IND101 - Introduction to Aboriginal Studies

Unit details

Note: You are seeing the 2023 view of this unit information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]
Year:

2023 unit information

Enrolment modes:

Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online, CBD*
Trimester 2: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online, 
Trimester 3: Online

Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Unit Chair:Trimester 1: Rebecca Gerrett-Magee
Trimester 2: Kim Browne
Trimester 3: Rebecca Gerrett-Magee
Prerequisite:

Nil

Corequisite:Nil
Incompatible with: Nil
Typical study commitment:

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

Scheduled learning activities - campus:

1 x 3-hour weekly class divided into 1 x 1-hour class and 1 x 2-hour seminar or equivalent for 11-weeks

Intensive/CBD: This unit is taught intensively via CBD for 11-weeks as a combination of face-to-face and online delivery. 12-hours face-to-face on campus Intensive mode with a minimum of four Blackboard Collaborate sessions during the trimester with ongoing access to unit site resources

Dates to be advised.

Scheduled learning activities - online:

Learning experiences are via the unit site. A minimum of four Blackboard Collaborate sessions will be conducted during the trimester

Note:

*CBD refers to the National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation (NIKERI) Institute; Community Based Delivery

Content

This unit introduces students to Australia's First Nation Peoples in a comprehensive and engaging exploration of both traditional and contemporary experience and expression of Australian Aboriginal culture, Knowledges, histories and identities from an Indigenous standpoint, and through a number of interdisciplinary perspectives. The course will cover three clear movements of investigation from traditional modality and Australian Indigenous Knowledges; colonisation and its impact; and reclamation and reconciliation with a focus on Indigenous cultural forms and representation. Students will learn about the complexities of spirituality, lore and traditional philosophy, to then understand the devastating impact of colonisation and its aftermath. The final portion of the unit will then address contemporary Indigenous culture and expression including language, story, art and creative expression allowing students to consider and explore self-representation as a method of expanding understandings of the diversity of Aboriginalities. This unit presents a thought provoking, dynamic and challenging cultural experience of Indigenous Australian history, culture and worldview and provides a foundation for developing socio-cultural literacy.

ULO These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes
ULO1

Understand and analyse key complexities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander society and culture pre-colonisation and be able to apply these to a range of temporal, geographical and social contexts

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO2

Examine and translate the impact of colonial policies and practices on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and the disadvantages that have been shaped by these experiences

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO3

Identify and analyse current circumstances and challenges of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and interpret the importance of Aboriginal self-determination and place within a contemporary Australian narrative

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO4

Examine the diversities of Aboriginalities, traditional cultural forms and contemporary expressions and critique these in popular discourses and representations of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO2: Communication

GLO3: Digital literacy

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO5

Demonstrate cultural awareness through critical reflection upon cultural locatedness and world views of self and others

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO7: Teamwork

GLO8: Global citizenship

Assessment

Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1 - Yarning Circle 1000 words 30% Ongoing
Assessment 2 - Research Essay 1500 words 35% Week 8
Assessment 3 - Reflective multimedia task 1500 words or ten minutes or equivalent combination 35% Week 12

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.

Learning Resource

There is no prescribed text. Unit materials are provided via the unit site. This includes unit topic readings and references to further information.

Unit Fee Information

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