University of Sydney Handbooks - 2020 Archive

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Diversity Studies Descriptions

Semester 2 2020 unit of study availability

Some Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences units of study originally intended to run in Semester 2, 2020 are no longer available.

A full and up-to-date list of units of study available in Semester 2, 2020 from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, can be found on this webpage.
 

Diversity Studies

Minor

A minor in Diversity Studies requires 36 credit points from this table including:
(i) 6 credit points of 1000-level core unit
(ii) 6 credit points of 1000-level selective unit
(iii) 12 credit points of 2000-level units
(iv) 12 credit points of 3000-level units

1000-level units of study

Core
GCST1604 Introduction to Diversity

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x 1000 Close Reading of Real World eg. (25%), 1x 1000 Close Reading of academic text (25%), 1x 2500 Final Case Study (40%), nax na Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
Diversity has become one of the most important issues in contemporary society. Increasingly communities and workplaces encourage us to support diversity. This unit introduces students to a range of diversity issues informed by race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and dis/ability and the importance of cultivating understanding and respect for difference. It will appeal to students interested in social, economic and cultural marginalisation.
Selective
GCST1601 Introduction to Cultural Studies

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive January,Semester 1 Classes: 1x1.5hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 2x2000wd equivalent blogs (30%), 1x500wd equivalent group presentation (15%), 1x500wd textual analysis (20%), 1x2000wd essay (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
Cultural studies explores everyday life, media and popular culture. It shows us how we can make sense of contemporary culture as producers, consumers, readers and viewers, in relation to our identities and communities. How do cultural texts and practices convey different kinds of meaning and value? Students
will be introduced to some key thinkers and approaches in cultural studies and will learn how to analyse cultural forms such as advertising, television, film and popular music.
GCST1602 Introduction to Gender Studies

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive July,Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture, 1x1hr tutorial Assessment: Tutorial participation (10%), 1x1300wd Tutorial presentation task (15%), 1x1200wd short Essay (35%), 1x1500wd long Essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
How does gender organise lives, bodies, sexualities and desires? How does gender relate to sex and sexuality? Are there really only two genders? How and why is gender such an integral part of how we identify ourselves and others? This unit introduces students to foundational concepts in the study of gender and critically engages with questions of identity, sexuality, family, the body, cultural practices and gender norms in light of contemporary gender theories.
ANTH1001 Introduction to Anthropology

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prohibitions: ANTH1003 Assessment: 1x300wd In-class quiz (5%), 1x900wd Observation exercise (15%), 1x1500wd Take-home midterm (30%), 1x1800wd Essay (40%), x Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
Anthropologists want to know what makes us human. This unit introduces you to the unique perspective on human experience in cultural anthropology. Anthropologists argue that each individual is incomplete without the input of the shared patterns acquired from one's community. In this class you will learn how anthropologists define the concept of culture, how they use cultural relativism, and how they conduct research through cultural immersion and participatory fieldwork. You will examine several cases that demonstrate the human capacity for cultural diversity, and will understand several of the core topics that anthropologists investigate to capture a society's worldview and way of life.

2000-level units of study

GCST2605 Representing Race and Gender

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Cultural Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Gender Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Diversity Studies Assessment: Tutorial participation (10%), 1x500wd group presentation (15%), 1x400wd journal (15%), 1x1000wd midterm Essay (25%), 1x2200wd final Research essay (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit introduces students to cultural theories about race and ethnicity and uses these theories to examine representations of racial minorities across a range of media such as film, literature and performance within multiple national contexts. In particular, it interrogates the relationship between these representations and those of gender and sexuality. In so doing, it provides a complex understanding of how 'race' and 'gender' as institutional forces and lived experiences help shape perceptions of ourselves and others.
GCST2607 Bodies, Sexualities, Identities

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive July,Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at1000level in Gender Studies or 12 credit points at1000level in Diversity Studies. Prohibitions: WMST2007 Assessment: Tutorial participation and exercises (10%), 1x1500wd Essay (40%), 1x2500wd Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
In this unit of study we will examine the ways in which feminist and other cultural theories have used bodies and sexualities in order to theorise difference and identity. The body and sexuality have been shown to be a major site for the operation of power in our society. We will look at how bodies and sexualities have given rise to critical understandings of identity. The unit of study will be devoted to working through some of the major theories of sexuality and embodiment, and the analysis of cultural practices.
GCST2612 Youth and Youth Culture

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive January,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Cultural Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Gender Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Diversity Studies Prohibitions: WMST2012 Assessment: 1x500wd close reading exercise (10%), 1x1500wd Short Essay (30%), 1x2500wd Take-home Exercise (50%), Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit examines academic, public and popular ideas about youth and practices of youth culture. It will introduce students to some of the current parameters for studying the experience of youth and youth cultural forms and practices. We will pay particular attention to the ways young lives are gendered and the role gender plays in the institutions and other contexts in which young people live. Other points of focus include changing conceptions of youth, relationships between policy and youth, images of youth and youth culture, and discourses on (im)maturity, training, and identity.
ANTH2629 Race and Ethnic Relations

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Anthropology or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Diversity Studies Prohibitions: ANTH2117 Assessment: 1x1000wd short written assignment (30%), 1x1000wd equivalent group Oral Presentation (15%), 1x2500wd Essay (45%), Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
A comparative study of race and ethnic group relations. The unit will consider the history of ideas of 'race' and practices of racialising and their relationship to ethnicity. It will draw on studies from various areas including North America, the Caribbean, Japan and Australia.
SCLG2638 Sociology of the Other

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Sociology Prohibitions: SCLG2604 or SCLG2635 or SCLG3606 Assessment: 1x1000wd Reflective essay (20%), 1x1500wd Research essay (30%), 1x2000wd Take home exercise (40%), Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit explores ideas of 'otherness' via concepts of exclusion, marginalised, inequality and discrimination. It examines structural and institutional sources of those processes, and considers policy, political and legal solutions to minority rights and recognition of difference in areas like gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and disability.
SCLG2608 The Sociology of Deviance and Difference

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive July,Semester 2,Summer Main,Winter Main Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week, or equivalent intensive Winter session Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points in Sociology, Anthropology, Gender and Cultural Studies, Socio-legal studies, ENGL1008, ENGL1026, PHIL1011 or PHIL1013 Prohibitions: SCLG2004 or SCLG2523 Assessment: Tutorial participation (10%) and 1500wd Research essay (35%) and 2500wd Take-home exercise (55%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit of study focuses on understanding 'deviance' and 'difference' from a sociological perspective. The unit covers a range of theories, from classic sociological theories of deviance to more recent critical theories of difference, and explores the key issues involved in this change of term. These theories are employed to explore a series of areas of contemporary debate in society, including youth subcultures, the construction of outsiders, rebellion, the body, and mental health.
SCWK2007 Life-course Perspectives on Development

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2-hr lecture/wk and 1x1-hr tutorial/wk x 12 wks Prerequisites: 48 credit points including (SCLG1001 and SCLG1002) or (12cp of SCLG1U01) or (12cp of 1000 level units in Diversity Studies) Prohibitions: SCWK2004 Assessment: 1x1500wd essay (30%), 1x1000wd essay (20%), 2x1hr quiz (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit of study focuses on human development, communication and understanding diversity. Students are invited to engage critically with influential 20th and 21st century paradigms which have informed understandings of human development and wellbeing. Students are introduced to the scope of social work practice, including thinking about the importance of community and social connectedness.
SCWK2008 Social Perspectives on Mental Health

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/wk and 1x1-hr tutorial/wk x 12 weeks Prerequisites: 48 credit points including (SCLG1001 and SCLG1002) or (12cp of SCLG1U01) or (12cp of 1000 level units in Diversity Studies) Prohibitions: SCWK2005 Assessment: 1x1000wd essay (20%), 1x1500wd essay (30%), 2 x quizzes (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit of study focuses on a range of social perspectives on mental health. It introduces students to mental health issues commonly experienced in contemporary society, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, drug and alcohol addiction, self-harm and suicidality. It also explores several contextual issues surrounding the topic of mental illness, including the social determinants of mental illness, labelling and stigma, working with young people experiencing distress, working with families, the effects of child abuse and domestic violence, and grief.

3000-level units of study

GCST3631 Gender, Communities and Belonging

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Gender Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Cultural Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Diversity Studies Prohibitions: GCST2613 or GCST2611 Assessment: 1x1000wd critical close reading task (20%), 1x2000wd research project (40%), 1x1000wd Take-home exercise (30%) and Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
In this unit students will apply advanced methods from gender and cultural studies to examine experiences of belonging and formations of community. Students will analyse how power produces and regulates communities, identities and belonging. They will question the assumption that community is based on the unity and similarity of citizens and their location in specific cultures and places, and critically examine alternatives such as difference, diaspora, and other forms of sociality. Students will evaluate different theories of community in local, national and international contexts, and in relation to feminism, democracy, cosmopolitanism and hospitality.
GCST3637 Cultural Politics of Difference

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week and 1x2hr workshops/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Gender Studies or Cultural Studies Assessment: 1x1000wd Methodological Reflection (25%), 1x2500wd Creative Cultural Collaborations (40%), 1x1000wd Critical Reflection (25%), 1x Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit follows a decolonial feminist ethics of learning through: (1) Complaining, (2) Caring and (3) Creating. We begin by exploring methodologies of complaint and critique through Indigenous, decolonial, postcolonial, critical race, and queer feminist scholarships. Second, we slow down to ask after and reflect on issues we care about in our diverse communities. Finally, we turn to modes of creating academic-activism, which could range from poetry to policy writing, cookbooks to comics, theatre to technology. From our classroom, we work in solidarity to bring to the attention of communities we belong to new proposals that will help us respond to challenges and injustices in the world.
GOVT3986 Gender, Security and Human Rights

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Politics or 12 credit points at 2000 level International Relations or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Diversity Studies or 12 senior credit points from Government and International Relations Prohibitions: GOVT2336 Assessment: 800wd Essay proposal (15%) and 2000wd Essay (35%) and 1hr exam (30%) and Tutorial participation (10%) and 4x175wd tutorial quizzes (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
This unit offers a gender perspective on human rights, with a focus on gender and insecure international contexts. The unit covers themes related to the challenges of pursuing human rights, violations of human rights, and the role of civil society groups in advocating human rights. Attention will be given to the gendered nature of human rights and to specific issues that impact men and women differently when it comes to human rights protection and promotion.
GOVT3998 Aboriginal and TSI Politics and Policy

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture, 1x1hr tutorial Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Politics or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Diversity Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Indigenous Studies or 12 senior credit points from Government and International Relations Assessment: 1x1500wd Case Analysis Essay (30%), 1x800wd Policy Case Presentation (10%), 1x2200wd Final Summative Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Builds on students' knowledge of Australian politics to examine the background, context, conduct and implications of politics relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and policy affecting indigenous Australians. Explores aspects of inclusion and exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the formal political system; internal power relations within and between communities, social movements and representative bodies; compare Australian indigenous politics with those of other nations, and; look at a range of policy areas.
INDG3003 Race, Racism and Indigenous Australia

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Indigenous Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Diversity Studies Assessment: Tutorial Participation (10%), 1x 1000wd equivalent Tutorial presentation (25%), 1x 1500wd Critical Resource Analysis (30%), 1x 2000wd Case Study (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
In this unit students critically examine race and racism and their impacts on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Students consider theories of structural and cultural violence; how racism is linked to poverty, justice and human rights; critical whiteness theory; and race representation. With an emphasis on Indigenous Australia, students gain an understanding of visible and invisible racism and skills for unmasking racism in a process of constructive individual and social change.
SCLG3609 Sociology of the Body

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Sociology Prohibitions: SCLG2526 or SCLG2603 or SCLG2614 or SCLG2619 or SCLG2636 or GCST2614 or GCST3634 Assessment: 1x Three Short Answers (1050wd) (25%), 1x 1500wd Research essay (30%), 1x 1950wd Take home exercise (45%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
Our bodies are an important way we interact with society. Our identities, interactions with power and social and political institutions and even our leisure are mediated through and upon the body. Drawing on the expertise and research interests of a team of staff members, we explore various sociological perspectives relating to the body in society.
SCPL3604 Making Social Policy

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Social Policy or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Diversity Studies Assessment: 1x1000wd class presentation (10%), 1x1500wd Essay (40%), 1x2000wd research proposal (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
How and why do some ideas about social justice, distribution and inequality get translated into social policy while others do not? This unit explores concepts that feature prominently in the contemporary configuration of welfare states. It examines how key social policy ideas are translated (or not) into policy practice and the conditions under which these ideas become materialised and changed over time. Through the use of case studies, students are given the opportunity to explore the policy dynamics that underpin the emergence, development and demise of social policies.