102-511 Imaging Australian Spaces

Admission to a coursework masters program. Fourth-year honours or postgraduate diploma students may take this subject with permission from the postgraduate coordinator.

This subject allows students to examine the ways in which images of Australian culture and identity have been, and continue to be, challenged by changes to the nation's social and cultural fabric since the Second World War. The subject explores how images of Australia - conceived in a visual, literary and physical sense - have developed in the post-war years, and how these have been represented and promoted in local, national and international contexts. Through a series of case studies, the subject examines topics and issues such as rural and urban landscapes; cross-cultural, migrant and racialised spaces; senses of place and belonging; transnational understandings of Australia's place in the region and world; and how all these are shaped and affected by cultural memories of the past and the cultural politics of the present.

• be able to demonstrate that they can take responsibility for their own learning and academic endeavour; be able to think in theoretical and / or have strong foundation for empirical research

• be able to demonstrate the time-management skills required for conducting a sustained and developmental piece of independent study;

• be able to demonstrate skills of information retrieval, management of ideas, and orchestration of diverse sources in the process of research construction and presentation;

• be able to situate the significance of their research in the context of broader social, ethical and cultural contexts;

• be able to communicate their research findings in a clear and intelligible manner.

There are 2 assessment components for this subject (and a hurdle requirement of attendance at a minimum of 8 out of 12 seminars). The components are: 1) a seminar presentation (25%) accompanied by a 1500 word discussion paper submitted within a week of the presentation; and 2) a major essay (75%) of 3500 words due at the end of semester.

A subject reader will be available to purchase.