AUST2500 Australian Studies: Social and Political Cultures

2019

4.5

1 x 1-hour lecture weekly
1 x 2-hour seminar weekly

AUST1001 - Australian Studies: Identities

This topic builds upon and extends the disciplinary knowledge base provided by AUST1001 Australian Studies: Identities by taking the investigation into key aspects of Australian culture. Australian Studies: Social and Political Cultures provides a firm foundation of knowledge about Australian social and political cultures as dynamic contemporary phenomena, within their specific historical contexts. The topic traverses matters as diverse as theories about culture relevant to the Australian context; cultural contestations in Australian society and politics, both settler-colonial and Indigenous; implicit ideas about culture and social thinking that have driven understandings about the Australian outback and suburbia; environmental politics; and more. These studies will be placed in the increasingly globalised context of Australia's cultural practices, which need to be understood as inflected by the four major pillars underpinning modernisation and therefore globalisation, as posited by Anthony Giddens: administrative power; capitalism; industrialisation and military power.

This topic aims to:

• examine the various strands (especially social and political) that collectively comprise 'culture' in the Australian context

• introduce students to theoretical concepts regarding 'culture' in Australia and the global context

• provide an understanding of what is distinctively Australian about the various cultures and subcultures under examination, and which aspects are expressions of an increasingly globalised framework

• support students in the development of independent research skills, analytic skills, and verbal and written skills in relation to these matters, particularly in the area of developing skills in critical analysis founded upon on a solid knowledge base

For successful completion of this topic students will demonstrate:

• a sophisticated understanding of the notion of 'culture' in relation to various strands within Australian society

• the ability to articulate verbally and in writing, a strong grasp of Australian social, political, economic and linguistic cultures and sub-cultures

• an understanding of the distinctively Australian nature of the above where applicable

• an understanding of these concepts in relation to increasing globalisation and within a global context

• the ability to write clearly about these issues