CLS3055 - Nature, Culture and Colonisation

Leader: Kate Rigby

Offered

Not offered in 2007

Synopsis

This unit address the dynamic interrelationship of nature and culture with respect to the European exploration and colonization of Australia and New Zealand. Through the analysis and interpretation of a range of written and visual texts, we will consider how cultural differences inform the perception of, and relationship to, the natural environment, as well as the ways in which the natural environment itself shapes patterns of settlement and modes of representation. The approach is multidisciplinary, incorporating ecocritical, postcolonial, and feminist perspectives.

Objectives

Students who successfully complete this unit will have developed: some knowledge of the dynamic interrelationship of culture and nature, especially with respect to the European exploration and colonization of Australia and New Zealand from the 18th century to the present day; an understanding of the role of cultural difference in the perception of, and relationship to, the natural environment, as well as an understanding of the agency of the natural environment in shaping patterns of settlement and forms of cultural production; competency in the analysis and interpretation of a range of relevant written and visual texts from ecocritical, feminist and postcolonial perspectives; skills in presenting both orally and in writing their own informed ideas about the interrelationship of nature and culture in the exploration and colonization of Australia and New Zealand, and conceptualised the theoretical and methodological implications of new understandings about the interrelationship of nature and culture for the study of literary and visual texts.

Assessment

Class paper (1000 words) 20%
Essay (2500 words): 60%
Class test (1 hour): 20%

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week

Prohibitions

CLS2055