AJ28084 Indigenous Australia

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 3 credits for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Jitka Vlčková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Tue 16:40–18:15 G32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course explores various issues that Indigenous peoples in Australia have grappled with since colonial times. They include complex socio-historical and cultural encounters with settler populations, the history of (mis)representations in public and artistic discourses, the struggle for equality and recognition, the contemporary position of Aboriginal communities in Australia, land claims, urbanization, and cultural production. To analyze some of the most contested debates, examples from literature, film, historiography, journalism and social documents will be used to illustrate the complexity of representations of Indigenous Australians. Students will be required to read assigned texts and watch the films, give presentations, participate in class discussions, write regular response papers during the course and a final essay, incorporating critical analyses and theoretical vocabulary into their work. The course is co-taught by Dr. Jitka Vlčková (the first half of the course provides a socio-historical background with references to non-fiction and film) and Dr. Martina Horáková (the second half examines more contemporary issues through literature and film).
At the end of the course, students should be able to: have some knowledge of the position of Indigenous peoples in Australia; appreciate the diversity of various Indigenous groups and communities; have some knowledge of the history of Aboriginal-settler relationships; be able to interpret various kind of textual/visual representations of Indigenous peoples in literature and film;
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Introduction to course policies and assignments
  • Week 2: Indigenous Way of Life Before 1788; Women of the Sun I. (1981), dir. Geoffrey Nottage, et al.; Readings: John Rickard, Australia: A Cultural History, pp. 3-21.
  • Week 3: Contested Identities; The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith (1978), dir. Fred Schepisi; Readings: Ros Bowden (compiler), “Being Aboriginal: Raised to Think White”, in Whitlock, Gillian, and David Carter, eds. Images of Australia, pp. 94-100
  • Week 4: Stolen Generations; Rabbit Proof-Fence (2002), dir. Phillip Noyce; Readings: Tony Hughes, “Which Rabbit-Proof Fence? Empathy, Assimilation, Hollywood”, Australian Humanities Review, September 2002.; Proceedings of the First National Workshop
  • Week 5: Marginalization of Indigeneity; Fringe Dwellers (1986), dir. Bruce Beresford; Readings: Ross Terrill, Australians: Aborigines and the Land, pp. 244-273
  • Week 6: Indigenous Peoples and Culture Today: Conditions, Practice, Acceptance Student Presentations based on Anna Rutherford’s Aboriginal Culture Today
  • Week 7: Sacredness, Land Ownership and Indigenous Claims; One Night the Moon (2001), dir. Rachel Perkins; Readings: Aileen Moreton-Robinson, “I Still Call Australia Home”; Fiona Probyn, “This Land is Mine/ This Land is Me”; extracts from Ken Gelder and Jane Jacobs, Uncanny Australia; Mid-Term Test
  • Week 8: reading week, no classes
  • Week 9: Indigenous and White Encounters; Kim Scott, True Country
  • Week 10: Representation and Authenticity; Ten Canoes, dir. Rolf de Heer (2006)
  • Week 11: Urban Indigeneity and Activism; Jackie Huggins, Auntie Rita and Beneath Clouds, dir. Ivan Sen
  • Week 12: Indigenous Womanhood and Sisterhood; Leah Purcell, Box the Pony; Lisa Bellear, from Urban Dreams; Jackie Huggins, from SisterGirl
Literature
  • Bourke, Colin, et al., eds. Aboriginal Australia. St. Lucia: U of Queensland P, 2nd ed. 1998.
  • Australian Humanities Review (www.australianhumanitiesreview.org)
  • First Australians – SBS television documentary, http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/
Teaching methods
Methodology: mini-lectures, class and group discussions, text/film analyses, student presentations; Course requirements and assessment: Students are expected to attend all the seminars (with the exception of illness or family emergency) as well as the screening sessions. Students are to read the primary and secondary texts and/or watch films before class (unless indicated otherwise) and participate actively in the class discussions. Assessment includes preparing team presentations in the first half of the course, writing a short mid-term test (in week 7), writing regular response papers in the second half of the course, and submitting a final essay (min. 6 pages double-spaced, full bibliography, 12p. Times New Roman, MLA style).
Assessment methods
Assesment: class discussions, presentations, response papers, final essay.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2010, Spring 2014, Spring 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2009/AJ28084