indigenous-cultures-and-histories/ug-arts-indigenous-cultures-and-histories

aos

18 September 2017 26 April 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Area of study

Students who commenced study in 2014 should refer to this area of study entry for direction on the requirments; to check which units are currently available for enrolment, refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your area of study.

print version

This area of study entry applies to students commencing this course in 2014 and should be read in conjunction with the relevant course entry in the Handbook. Any units listed for this area of study relate only to the 'Requirements' outlined in the Faculty of Arts component of any bachelors double degrees.

Managing facultyFaculty of Arts
Offered byMonash Indigenous Centre
Campus(es)Clayton

Notes

  • Unit codes that are not linked to their entry in the Handbook are not available for study in the current year.

Description

The Monash Indigenous Centre offers units that aim to encourage students to understand the past and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples in Australia and internationally. Students will acquire a general knowledge of many different aspects of Indigenous cultures and how these have undergone change and adaptation. Such understanding will require students to construct critical arguments and analyse topics studied in their historical and contemporary contexts. Units in Indigenous cultures and histories will assist students to develop a good knowledge base about key issues in Indigenous societies, including the ongoing relationship between Indigenous and settler Australians, points of contestation and how this has shaped the position of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in contemporary society, and understanding Indigenous relationships to each other and to the land.

Teaching in the centre includes lectures, small tutorials and seminar groups, which encourage debate and inquiry. Presentations, written summaries and essays incorporate reflective, analytical and oral skills specific to Indigenous studies as well as to the arts degree. A number of arts units offered in anthropology, Indigenous archaeology, art history and theory, geography, history, politics, linguistics, environmental science, sociology, and women's and gender studies complement units offered in Indigenous cultures and histories. Honours can be undertaken in Indigenous cultures and histories, and combined honours may also be taken with other disciplines provided that all honours requirements have been met in both disciplines and subject to the approval of the honours coordinators or heads of the relevant schools.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the major, students will be able to:

  • critically examine constructions of Indigeneity and discourses of 'Aboriginalism' using sound theoretical concepts
  • analyse and compare the theories, methods and discourses involved in working with Indigenous communities at the national and international level in the context of colonialism, decolonialisation and social justice
  • recognise and critically assess current intellectual traditions in Indigenous studies in national and international contexts and apply these traditions to real-world problems
  • critically evaluate theoretical debates regarding the construction of knowledge, western epistemologies and Indigenous ontology in Indigenous cultures and histories
  • work independently and in teams to research and create innovative solutions to issues surrounding Indigenous knowledge and heritage in local, regional and national contexts.

Units

Minor in Indigenous cultures and histories

Students completing a minorminor (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-07.html) in Indigenous cultures and histories must complete four units (24 points), including:

(a.) two first-year gateway unitsgateway units (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (12 points):

(i.) students must complete:

  • ATS1254 Culture, power and difference: Indigeneity and Australian identity*

(ii.) plus one of:

  • ATS1250 Cross cultural interactions on the colonial frontier
  • ATS1255 Culture, power and globalisation

(b.) additional electives from the list below (12 points)

Note: Students can take the second-year cornerstone units from the major as electives.

* This unit is also a gateway unit for anthropologyanthropology (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/aos/anthropology/ug-arts-anthropology.html). Students completing a minor or major in Indigenous cultures and histories and anthropology need to choose a different gateway unit. A unit cannot be counted twice towards different minors or majors.

Major in Indigenous cultures and histories

Students completing a majormajor (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-07.html) in Indigenous cultures and histories must complete eight units (48 points), including:

(a.) two first-year gateway unitsgateway units (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (12 points):

(i.) students must complete:

  • ATS1254 Culture, power and difference: Indigeneity and Australian identity*

(ii.) plus one of:

  • ATS1250 Cross cultural interactions on the colonial frontier
  • ATS1255 Culture, power and globalisation

(b.) at least one second-year cornerstone unitcornerstone unit (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (6 points), chosen from:

  • ATS2355 Power, knowledge and identity: Between representation and reality
  • ATS2358 Contesting laws: Heritage, culture and land

(c.) at least one third-year capstone unitcapstone unit (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (6 points), chosen from:

  • ATS3543 Archaeology of Indigenous Australia
  • ATS3958 Practice and praxis: Research in contemporary Indigenous studies

(d.) additional electives from the list below (24 points)

A minimum of three units (18 points) must be completed at third-year level.

Note: Students can take additional cornerstone and capstone units as electives.

* This unit is also a gateway unit for anthropologyanthropology (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/aos/anthropology/ug-arts-anthropology.html). Students completing a minor or major in Indigenous cultures and histories and anthropology need to choose a different gateway unit. A unit cannot be counted twice towards different minors or majors.

Elective units

  • ATS2019 Perspectives on Indigenous art: Production, meaning and symbolism
  • ATS2020/ATS3020 Colonialism in comparison: Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
  • ATS2354/ATS3354 Interrogating racism: Indigenous Australians and the state
  • ATS2357/ATS3357 Australian Aboriginal women
  • ATS2359/ATS3359 Hearing the country: Studies in Indigenous Australian ethnoecology
  • ATS2371 Magic, science and religion
  • ATS2373/ATS3373 Visualising cultures: Film and ethnography
  • ATS2529 Australian film and television: Nation, culture and identity
  • ATS2584/ATS3584 Australia's black history
  • ATS2629 Faith in the future: Religion and spirituality in a globalising world
  • ATS2634/ATS3634 Global Indigeneity
  • ATS2671/ATS3671 Managing intercultural communication
  • ATS2677/ATS3677 Aboriginal languages of Australia
  • ATS2678/ATS3678 Language and identity
  • ATS2931 Making histories
  • ATS3129 Arts internship
  • ATS3361 Museums, galleries, theatres: Intentionality, authenticity and reception
  • ATS3372 Great debates in anthropology
  • ATS3540 Documentary and realism in film and television
  • ATS3544 Archaeological field and laboratory method*
  • ATS3852 Contemporary issues in social science research
  • ATS3932 Struggles for justice
  • ATS3933 The meaning of things: Writing cultural history

Note: Other electives may be taken with approval from the Indigenous cultures and histories coordinator.

* This unit will require payment of an additional fee that may cover items such as accommodation, entry fees, coaches, transfers, flights and university administration.

Relevant courses

Diplomas

  • 2327 Diploma in Liberal Arts

Bachelors

Single degrees

  • 0002 Bachelor of Arts
  • 3907 Bachelor of Arts (English Language)
  • 3910 Bachelor of Arts (Global)
  • 4077 Bachelor of Arts (International)
  • 1366 Bachelor of Arts (Languages)
  • 1638 Bachelor of Arts Scholars Program
  • 4042 Bachelor of Journalism
  • 0202 Bachelor of Letters
  • 1275 Bachelor of Professional Communication

Double degrees

  • 4640 Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
  • 4098 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business
  • 0550 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Accounting)
  • 0553 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance)
  • 0555 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Management)
  • 0556 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Marketing)
  • 0542 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce
  • 0170 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Economics
  • 1541 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education (Primary)
  • 1641 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education (Secondary)
  • 0080 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws
  • 3054 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music
  • 0530 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science
  • 3426 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work
  • 0002 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology
  • 3779 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts
  • 4097 Bachelor of Arts Scholars Program and Bachelor of Commerce Scholars Program
  • 4403 Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Commerce
  • 3537 Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Science
  • 4634 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
  • 4644 Bachelor of Environmental Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
  • 4426 Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Business
  • 4425 Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Commerce
  • 4069 Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Science
  • 4648 Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts