Australian Studies
Bachelor of Arts
Australian Studies gives students a comprehensive understanding of important debates in Australian society and history. The major sequence is available at Melbourne (Burwood), Geelong (Waurn Ponds), Warrnambool and in off-campus mode. The major enables students to combine the insights of many different disciplines to understand Australia today, how we got here and where we are going.
The two Australian Studies First Year units are not only the entry points for the Australian Studies major sequence but are also entry points for the History major. These units cover some of the most contentious issues facing our society such as the changing nature of Australian identities, our relationship with powerful friends, from Great Britain and the United States to China, and the conditions for independent nationhood. Students also examine in depth some of the most controversial issues in contemporary Australia such as race relations past and present, land rights, the reconciliation movement, the current debate about indigenous communities and issues surrounding immigration, population, refugees, and asylum seekers and in contemporary Australia.
The second and third year level content of Australian Studies comprises a range of units drawn from across the Faculty in history, politics, literature and sociology with Australian content.
Australian Studies also offers two units, Australia Today and Studying Australia, which provide an introduction to key aspects of Australian society and culture together with university study skills for international students.
The Australian Studies program is relevant to students across the faculty as it brings a uniquely Australian perspective to the insights of academic disciplines. Australian Studies is multi-disciplinary and contemporary and has an international and later global focus. It always locates the changing Australian experience in the changes in global experience, from the days of nation and empire to today’s global and consumer world. Because of its focus on understanding Australia today, it is an attractive field of study for both Australian and international students.
Staff members in the discipline are active in research, and supervise higher degree by research students.
- Australian cities, suburbs, neighbourhoods and domestic spaces
- Australian cultural, political, legal and economic history from the 1700s to the present
- Indigenous politics
- Planning history
- Arts and cultural policy
- Economic and social restructuring of Australian regions, especially Geelong.
- Women's work, both paid and non-paid.
- Australian immigration and settlement policy and experience
- Oral history and video testimony
- Historical and contemporary nationalism and populism
- Sport and popular culture
- Australian perceptions of Asia
- Australian publishing history
- Australian representations of Asia from the mid-nineteenth century to the present
Graduates of Australian Studies are employed in occupations as diverse as teaching, journalism, heritage consultancy, policy development, social services, tourism, libraries, community advocacy and private businesses.
Staff members:
