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Study online with Macquarie University through Open Universities Australia. Explore all degrees, subjects and short courses now.

The Bachelor of Arts (OUA) at Macquarie University is a distinctive course that equips its graduates with knowledge and skills that can be applied in any career or in further study. No other course offers as much flexibility and a wide range of study options as the Bachelor of Arts. You will be given the opportunity to turn your passion into a career while developing a strong set of core transferable skills valued by industry and the society. In consultation with industry, the Bachelor of Arts (OUA) places a strong emphasis on skills for success in the 21st century workplace. You will be taught by active researchers, leading academics and award winning teachers.

Make your degree unique and study what interests you. Analyse critically, think creatively and problem-solve at work or in everyday life. Complete foundational studies then tailor your degree with a major. Create a portfolio and build your connections.

Bachelor of Arts

Introducing Indigenous Australia

Dharug Ngurra

Please note: This subject is available in Macquarie Session 3, which is an intensive semester that spans only 5 intensive teaching weeks, plus a mid-session recess and an assessment period. Students are advised to enrol in only one or two subjects in Session 3. Students who would prefer to take the unit over 13 teaching weeks should enrol in the Session 1 or 2 offering.This unit introduces students to contemporary Indigenous thought, culture and politics in Australia. Students in this unit learn about Indigenous futurism and activism, the history of race and settler colonialism in Australia, and Indigenous studies and decolonial thinking. Students will also be introduced to contemporary expressions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identities. This is a transformative unit that provides students with skills and knowledge to be agents of change in their communities and the world at large.

Gain insights into Indigenous perspectives. You’ll explore modern expressions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Unpack how Indigenous people envision their future. Get ready to contribute towards a more inclusive Australia.

This unit introduces students to Dharug perspectives about Country, spiritual concepts including human and non-human ancestors, and the importance of connecting to place and belonging. Students will learn valuable insights from a diverse group of Dharug community members telling their own stories about sites of significance to them. Students will be introduced to Dharug language, art and other cultural practices demonstrating the continuity of knowledges that Dharug people have maintained for over 65,000 years.This unit allows students to connect with contemporary Dharug people and learn about the impact of colonisation on the community and also better understand how Dharug people and communities have resisted and survived. Dharug people will share stories of importance so students can be more aware of the politics of place.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are recognised as belonging to the oldest living culture on earth with over 60,000 years of histories and knowledges to draw upon. This unit explores Indigenous histories and knowledges from the big bang through to contemporary times. Students will develop an understanding of Indigenous relationships to land, water, fire, food and medicine and recognise the ways in which Indigenous knowledges are utilised in everyday activities. This unit will provide a significant understanding of how Indigenous knowledges about the world can inform future thinking about conservation, land management, climate change and sustainability.

Indigenous Histories and Knowledges

This unit provides an overview and critical analysis of Indigenous–settler politics in Australia. Students will develop a nuanced, critically-informed understanding of settler colonialism as a political structure, and explore how it manifests through both policy and institutional cultures in Australia. The unit then turns to practices of decolonisation, unpacking the role of political protests, land claims and non-Indigenous allies in moving towards justice in the context of settler colonialism. It closes by exploring ‘Indigenous futurisms’—how Indigenous people are already both imagining and practicing a decolonised Australia—including through digital media, queer identities, and science fiction..

Settler Colonialism, Decolonisation and Indigenous Futures

ABSX2035 is a multidisciplinary unit that draws from both Indigenous and Queer Studies which have generally been treated as separate fields of academic inquiry. This unit prioritises Indigenous Queer populations as agents of transformation across social, cultural, and political landscapes of Australia and across the globe. Through critical engagement with Indigenous LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer) worldviews, students will develop an understanding of Indigenous Queer identities and explore the specific challenges that these communities continue to endure under colonial regimes. We will engage in Indigenous Queer perspectives which interrupt, challenge, enrich and recalibrate our understandings of community, culture, gender, and sexuality.

Indigenous Queer Studies

This unit introduces students to significant, contemporary Indigenous artists, performers, authors, musicians, meme makers and other producers of popular culture. This unit also considers the way Indigenous people and communities consume and subvert popular culture. Students will engage with global Indigenous collaborations expressing resistance, resurgence and rebellion against colonial representations. Graduates of this unit will be able to demonstrate an understanding of contemporary Indigenous political creativity.

Pacific Pop Culture

This unit introduces students to theories and practices for the analysis of race, gender, and settler colonialism. Engaging with Black and lesbian feminism, queer of colour critiques and Indigenous methodologies, students will learn strategies and concepts that challenge Western ideas about love, family, sex, and identity. Students will become familiar with standpoints that view the origins of race, gender and heterosexuality as connected, and as integral to capitalism and colonialism as global projects. This unit teaches strategies and legacies of resistance, emphasizing the complexity and productivity of coalition and solidarity between Indigenous and Black, immigrant and refugee, and queer and transgender activists globally.

Indigenous Queer Theory and Practice

This unit examines contemporary and historical research practices and explores decolonising and Indigenist research methodologies. This unit also provides students with the skills and knowledge to engage in ethical research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. Students are guided by a range of documents outlining ethical research practices including, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research guidelines, the National Health and Medical Research Council’s, Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research (Values and Ethics) and Macquarie University Ethics Approval process.

Indigenous Research Methodologies

Macquarie University Indigenous studies Short courses | Open Universities Australia

Course results for Macquarie University Indigenous studies Short courses

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