Leader: Dr Brett Hough

Offered

Clayton Second semester 2008 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit explores violences as a complex set of practices, from a range of disciplinary perspectives although with an overall emphasis on the social sciences. Topic areas covered in any year may include state-sanctioned violences like institutionalised torture and capital punishment; interpersonal violences such as rape and child abuse; and intellectual and political debates over ethics, research methodologies and epistemologies, and issues of representation. This unit will also entail examining violences via cross-cultural perspectives in order to highlight differences and similarities throughout the world.

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. Appreciate the plural character of the phenomenon 'violences'.

2. Show a critical awareness of the diversity of understandings of and proffered solutions to violences.

3. Present a debate or issue central to the project of trying to eliminate violence from social life.

4. Demonstrate some understanding of the methodological, epistemological, ethical and political issues in researching a form of violence.

5. Appreciate the relationship of work on violences to the 'crisis in representation' in the social sciences.

Assessment

Essay (2000 words): 20%
Major projects (5000 words): 60%
Seminar work (2000 words): 20%

Contact hours

3 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar and 1 x 1 hour film screening) per week

Prohibitions

ANY4100, ASM4100