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Unit of study_
MCGY0000: Australian Indigenous Music
2025 unit information
In this unit of study students will learn how Australia is home to two distinct Indigenous cultural groups: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal people used song and dance to express their identity and pass on knowledge to successive generations. Several thousand years ago Torres Strait Islanders' ancestors settled in the numerous small islands to Australia's north and they too began to establish their own unique song and dance traditions. Students will also consider the impact of history on Australian Indigenous music today; how music communicates aspects of Australian Indigenous identity, including language, instruments, dance country, kin and history.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | Analysis, History and Cultural Studies |
| Credit points | 0 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Distinguish between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musical expressions
- LO2. Compare several versions of the same Australian Indigenous song performance and interpret the song’s accumulation of meaning
- LO3. Explain how music is used to define social and cultural groups
- LO4. Discern unique ways music is capable of providing catharsis in the face of the traumas that have divided Australians ever since colonisation
- LO5. Distinguish between intended audiences for particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songs, and determine their intended purposes
- LO6. Distinguish between classical (traditional) Indigenous music genres and imported genres
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
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Semester 1 2025
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Online | Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Semester 2 2025
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Online | Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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There are no availabilities for previous years.
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
