Outline

Overview

This unit explores the centrality of the connection between land and culture to the continuity and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Students learn about Country and Indigenous relationships with, responsibilities to and care of place, and the maintenance of land, language and culture. A rights based perspective is used to explore Indigenous political history and activism in maintaining and protecting Country and culture. Students survey local and international case studies to illuminate the links between land, cultural rights and human rights.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Indigenous Academic Units
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	12 credit points at 1000 level in Indigenous Studies
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Tarunna Sebastian, tarunna.sebastian@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Tarunna Sebastian, tarunna.sebastian@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Tarunna Sebastian, tarunna.sebastian@sydney.edu.au

Assessment

The census date for this unit availability is 2 April 2024

Details
Criteria

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Online task	Reflection on Presentation Reflection Paper on Presentation	10%	Multiple weeks	450 words - 2 weeks after presentation
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Group presentation Group presentation	10%	Ongoing	450 words equivalent
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Case study Case Study	40%	Week 06 Due date: 25 Mar 2024 at 23:59	1800 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Essay Essay	40%	Week 13 Due date: 21 May 2024 at 23:59	1800 Words
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Support for students

The Support for Students Policy 2023 reflects the University’s commitment to supporting students in their academic journey and making the University safe for students. It is important that you read and understand this policy so that you are familiar with the range of support services available to you and understand how to engage with them.

The University uses email as its primary source of communication with students who need support under the Support for Students Policy 2023. Make sure you check your University email regularly and respond to any communications received from the University.

Learning resources and detailed information about weekly assessment and learning activities can be accessed via Canvas. It is essential that you visit your unit of study Canvas site to ensure you are up to date with all of your tasks.

If you are having difficulties completing your studies, or are feeling unsure about your progress, we are here to help. You can access the support services offered by the University at any time:

Support and Services (including health and wellbeing services, financial support and learning support)
Course planning and administration
Meet with an Academic Adviser

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction, World Views and Methodologies	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 02	Place based Literacies/Learning from Country	Field trip (3 hr)
Week 03	Aboriginal Sydney	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 04	Land, Culture and Languages	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 05	Indigenous Astronomy	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 06	Intergenerational perspectives on Land-Sky-Sea knowldeges	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 07	Custodianship & Memories of Place	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 08	Land Sovereignty Futurity	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 09	Kinship and Culture	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 10	Literature and Decoloniality	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 11	First contacts: the Australian Aboriginal People and French Explorers	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 12	Country, Culture and Well-Being	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 13	Conclusion and Reflection	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Watson, H. (2018, March 1). Singing the Land, Signing the Land: A portfolio of exhibits. Retrieved 2 March 2018, from Indigenous Knowledge website: http://singing.indigenousknowledge.org/

Graham, M. (1999). Some Thoughts about the Philosophical Underpinnings of Aboriginal Worldviews. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, 3(2), 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853599X00090

Somerville, M. (2007). Place literacies. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, The, 30(2), 149–164.

McKenna, M. (2014). Tokenism or belated recognition? Welcome to Country and the emergence of Indigenous protocol in Australia, 1991-2014. Journal of Australian Studies, 38(4), 476–489.

Irish, P. (2017). Hidden in plain view: the Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney (1st ed.). Sydney, NSW: NewSouth Publishing,New South,University of New South Wales Press.

Hinkson, M. (2002). Exploring ‘Aboriginal’ sites in Sydney: a shifting politics of place? Aboriginal History, 26, 62–77.

Bell, J. (2002). Linguistic Continuity in Colonised Country. In Language in native title (pp. 43–52). Aboriginal Studies Press.

Marmion, D., Obata, K., & Troy, J. (2014, February 1). Community, identity, wellbeing: The report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey.

Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. (2012). Our Land Our Languages. The Parliament of The Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra

Lohoar, S., Butera, N., & Kennedy, E. (2014). Strengths of Australian Aboriginal cultural practices in family life and child rearing. In Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies, CFCA PAPER NO. 25 2014. Commonwealth of Australia: Melbourne.

Langton, M. (2000). Sacred geography: western desert traditions of landscape art. In H. Perkins & H. Fink (Eds.), Papunya Tula: genesis and genius (pp. 259–267). Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales in association with Papunya Tula Artists.

Watson I, (2007), ‘Settled and Unsettled Spaces: Are We free to Roam?’, in Aileen Moreton-Robinson (ed.), Sovereign Subjects: Indigenous Sovereignty Matters, NSW Australia, Allen and Unwin, 15-32.

Davis, T. (2017). Warning Signals: Indigenous Remembrance and Futurity in Post-Apology Australia: A Reflection from Broome. Australian Humanities Review, (61), 58-73.

Johnson, D. (2011). Interpretations of the Pleiades in Australian Aboriginal astronomies. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 7(s278), 291-297. Cambridge University Press.

Warwick Thornton (2017), We don’t need a map,
85mins, Ronin.

Potts, R. (2018). We Don't Need a Map. Visual Anthropology Review, 34(2), 163-165.

Meenamatta, Pura-lia (Jim Everett), and Jonathan Kimberley. Meenamatta Lena Narla Puellakanny: Meenamatta Water Country Discussion. A Writing and Painting Collaboration. Hobart, Devonport: Bett Gallery, Devonport: Devonport Regional Gallery, 2006.

Eckermann, A. C. (2015). Inside my mother (excerpts). Inside my mother. Artarmon, NSW, Australia: Giramondo Publishing Company.

Eckermann, Ali Cobby. "Yankunytjatjara Love Poems." Southerly 71, no. 2 (2011 2011): 103-04; and alternate at Poetry International Web, 2017. Eckermann, Ali Cobby. “Australantis”, “Tjukurrpa”, “Trance”, “Abstract”, “Clay”, “Inside my Mother”, “Dip”, “Tjulpu”, “Leaves”, “Ngingali”, “Today”, Inside My Mother. Artarmon, NSW, Australia: Giramondo Publishing Company, 2015. pp. 4, 5, 10-11, 12, 19, 20-21, 22, 49, 61, 88.

Ngara – Listen Hear Think, Sydney Learning Adventures

Scott, Colin H. (2004). 'Our Feet Are on the Land, But Our Hands Are in the Sea': Knowing and Caring for Marine Territory at Erub, Torres Strait. In: Davis, Richard (Editor). Woven Histories, Dancing Lives: Torres Strait Islander Identity, Culture and History. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press, 259-272

Hamacher, D. A shark in the stars: Astronomy and culture in the Torres Strait, The Conversation July 2013.

Whitehouse, H., Watkin Lui, F., Sellwood, J., Barrett, M. J., & Chigeza, P. (2014). Sea country: Navigating Indigenous and colonial ontologies in Australian environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 20(1), 56-69.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. demonstrate knowledge of the connection between land and culture in Indigenous Australian life across a range of traditional and contemporary Indigenous societies
LO2. understand and reflect upon the connection between land and culture and Indigenous knowledge systems, and display an awareness of central scholarly frameworks including Indigenous standpoint theory and decolonisation
LO3. recognise, value and respect continuing Indigenous customary laws, beliefs and traditions and the close and enduring relationship between first peoples and their environments
LO4. display an understanding of the continuing importance of cultural heritage in Indigenous Australia today
LO5. discuss Indigenous cultural values and world views and their implications for making respectful, reflective and reasoned choices, including the capacity to appreciate and collaborate across cultural boundaries
LO6. participate ethically and effectively in personal, community and professional intercultural settings.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered.

Additional information

Additional costs

Students are required to participate in an excursion to Circular Quay, and will need to provide approximately $15.00 AUD for a guided tour of the Aboriginal history of the region.

Site visit guidelines

This unit will have an excursion to Circular Quay to learn of the region's Aboriginal history.

Work, health and safety

There are no specific WHS requirements for this unit.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Additional costs

Site visit guidelines

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

INDG2001: Indigenous Land and Culture

Semester 1, 2024 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Additional costs

Site visit guidelines

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect