Art of Australian Studies: Belonging & Diversity in Australia

This is the capstone course in the Australian Studies major. Students will explore a range of works of art in various forms to gain an understanding of the ways in which contemporary authors of fiction, plays and makers of film art represent and express Australian indigeneity, negotiate cross-cultural tensions and offer questions about the nature of belonging and multi-cultural subjectivities in Australia. Students will examine a range of works of contemporary literature, theatre and cinema, including that of Tony Ayers, Tony Birch, Jack Davis, Wesley Enoch, Melissa Lucashenko, Nakkiah Lui, Leah Purcell, John Romeril, Christos Tsiolkas, Alexis Wright and others. Students will have the opportunity to devise and undertake a major research essay on a topic of their choosing under supervision and/ or to produce a work of creative practice upon approval of the convenor. This course consolidates and extends students understanding of interdisciplinary enquiry in Australian Studies and facilitates students in pursuing their own independent research project and creative practice.