units

ATS3543

Faculty of Arts

18 September 2017 22 December 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

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.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Arts
Organisational UnitMonash Indigenous Centre
OfferedClayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Professor Ian McNiven

Synopsis

The unit critically examines the range of techniques and theoretical frameworks used by archaeologists to understand Australia's 50,000-year plus Indigenous history. The focus will be archaeological sites and debates associated with the interpretation of excavated cultural materials. Issues covered include the origins of the first Australians, processes of continental colonisation, responses to environmental change and sea level change, human environmental impacts, broad-scale social changes; and responses to Europeans on the colonial frontier. Students will also examine long-term changes in the development of trading networks, art, social organisation and burial practices.

Outcomes

The overarching aims are to provide students with a broad understanding of how archaeologists have constructed a long-term picture of Australia's Indigenous past. On successful completion of the subject, students will be able to:

  1. Appreciate the broad range of techniques used by archaeologists to infer behaviour from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural sites and material culture.
  2. Develop advanced skills in critically evaluating major debates and contentious theoretical issues in Australian Indigenous archaeology.
  3. Understand key cultural changes over the past 50,000 years of Australian's Indigenous past.
  4. Appreciate the diversity of Indigenous Australians who in different parts of the continent developed different cultures and lifeways.
  5. Appreciate debates concerning the origins of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders from an archaeological perspective.

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.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Ian McNiven

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

Ancient cultures
Indigenous cultures and histories

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of second-year Arts units.