AUST2612 Reconciliation and Indigenous Knowledges

2014

4.5

1 x 3-hour seminar weekly

1 of AUST2006, INDG2004 has been successfully completed

This topic introduces students to the close study of Reconciliation in Australia and abroad, and proposes that any process of reconciliation should be underpinned by an understanding of Indigenous Knowledges. This topic is designed to allow students to read, view and experience a range of texts which deal with encounters between and within Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian communities. This subject offers an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of representation of Australian Indigenous Knowledges and cultural practices using an 'education for reconciliation' approach. It analyses contested definitions of culture and paradigms of cultural value, meaning and priority. It will introduce students to theories of representation and to their application to Indigenous materials that deal with knowledges and social and cultural practices in: literature, drama, film, music, autobiography, visual art, artifacts and material culture, song, dance, storytelling, oral history, local law, ceremony, sport.

This topic aims to:

• engage with and interrogate critical debates raised by reconciliation

• develop appropriate teaching/learning strategies for reconciliation through education

• examine Indigenous voices via differing genres

• examinequestions of control over and access to Indigenous knowledges in a variety of forms

• analyse the politics of appropriation

• study the reclamation of Indigenous knowledges in contemporary contexts

Students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to:

• apply their critical understanding of Indigenous Australian issues and debates

• develop appropriate teaching and learning strategies for reconciliation

• understand racialisation and its impact on Indigenous Australians

• apply culturally inclusive practices

• privilege and understand Indigenous knowledges and stories

• understand the complexities of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

• be responsive and responsible for applying knowledge acquired about Indigenous Australia

• understand a range of perspectives offered by Indigenous community members and academic leaders in their fields

• understand issues and contemporary debates about sharing Australian space

• understand the social, political and cultural interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities

• use culturally appropriate terminology

• act collaboratively through respecting others and their perspectives by learning and engaging in a cross-cultural context

• understand power relations as they apply to racialised spaces