This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

ATS1259 - Exploring contemporary Australia

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

National Centre For Australian Studies

Coordinator(s)

Dr Susan Carland

Offered

Clayton

First semester 2016 (Day)
Second semester 2016 (Day)

Notes

The unit has a domestic field tripdomestic field trip (http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/currentstudents/field-trips/) component and may incur an additional cost.

Synopsis

Exploring contemporary Australia: People, events, ideas is a subject that tackles the "why?" of modern Australia: Why does it treat asylum seekers like it does? Why is sport so important? Why are issues with Indigenous Australia still so unresolved? Why is gender spoken about so often in current Australian media? Why does ANZAC day matter so much?

We will investigate contemporary Australian issues through a sociological, political, and historical lens by each week covering a different theme or idea in Australia: Indigenous Australia, the economy, gender, sport, pop culture, multiculturalism, the environment, politics, and more. By asking, "How is Australia dealing with this?", "What happened in Australia's history for the nation to approach the issue in this way?", "What does the way this issue is being thought about tell us about current Australia?", we will be able to answer the "whys": "Why is Australia like this now?", "Why did it do those things in the past?", "Why is this issue handled like this now in Australia?"

As well as expert guest speakers coming to address the students on certain topics, there may be an additional optional field trip.

Outcomes

To develop students' understanding of the historical and cultural processes that have shaped various aspects of contemporary Australia.
To employ fieldwork and a range of relevant sources within the field of Australian Studies in gaining insight into past and current events that have shaped contemporary Australia.
To think, discuss and write critically about the issues that affect Australian politics, culture and society.
To develop students' independent research and presentation skills on related subjects.

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.

Additional requirements
Field trip

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Susan Carland

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

Australia in the world