AJ28084 Indigenous Australia

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2014
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)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each even Tuesday 14:10–15:45 G31
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. At the end of the course, students should be able to: gain deeper knowledge of the position of Indigenous peoples in Australia; appreciate the diversity of various Indigenous groups and communities; have a better understanding of the history of Aboriginal-settler relationships; be able to interpret various kind of textual/visual representations of Indigenous peoples in literature and film.
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 2009, Autumn 2010, Spring 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2014, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2014/AJ28084