Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor Jillian Kramer jillian.kramer@mq.edu.au Contact via Please contact via email. Y3A 152, Phone: (02) 9850 2252 By Appointment Tutor David-Jack Fletcher david-jack.fletcher@mq.edu.au Contact via Please contact via email.
Credit points	Credit points 3
Prerequisites	Prerequisites 15cp at 100 level or above
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit introduces students to a range of theories that question traditional hierarchies of value and that enable a critical re-evaluation of the practices of everyday life. This unit theorises key topics such as: countercultures; oppositional cultures and post-subcultures; the politics of high versus popular and low culture; and counter-cultural practices in global and local contexts. The following practices, sites and objects are examined: graffiti, hip hop and crimes of style; graffiti and the cultural politics of public space; graffiti as a form of political activism and dissent; the relation between kitsch and high art; the politics of kitsch in the context of colonialism and Indigeneity; the cultural politics of tourist sites; gigantism and miniaturism; queer culture, camp and kitsch; and celebrity kitsch.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

General Assessment Information

Late Submissions:

Tasks 10% or less: No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the decline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.

Tasks above 10%: No extensions will be granted. Students who submit late work without an extension will receive a penalty of 10% per day. This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.

Re-marking:

The MMCCS Re-mark Application form is available at http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/download/?id=167914

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Preparation & Contribution	15%	No	Ongoing
Class Test	20%	No	Week 4 Tutorials (25/08/2017)
Visual Analysis	20%	No	11:59pm 22nd of September 2017
Final Essay	45%	No	11:59pm 8th of November 2017

Preparation & Contribution

Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 15%

This assessment task is designed to ensure that our weekly tutorials are a productive learning environment that will equip you with the knowledge and skills that you need in order to understand the key concepts, complete your assessments and meet the learning outcomes.

Over the course of the session, students are expected to prepare for their weekly tutorials by attending the lectures and completing the readings. In the tutorial, students should aim to contribute to class and group discussions in productive ways. You will be assessed on your preparedness for the tutorial, your engagement in tutorial activities and your ability to contribute to our class discussions.

Students will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Demonstrates preparation for tutorials, including engagement with the weekly lectures and required readings
Demonstrates active engagement and with peers in the tutorial activities
Offers informed and productive responses to questions and activities

If you cannot attend a tutorial due to an unavoidable and serious disruption, please email your unit convenor and submit a disruption to studies notification via ask.mq.edu.au. To learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Class Test

Due: Week 4 Tutorials (25/08/2017)
Weighting: 20%

In week four tutorials, students will be given a 45 minute class test on the readings completed in weeks one, two and three. Students should prepare for this short answer test in three ways. First, students should review the readings and identify the key concepts put forward by the relevant scholars. Second, students should develop a clear understanding of the readings and concepts. Third, students should practice outlining the concepts and identify relevant and productive examples.

In this 45 minute class test, students will answer a series of short answer questions (they will be required to write answers from two sentences - two paragraphs in length). They must attend the tutorial allocated in e-student, bring a blue or black pen and stay for the length of the test.

Class tests will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Demonstrate a clear and cogent grasp of the key concepts that enable us to re-evaulate and critique practices of everyday life that are often unexamined or dismissed as worthless
Identify relevant examples that relate to the key concepts
Employ effective communication skills

Submission: Students will complete this class test in their weekly tutorial on Friday the 25th of August 2017.

Disruption to Studies: If students are unable to sit the class test, they must contact the unit convenor and submit a disruption to studies request via. ask.mq.edu.au. If the disruption to studies request is approved in line with university policy, an alternative assessment time will be arranged. To learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Visual Analysis

Due: 11:59pm 22nd of September 2017
Weighting: 20%

For this assessment, students will continue developing the knowledge and skills that they will need in order to complete the final essay. They will build on their understandings of the key concepts in order to perform their own forensic visual analysis. Students are required to respond to the following prompt:

Drawing on an example of kitsch or graffiti, perform an 800 word visual analysis that explores the ways in which "many everyday practices are tactical in character … victories of the ‘weak’ over the ‘strong’" (de Certeau 1988, p. xix).

In their answers, students must unpack an image of their chosen example. Drawing on the readings, they should aim to build a strong argument that exposes the ways in which their example is (or is not) 'tactical in character.' The image they have chosen should be cited and pasted at the beginning of their analysis.

Students must also use academic referencing and attach a reference list at the end of their essay. For more information on referencing please follow the link to Macquarie University Library’s Referencing Guide here: http://libguides.mq.edu.au/Referencing.

Each visual analysis will be marked according to the following criteria:

Demonstrates a clear and effective grasp of relevant key concepts
Develops an argument that is supported by both theoretical concepts and forensic analysis of a well chosen example
Effectively uses writing skills to present academic research, including consistent and accurate use of in-text referencing.

Submission: This visual analysis will be submitted via the link to turnitin on the unit ilearn site.

Late Penalty: A late penalty of 10% per day including weekends will be applied.

Disruptions to Studies: Students who experience a serious and unexpected disruption to their studies should submit a Disruption to Studies application via ask.mq.edu.au in order to seek an extension for this assessment task. Extensions will be granted in line with university policy. To learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Final Essay

Due: 11:59pm 8th of November 2017
Weighting: 45%

For this assessment, students are required to write a 2,000 word essay in response to one of the questions listed below. Drawing on the concepts offered in the relevant readings, students must perform a forensic visual analysis in order to demonstrate their argument.

Please note that students must not write on the same topic or example that they used in their visual analysis. For example, if a student used an example of graffiti in the visual analysis they should not pick one of the questions about graffiti for their final essay. If a student wrote about kitsch for their visual analysis, they should not write about kitsch for their final essay.

Popular culture, Stuart Hall argues, is structured by the "double movement of containment and resistance." Discuss in relation to a particular cultural practice such as graffiti or the production/consumption of kitsch.
Graffiti, as a subcultural practice, contests established legal notions of public space, private and corporate property and art practice. Discuss in relation to a specific example of your choice.
The subcultural practice of graffiti challenges established notions of the ‘aesthetics of authority’ (Ferrell 1996, p. 176). Discuss in relation to a specific example of your choice.
Discuss how graffiti is a “contentious form of political participation.” Evidence your arguments with relation to specific and culturally-situated examples of political graffiti.
Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's work, discuss how both kitsch and art are in fact all about questions of taste and distinction and the consecration of the social order. Discuss in relation to a specific example of either art or graffiti.
Discuss the importance of technologies of reproduction in relation to kitsch. In your answer, you need to discuss Benjamin and Olalquiaga's work on the aura and the democratisation of the image in relation to an original and specific example.
Aboriginalist kitsch is enabled by white supremacism: it is an "assertion of rights of ownership in the intellectual and cultural sphere to match power in the political and economic sphere," B. Hodge and V. Mishra. Discuss.
"We are enveloped by the gigantic, surrounded by it, enclosed within its shadow. Whereas we know the miniature as a spatial whole or as temporal parts, we know the gigantic only partially. We move through the landscape; it does not move through us," Susan Stewart. Discuss gigantism and the miniature in the context of examples in the Australian landscape.
Kitsch and queer "are in a lascivious embrace. They constantly transmute," Craig Judd. Discuss in relation to a specific and original example.
Queer kitsch brings into focus a concept of the self as "performative, improvisational, discontinuous, and processually constituted by repetitive and stylised acts," Moe Myer. Discuss in relation to an example of your choice.
"Representational excess, heterogeneity, and gratuitousness of reference, in constituting a major raison d'etre of camp's fun and exclusiveness, both signal and contribute to an overall resistance to definition," Fabio Cleto. Discuss.
"The audience's connection with celebrities, celetoids and celeactors is dominated by imaginary relationships," Chris Rojek. Discuss in relation to a specific example of celebrity kitsch.
Construct your own essay question, with reference to the topics and readings of the unit, in consultation with your tutor.

Essays will be marked according to the following criteria:

Demonstrates a clear and effective grasp of the key concepts raised in the relevant readings
Identifies relevant example/s and provides contextualised and forensic analysis
Develops a well-supported and well-researched argument
Effectively re-evaluates practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral
Critiques relevant hierarchies of value
Effectively uses writing skills to present academic research, including consistent and accurate use of in-text referencing.

Submission: The final essay will be submitted via the link to turnitin on the unit ilearn site.

Late Penalty: A late penalty of 10% per day including weekends will be applied.

Disruptions to Studies: Students who have experienced a serious and unexpected disruption to their studies should submit a Disruption to Studies application via ask.mq.edu.au in order to seek an extension for this assessment task. Extensions will be granted in line with university policy. To learn more about how to apply for Disruption to Studies, please click here.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Delivery and Resources

Attendance:

You are required to attend a 1 hour lecture and 1 hour tutorial from weeks 1-12. As active participation in the process of learning is linked to, and underpins the unit Learning Outcomes, you will need to apply for Disruptions to Studies to cover any missed tutorial (if the disruption is greater than three consecutive days).

Unit Delivery: Lectures and Tutorials will begin in the first week of the semester.

This unit will be taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials. Echo recordings of the lectures will be available on iLearn. Each week, students will also be required to complete the set readings and relate them to the lecture material in the tutorials.

For lecture times and classes, please consult the MQ timetable website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on your classes and classroom locations.

Required Texts: CUL223 Required readings

The required readings for CUL223 will be available via the MQ library. Links will be listed on the ilearn site.

Unit Schedule

Week One: Introduction

Hall, Stuart 2009, ‘Notes on Deconstructing “the Popular,”’ in Storey J (ed.), Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Pearson Education, England, pp. 508 – 518
de Certeau, Michel 1984, ‘General Introduction,’ The Practice of Everyday Life, Trans. Steven Randall, University of California Press, London, pp. xi – xxiv

Week Two: “Crimes of Style”

Ferrell, Jeff 1996, ‘Crimes of Style,’ Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality, Northeastern University Press: Boston, pp. 159-197
Tate, Greg 2003, ‘Introduction: Nigs R Us, or How Blackfolk Became Fetish Objects,’ Everything But the Burden: What White People are Taking From Black Culture, Random House, New York, pp. 1 – 14

Week Three: The Cultural Politics of Graffiti

Hasley, Mark, Young, Alison 2002, ‘The Meanings of Graffiti and Municipal Administration,’ The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 165 – 186
hooks, bell 1992, ‘Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance,’ Black Looks: Race and Representation, South End Press, Boston, pp. 21 – 39

Week Four: Graffiti as a “Contentious form of Political Participation”

Waldner, Lisa, Dobratz, Betty 2013, ‘Graffiti as a Contentious Form of Political Participation,’ Sociology Compass, Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 377-389
Peteet, Julie 1996, ‘The Writing on the Wall: The Graffiti of the Intifada,’ Cultural Anthropology, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 139 – 159.

Week Five: Kitsch, Bad Taste and Distinction

Dorfles, Gillo 1969, ‘Kitsch,’ in Dorfles G (ed.), Kitsch: The Bad World of Taste, Universal Books, New York, pp. 14-48
Codd, John 1990, ‘Making Distinctions: The Eye of the Beholder,’ in Harker R, Mahar C and Wilkes C (eds.), An Introduction to the Work of Bourdieu, Macmillan, UK, pp. 132 – 159

Week Six: Kitsch, Mechanical Reproduction & Modernity

Benjamin, Walter 1985, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,’ in Arendt H (ed.), Illuminations, Trans. Harry Zorn, Pimlico, London, pp. 211 – 244
Olalquiaga, Celeste 1998, ‘The Souvenir,’ The Artificial Kingdom: A Treasury of the Kitsch Experience, Bloomburg, London, pp. 67 – 79
Olalquiaga, Celeste 1998, ‘The Debris of the Aura & Dust,’ The Artificial Kingdom: A Treasury of the Kitsch Experience, Bloomburg, London, pp. 80 – 91

Week Seven: Assessment Workshops (No readings this week)

RECESS

Week Eight: The Politics of Kitsch

Connor, Liz 2016, Friday Essay: The Politics of Aboriginal Kitsch, The Conversation, viewed 29 June 2017, https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-politics-of-aboriginal-kitsch-73683?sa=pg1&sq=kitsch+aboriginal&sr=1
Johnson, Vivien 1996, ‘Introduction: Aboriginal Art in the Age of Reproductive Technologies,’ Copyrights, National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association and Macquarie University

Week Nine: Gigantism & Miniaturism

Stewart, Susan 1992, ‘The Gigantic,’ On Longing, Duke University Press, Durnham and London, pp. 70 – 103

Week Ten: Kitsch/Art

Cadwell, John 1992, ‘Jeff Koons: The Way We Live Now,’ in Simpson F.W. (ed.), Jeff Koons, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, pp. 9 – 14
Wallis, Brian 1992, ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero: Aspects of the Critical Reception of the Work of Jeff Koons,’ in Simpson F.W. (ed.), Jeff Koons, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, pp. 27 – 34

Week Eleven: Queer as Kitsch

Cleto, Fabio 1999, ‘Introduction: Queering the Camp,’ in Cleto F (ed.), Camp: Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject: A Reader, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbour, pp. 1 – 43

Week Twelve: Celebrity Trash

Rojek, Chris 2001, ‘Celebrity and Celetoids,’ Celebrity, Reaktion Books, London, pp. 9-49

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html

Disruption to Studies Policy (in effect until Dec 4th, 2017): http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html

Special Consideration Policy (in effect from Dec 4th, 2017): https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Additional information

MMCCS website https://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/department_of_media_music_communication_and_cultural_studies/

MMCCS Session Re-mark Application http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/download/?id=167914

Information is correct at the time of publication

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment task

Final Essay

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Preparation & Contribution
Class Test
Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Preparation & Contribution
Class Test
Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Demonstrate communication skills in order effectively and creatively to present research.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Preparation & Contribution
Class Test
Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Preparation & Contribution
Visual Analysis
Final Essay

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate critical skills, informed by cultural theories, that will enable students to re-evaluate those practices of everyday life that are often dismissed as worthless or ephemeral.
Develop analytical skills that will enable students to examine and critique the presuppositions that constitute those hierarchies of value that classify, judge and position cultural objects and practices.
Develop research skills that will enable students to present theorised, contextualised and informed accounts of key issues and problems in the context of subcultural and counter-visual practices.
Employ cultural literacy skills that will educate students on the importance of issues of cultural difference and ethical relations across diverse social and political contexts.

Assessment tasks

Preparation & Contribution
Visual Analysis
Final Essay

General Information

Important Academic Dates

Learning Outcomes

General Assessment Information

Assessment Tasks

Preparation & Contribution

Class Test

Visual Analysis

Final Essay

Delivery and Resources

Unit Schedule

Policies and Procedures

Student Code of Conduct

Results

Additional information

Student Support

Learning Skills

Student Services and Support

Student Enquiries

IT Help

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Learning outcomes

Assessment task

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Effective Communication

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks

Recommended Readings: