University of Sydney Handbooks - 2017 Archive

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Indigenous Studies

Indigenous Australian Studies

ANTH2605 Aboriginal Australia: Cultural Journeys

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Anthropology Prohibitions: ANTH2010 or ANTH2025 Assessment: 1x 500wd tutorial writing task (10%), 1x 1000wd readings review essay (35%) , 1x2000wd major essay (40%), tutorial participation (equiv to 1000wd)(10%), tutorial presentation (5%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to the diversity of cultural practice and worldviews of Aboriginal societies across Australia. It will in particular explore critically how Aboriginal people and practices have been understood, debated and represented in the discipline of anthropology since colonisation.
ANTH2630 Indigenous Australians and Modernity

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Anthropology Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (35%), 2x250wd Assignments (20%), 1x2hr exam (35%), Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Australian Aboriginal peoples have always engaged with the 'modern world' but Enlightenment ideas established a colonial context juxtaposing modernity with tradition. Indigenous difference was locked into past-oriented, static and small-scale traditions. The unit examines some key concepts of modernity, including progress, civility, change, tradition - and modernity itself - so as to shed light on Australian Indigenous people's experiences, past and present, as colonial subjects. The unit will explore Aboriginal engagement with, for instance, work, vehicles, the law, and the arts (painting, music etc) as practices through which Aboriginal people have sought 'alternative modernities'.
ARHT2636 Contemporary Aboriginal Art

This unit of study is not available in 2017

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: (ARHT1001 and ARHT1002) or (12 junior credit points from GCST, SCLG, ANTH, ENGL1008, ENGL1026, PHIL1011 or PHIL1013) Prohibitions: ARHT2036 Assessment: 1x3000wd Essay (60%), 1x1500wd Exhibition review (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Aboriginal and Torres Strait art is the major Australian movement of the last 50 years. Surveying its development from Papunya Tula to the present, the unit focuses on critical issues like appropriation and copyright, art and native title, women artists, the market and curatorial practices.
ARHT3636 Issues in Indigenous Art

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Senior credit points in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2636 Assessment: 1x3500wd Essay (70%), 1x1000wd Exhibition Review (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit focuses on critical and theoretical issues affecting Indigenous art practice today. The parameters of cross-cultural understanding will be addressed. Key ideas derived from Indigenous cultures, language and identity will be debated.
GOVT3998 Aboriginal and TSI Politics and Policy

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture, 1x1hr tutorial Prerequisites: 12 Senior credit points from Government and GOVT1101 Assessment: 1x1500wd Case Analysis Essay (30%), 1x800wd Policy Case Presentation (10%), 1x2200wd Final Summative Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Builds on students' knowledge of Australian politics to examine the background, context, conduct and implications of politics relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and policy affecting indigenous Australians. Explores aspects of inclusion and exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the formal political system; internal power relations within and between communities, social movements and representative bodies; compare Australian indigenous politics with those of other nations, and; look at a range of policy areas.
HSTY2693 Frontier Violence in Modern Memory

This unit of study is not available in 2017

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: "2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points of History or Ancient History Assessment: 1x500wd proposal and bibliography (10%), 1x1500wd exam (30%), 1x2500wd research essay (50%), in-class participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The myth of the frontier is a foundation stone of national identity in the United States, where it gave birth to a global film genre, the Western. In Australia, where 'history wars' are waged over the level of violence and the legality of colonial expansion, the very existence of a frontier is disputed rather than romanticised. This unit compares the significance of the frontier in each country's history and popular memory from the perspective of both settlers and indigenous peoples.
INDG1001 Introduction to Indigenous Cultures

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x500wd equivalent seminar presentation (10%), 1x1000wd presentation paper (20%), 1x1000wd equivalent online contribution (30%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to Indigenous Australia in a stimulating, in-depth study of traditional and contemporary forms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural expression. Ranging from the Dreaming and ancient knowledges, ceremony and lore, to the lives and societies of Indigenous peoples today, students learn in areas such Aboriginal kinship, language, story and art, Indigenous agriculture, aquaculture and astronomy, and contemporary Indigenous cultures and cultural currents.
INDG1002 Introduction to Indigenous History

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x500wd equivalent seminar presentation (10%), 1x1000wd presentation paper (20%), 1x1000wd equivalent online contribution (30%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study focuses on the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since colonisation, exploring key social, political and legal events, issues and debates, and the people behind them. Students will learn about important historical events and social issues in areas such as civil and political rights, land rights, self-determination and reconciliation, developing an understanding of how these events and issues have shaped the shared history of Australia. The unit introduces a decolonising methodology that will underpin further work in the major.
INDG2001 Indigenous Land and Culture

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points of Indigenous Studies Assessment: 1xseminar presentation equivalent to 500wd (10%), 1x1000wd presentation paper(20%), online contribution equivalent to 1000wd (30%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The connection between land and culture underpins Indigenous Australian identity. With a focus on Aboriginal Sydney and its diverse Indigenous communities, we study 'Country' and Indigenous environmental philosophies and cosmologies, learning about the centrality of Indigenous relationships with the land to community well-being, the custodianship of country, and the maintenance of country and cultural heritage. Students will enjoy guided visits to significant sites.
INDG2002 Indigenous Art and Culture

This unit of study is not available in 2017

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week Prerequisites: INDG1001 and INDG1002 Assessment: 1x500wd equivalent seminar presentation (10%), 1x1000wd presentation paper (20%), 1x1000wd equivalent online contribution (20%), 1x2000wd research essay or creative work (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Indigenous Art and Culture engages with traditional and contemporary art and cultural expression, offering students an opportunity to critically and creatively explore a variety of artistic and creative practices undertaken by Indigenous Australians. Students will study traditional cultural expression such as oral storytelling and song-cycles, ceremony and art, and contemporary cultural expression in the visual arts, literature, performance, theatre, film and music.
KOCR2603 Indigenous Health and Communities

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture and 1x2hr tutorial Prerequisites: 48 Junior Credit Points Prohibitions: KOCR2111 Assessment: Tutorial presentation and summary paper 1000wd (30%), short Essay 1500wd (30%), Essay 2000wd (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the historical and contemporary social determinants of Indigenous health. Students have the opportunity to explore sociological and Indigenous health frameworks and identify a range of successful strategies that have worked to improve Aboriginal health and wellbeing. A highlight of this unit is the opportunity to hear from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are passionate about contributing to such improvements. Students also explore ways to collaborate with Aboriginal people and communities to facilitate self-determination in Aboriginal health.
KOCR2605 Speaking Gamilaraay 1

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 48 junior credit points Assessment: 7x 900wd Written weekly assignments (20%), 7x 900wd Weekly Gamilaraay recordings (20%), 2x 450wd In-class written tests (10%), 2x 900wd Conversations (20%), 1x450wd Final writing task (10%), 1x450wd Final recording task (10%), 1x450wd Production of learning resource (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Gamilaraay is an Indigenous Australian language from the mid-northwest of NSW that is currently undergoing revitalisation. This unit of study will provide students with a basic competence in speaking, understanding, reading and writing Gamilaraay sufficient to recognise and construct simple utterances in the language, and to understand its relationships with other languages. Classes will progressively develop each student's abilities in the language.
KOCR3602 Race, Racism and Indigenous Australia

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: KOCR2600 OR 18 credit points of Indigenous Studies Assessment: 1xTutorial presentation (25%), 1x1500wd Critical resource analysis (30%), 1x2000wd Case study (35%), Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores theories of race and racism focussing on Indigenous Australian race relations. Opportunity is provided to understand the development of Racism as an impact on individuals - victim and perpetrator; and systemic systems at local, national and international levels. The unit explores what racism means in the social justice agenda through issues such as: equity and anti-racism; in particular the direct impact of racism as a tool in the creation of social and economic disadvantage in Australian Indigenous communities.
KOCR3605 Writing Country: Indigenous Ecopoetics

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Senior credit points from Table A Assessment: Tutorial participation(10%), presentation(20%), short Essay(30%), exam(40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The representation of nature has been central to human expression for thousands of years. Contemporary transnational ecopoetics situates nature and culture amidst present-day ecological catastrophes and political environmentalisms. This unit examines a uniquely Australian contribution to this field -Country - which for Australian Indigenous peoples denotes special cosmological, filial and custodial relations to land. Surveying a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous works of poetry, non-fiction and art, 'Writing Country' defines an Indigenous poetics of nature and explores its broader ecopoetical promise.
KOCR3607 Re-awakening Australian Languages

This unit of study is not available in 2017

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week, Fieldwork excursion Prerequisites: KOCR2600 or LNGS2611 or KOCR2605 or 18 credit points of Indigenous Studies Assessment: 1x900wd Tutorial paper (20%), 1x1800wd Essay (40%), 1x1800wd Field report (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Australia holds an unenviable record for its loss of Indigenous languages and actively pursues a de facto policy of English monolingualism. This unit examines how Indigenous communities are resisting this trend and reviving so-called extinct languages through examining the roles of language policy and planning, community activism, language centres, education, technology and the linguistic processes involved. Lecture and seminar content is supplemented by a fieldwork excursion (at additional cost) to a regional language centre and associated school programs.
KOCR3614 Comparative Indigenous School Experience

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr Lecture; 1x2hr Tutorial Prerequisites: KOCR2600 Assessment: 1x20min (equivalent 1000wd) Tutorial presentation (20%), 1x1250wd Tutorial paper (30%), 1x2250wd Major Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Formal schooling has been a critical frontier of engagement for Indigenous peoples in both colonial and postcolonial states and societies. This course examines in comparative and historical perspective both the school institution and Indigenous schooling experience across a variety of social and political contexts, including those in Australia and the Americas. Critical consideration is given to school curriculum and culture as well as Indigenous socio-cultural conceptions and practice, for identity, including Indigeneity, citizenship, power, resistance, agency, and contemporary circumstance.
LNGS2611 Australia's Indigenous Languages

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Linguistics or Indigenous Australian Studies Assessment: 2x1000wd problem sets (40%), 1x2500wd project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study aims to give an overview of the languages of indigenous Australians. Of the 250 distinct Aboriginal languages spoken in 1788, most are dead or dying and just 20 languages are expected to survive another few generations. This unit of study will challenge this grim and oft-quoted statistic. We will see that new Aboriginal languages have emerged, apparently moribund languages have been gaining strength and distinctive Aboriginal ways of talking have survived. We consider why some languages have prospered while others have declined. We explore how Australian languages have responded to the challenges of non-Aboriginal settlement, in such arenas as education, land rights and health.
SPAN2615 Indigenous Movements in Latin America

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Spanish and Latin American Studies or Anthropology or Sociology Assessment: 1x2500wd Essay (45%), 1x700wd group Seminar presentation (20%), 1x1200wd annotated bibliography (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This course provides an introduction to Latin American politics through an interdisciplinary approach to studying indigenous movements, pivotal actors in the shaping of contemporary conceptions of democracy, citizenship and statecraft in the continent. Students will examine these social movements from anthropological, historical and political science perspectives. They will gain an insight into cultural diversity of Latin American societies and acquire analytical tools for studying and understanding a wide variety of topics associated with political structure and agency in the continent.