AUS1030

Culture in Australia: an introductory survey

David Dunstan and Esther Faye

6 points · 3 hours per week · Second semester · Berwick

Objectives This interdisciplinary subject provides students with a basic understanding and appreciation of the history of cultural achievement in Australia as a necessary background to the study and practice of cultural tourism. The subject will introduce students to cultural theory and to different disciplinary approaches to the study of culture and will place an emphasis on the development of historical and interpretive skills.

Synopsis This interdisciplinary subject will provide students with a basic understanding and appreciation of cultural achievement in Australia as a necessary background to the study of cultural tourism. Looking at art, architecture, literature, music and film, with some reference to popular culture in general, the subject will place Australian culture in an historical context, focusing on issues such as national identity, class, gender and the representation of Aboriginality. In gaining some familiarity with a range of cultural forms, students will be asked to assess the contribution made by each to the defining of Australian values. The subject will introduce students to cultural theory and will place an emphasis on the development of historical and interpretive skills.

Assessment Oral presentation (1000 words): 15% · Book review (1000 words): 25% · Long essay (2000 words): 40% · Examination (1 hour): 20%

Prescribed texts

Rickard J Australia: A cultural history Longman, 2nd edn, 1996
Whitlock G and Carter D Images of Australia: An introductory reader in Australian studies UQP, 1992

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