Undergraduate - UnitATS2716 - Cultural diversity and identity

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Sociology
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Helen Forbes-Mewett

Synopsis

The main concepts and theoretical approaches in the study of cultural diversity, ethnicity and migration will be introduced. Australia will be placed in an international context of global migration to take a comparative view on the issues of ethnicity, identity, nation and transnationalism. The unit considers the concepts of assimilation, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism, comparing settler and contemporary societies. Australia's cultural diversity will be viewed through various groups including, but not exclusive to, Indigenous Australians, permanent and temporary migrants, refugees, international students and Muslims in Australia. Various perspectives will be used to develop a critical understanding of contemporary ethnic relations and the concept of identity.

Outcomes

After completing this unit students will have:

An understanding of the application of sociological concepts to cultural diversity and identity
Knowledge of theoretical and methodological approaches to studying these issues
A critical understanding of cultural diversity in contemporary Australia.
A deeper critical understanding of their own and other people's social identities
Understanding of how dominant ideas and assumptions are created
Further developed written, research and analytical skills.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Helen Forbes-Mewett

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Sociology

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units. It is highly recommended that students only take this unit after they have completed two gateway units in Sociology.

Prohibitions

ATS3716