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2024 unit information
Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online, Community Based Delivery (CBD)*
Nil
Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.
This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site.
1 x 1-hour lecture per week, 1 x 1-hour seminar per week
1 x 1-hour lecture per week (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week
*Community Based Delivery (CBD) is for National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation NIKERI Institute students only.
Introduction to Politics familiarises students with some of the main elements of politics and political analysis by examining the key components of contemporary political systems. These are state and civil society actors and institutions, the main ideas that shape them, and the way these actors, institutions and ideas manage key contemporary political issues, such as human rights, gender, race, the environment and welfare provision. The unit develops four threshold concepts that will both deepen students’ understanding of politics and provide them with the analytical tools to pursue further study in the politics and policy studies discipline. These threshold concepts are: first, that the allocation of resources in society and the values people hold are the product of the interaction between actors, institutions and ideas at different levels from the local to the global. Second, these interactions are shaped by issues of power, justice, order, conflict, legitimacy, accountability, sovereignty, governance and decision-making. Third, the understanding and practice of politics is shaped by competing political ideologies. Fourth, knowledge and truth are contested, partial and subjective and look very different from the perspective of different actors, thus leading to political contestation and conflict.
Identify and examine key political actors, institutions and ideas
GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities
GLO2: Communication
Discuss key contemporary political issues
Compare how key issues are dealt with in different contemporary political systems
GLO4: Critical thinking
Explain key contemporary political issues from different ideological perspectives
Reflect on the capacity of contemporary political actors, institutions and ideas to address key political problems
These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year.
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via AIP107 Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
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