Course overview
This course will introduce students to the key ideas and events that constitute Indigenous experience today. The course will give students a full understanding of who Indigenous peoples are, their relationship to the environment, and their historical and contemporary involvement in environmental matters. Using case studies, strands within the course include: (i) developing understanding of Indigenous cultural diversity, (ii) the theoretical context of core ideas such as Indigeneity, intellectual property, and social justice (iii) examination of the ways in which Indigenous relations to the environment are constituted, (iv) the impact of colonization, (v) Indigenous involvement in environmental management - both traditional and contemporary. Co-management and community based management will be considered in this context. The course will be supported by a number of Australian case studies. It will also be supported, wherever possible by Indigenous speakers, and a field trip to some Indigenous country.
Course learning outcomes
- Evaluate the importance and relevance of Indigenous connection to place.
- Assess the impacts of colonisation on Indigenous peoples.
- Critically reflect upon key concepts such as intellectual property, traditional and contemporary Indigenous environmental management, and Indigeneity.
- Interpret the multiple dimensions within the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the environment.