above. Exceptions to this provision may only be made with permission of the Conveners of Cultural Studies. Students can elect to write an Honours thesis in either Cultural Studies or the combining area of study and must take two single-semester Cultural Studies subjects from the following list (or alternative subjects if approved by the Convener of Cultural Studies).

Honours subjects

First semester
106-431 The Horror Genre: Fiction, Film and Theory
106-443 Body Cultures
106-444 Global Culture: History and Theory
106-448 Consumerism, Spectatorship and Gender: Theorising Visual Fascination
106-447 Colonial Cultural Studies
136-451 Disease and Culture

Second semester
106-428 Cultural Practice/Cultural Politics
106-430 Studying Subcultures
106-436 Que(e)ries: Lesbian and Gay Theory
106-444 Global Culture: History and Theory
106-454 Global Sports

Not available 1997
106-435Colonial Discourse/Postcolonial Cult.St.
106-447 Colonial Cultural Studies


Opportunities for Further Study

The MA in Cultural Studies is an MA by thesis and there is no coursework involved. Students wishing to apply for entry into the MA program should have an H1 or H2A Honours degree (or equivalent) in a related discipline.


For more information

Contact:

Simon During

Department of English

The University of Melbourne

Telephone: (03) 9344 5506/7

Subject Descriptions

First Year

106-101 Contemporary Culture and Media
106-106 Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life

Second and Third Year
106-218 Reading Sexuality
106-247 Postmodernism
106-261 Postcolonial Cultural Studies
106-268 Reading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Textual Production
106-270 Art/Pornography/Blasphemy/Propaganda
106-283 From Rock To Rap: Cultural Formations
106-289 Reading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Production
106-290 Contemporary Cultural Studies
106-291 Sites of Culture
106-293 Popular Culture
106-295 Feminist Cultural Studies
106-296 Imagining Hollywood
106-297 Modernity, Spectacle and the Popular Media
111-248 Television and Australian Import Culture
111-251 Theorising the Body in Australia
111-254 Commodity Culture: Myth, Meaning and Advertising
111-256 The Entertainment Experience: Cross-Media Forms and Interactive Technologies
131-290 Exhibiting Histories and Cultures
131-276 Representations of Gender
136-209 Critical Theories
166-242 An/Other China: Theorising Everyday Life
191-328 Crime and Culture

Fourth Year Honours
106-402 Theorising Literary and Cultural Studies
106-403 Writing the Subject: Psychoanalysis and Other Stories
106-430 Studying Subcultures
106-431 The Horror Genre: Fiction, Film and Theory
106-436 Que(e)ries: Lesbian and Gay Theory
106-443 Body Cultures
106-444 Global Culture: History and Theory
106-447 Colonial Cultural Studies
106-448 Consumerism, Spectatorship and Gender: Theorising Visual Fascination
106-454 Global Sports
111-320 Art and Mass Culture in the 1960s
131-456 Memory and Memories
136-447 Reading Texts in Social Theory
136-451 Disease and Culture

1. Students interested in further subjects in Ethnomusicology and Australian Music Studies should consult the Faculty of Music Handbook.


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Handbook 1997 : Faculty of Arts : Cultural 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.