102-210 From Mateship to Mardi Gras

Students are not permitted to undertake within a 12-month period more than two subjects offered by the Australian Centre. This subject includes fieldwork in Sydney. An outline of the fieldwork program is available from the Australian Centre and at the web site http://www.australian.unimelb.edu.au. Strict enrolment deadlines apply to subjects taught during the Summer Semester. Any enrolment in, or withdrawal from, this subject for the Summer Semester must be made in line with HECS census dates, see HECS census date.

Usually 25 points of any first-year subjects with Australian content.

This subject introduces students to the history of the construction of homosexual identities in Australia since European arrival. It explores the formation of sexual cultures in the 19th and early 20th centuries and examines the development of gay and lesbian politics and communities from 1969 to the present. A field trip to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (at additional cost) will form a component of the subject. On completion of the subject students should have developed ways to discuss and theorise a number of homosexual subcultures within an interdisciplinary framework. A knowledge of the complex history of homosexuality and of homosexual identities should enhance students' understanding of debates around identity and identity politics within Australian society in general.