Human Rights
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.
Human Rights
Master of Human Rights
Students complete 72 credit points, including:
(a) 24 credit points of core units of study
(b) a minimum of 12 credit points of selective units of study
(c) a maximum of 30 credit points from elective units of study
(i) with the permission of the Degree Coordinator a maximum of 12 credit points can be taken as elective units from units of study outside the table, including:
(i) units of study from other faculties.
(d) a minimum of 6 credit points from capstone units of study
(e) an optional specialisation, including:
(i) Global Migrations specialisation: 6 credit points core and 12 credit points from the list
(ii) Social Policy specialisation: 6 credit points core and 12 credit points from the list
(iii) International Relations specialisation: 12 credit points core and 6 credit points from the list
(iv) Social Research specialisation: 12 credit points core and 6 credit points from the list
Graduate Diploma in Human Rights
Students complete 48 credit points including:
(a) a minimum of 24 credit points of core units of study; and
(b) a minimum of 6 credit points of selective units of study; and
(c) a maximum of 18 credit points from elective units of study
(i) with the permission of the Degree Coordinator a maximum of 12 credit points can be taken as elective units from units of study outside the table, including
(ii) units of study from other faculties.
Graduate Certificate in Human Rights
Students complete 24 credit points including:
(a) 12 credit points of core units of study; and
(b) 6 credit points of selective units of study; and
(c) 6 credit points of elective units of study.
Core units of study
HRTD6901 Human Rights and the Human Rights System
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1.5hr lecture/week, 1x1.5hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1500wd Essay (35%), 1x1000wd Online Participation Exercise (25%), 1x2000wd Essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides a foundational understanding of the content and philosophical justifications for human rights norms. Philosophical, historical and positivist perspectives will be brought together in this unit to allow students to grasp the content of human rights and the justification for norms that become domestic and international law. The unit covers institutional protection mechanisms, including UN treaty and charter bodies, and offers an exploration of core human rights treaties and their social and political context.
HRTD6903 Dynamics of Human Rights Violations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1.5hr lecture/week, 1x1.5hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x3000wd written assignment (50%), 1x1500wd (equivalent) reflection (40%), Class participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Using a case study approach, this unit helps students to analyse the causes and sustaining dynamics of human rights violations along a number of dimensions; cultural, economic, organisational, social and political. Students will then acquire analytic and practical capacities and skills to assess the merits and feasibility of different types of interventions and design intervention strategies. It considers the impact of different types of interventions and the processes available for assessing the human rights impact of other laws, policies or developments.
HRTD6916 Human Rights Simulation
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1.5hr lecture/week, 1x1.5hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1500wd essay (30%) and 1000wd practicum (30%) and 2000wd critical and reflective journal (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study will provide students the opportunity to assume institutional roles within the international human rights framework, and understand its opportunities and constraints in responding to social problems rooted in inequality, precarity and violence. This unit reaches beyond traditional classroom instruction by simulating a range of human rights issues to which students must respond, engaging students in exercises designed to practice skills for future human rights advocacy, including data collection, interview techniques, and engaging with the media.
SCLG6916 Indigenous Rights - Global Issues
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x5000wd research essay (65%) and 1x1000wd seminar paper (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will provide students with an appreciation of the Indigenous peoples' struggle for Indigenous rights through an understanding of international, regional and national processes relevant to this struggle. Students will not only learn about Indigenous peoples histories in relation to colonisation and state building and the relevance of the nation-state and governments to the struggle for Indigenous rights but also the significance of international law, globalisation and economic development to Indigenous peoples struggle for Indigenous rights.
Selective units of study
SCLG6901 Citizenship Rights and Social Movements
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCWK6901 Assessment: 1500wd reading journal (30%) and 2500wd research essay (50%) and 1000wd equivalent oral presentation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
This unit will provide an analysis of theories and practices of citizenship rights in Australia, other Anglophone countries and European countries in the 20th and 21st centuries. It will examine the relationships between different modes of citizenship, claims for rights and the formation of social movements with regard to the women's movement, Indigenous movements (where applicable) and movements concerned with migration, ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. Analyses will focus on the processes, content and outcomes of social movement advocacy.
SCLG6903 New Debates in Social Theory
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2400wd Research essay (40%), 1x2400wd Research essay (40%), 1x1200wd equivalent online presentations and discussion (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores a series of issues of controversy and debate in social theory. These include debates over: the information age; new information and communication technologies; the new capitalism and changing work practices; the cultural sphere; new forms of power and surveillance; shifting claims to insight in knowledge societies; the role of education in social inequality; the bases of making knowledge claims; and globalisation. The unit involves both face-to-face seminars and online discussions.
SCLG6700 Global and Regional Migration Governance
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x500wd equiv oral presenation (10%), 1x1500wd reflective journal (40%), 1x2500wd research essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit addresses debates about global and regional migration governance from structural as well as agency-related angles, by exploring the role of institutions at the global and regional level as part of the solution finding process to global challenges such as the movement of people across borders. It focuses on migration policy as an issue of ethics, governance, regulation and implementation at the regional and global level.
GEOS5501 Human Rights and the Environment
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Josephine Gillespie Session: Semester 2a Classes: 4 hours of class contact per week Assessment: Essays, reports (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
This Unit of Study addresses the connections between human rights and the environment. We examine an array of environmental and natural resource management challenges through a human rights lens. Students will develop the skills to describe, interpret and analyse the relationship between environmental issues and human rights norms. We study the complexity of the human rights / environmental nexus in both conservation and development contexts. Topics include conservation and protected areas, rivers and dams, mining, climate change and forests. Throughout the course we consider the value, and limitations, of a human rights based approach to environmental decision making.
HRTD6906 The Philosophy of Human Rights
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week Prohibitions: PHIL7607 Assessment: 1x1500wd Take-home exam (35%) and 1x3500wd Essay (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit addresses central themes from the history and philosophy of human rights. Topics may include the relationship between human rights and religion, natural law, moral and aesthetic justifications of human rights, claims and challenges to universality of the part of human rights, and tensions between human rights and state sovereignty. Thinkers may include Saint Paul, Kant, Burke, Tocqueville, Arendt, Schmitt, and Rawls.
ECOP6130 Human Rights and International Development
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCLG6912 Assessment: 1x1000wd Essay (20%), 1x2000wd Essay (40%), 1.5hr exam (30%), Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
This unit links debates over social rights and democratic legitimacy to structural economic arguments. It introduces the competing arguments over social rights and the struggles that have created them, and promotes the use of evidence in these conceptual arguments. The approach of economic liberalism to rights is examined. Important global issues involving rights and economic argument - such as self-determination, land rights, food security, fair trade and economic governance - are examined.
Elective units of study
Students who complete 18 credit points within a single cognate discipline with relevance to Human Rights will have a specialisation recorded. Students must satisfy any prerequisite requirements set by the offering Department or Centre, as well as any prerequisites set by individual units of study, before they enrol in any unit of study.
BETH5103 Biomedicine and Society
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Christopher Jordens Session: Semester 2 Classes: Class discussions and formal content (lectures) are all online Assessment: 1 x 1200 word exercise (20%); 1 x 3000-4000 word essay (60%); online quizzes and participation in online discussions (20%) Mode of delivery: Online
Note: Online only
How does biomedicine both influence and reflect the broader society of which it is a part? This unit of study addresses this general question by examining a set of issues relating to sex and drugs. A key theme in the course is the "medicalisation" of human experience in the domains of gender, reproduction and sexual behaviour. The course aims to widen the scope of bioethical inquiry through readings that explore the issues from a range of different perspectives including history, sociology, politics, health policy, philosophy, religion, feminism, public health, and personal experience. Each topic introduces specific concepts which students are encouraged to apply. Students are also encouraged to draw on their own disciplinary and/or professional background.Online discussions and coursework will provide opportunities to learn from other students, and apply learning from other units of study in bioethics.
All assessments must be completed to pass this Unit.
Textbooks
Required readings are available through the unit of study website. Supplementary readings can be accessed through the University library.
BETH5203 Ethics and Public Health
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Kate MacKay Session: Semester 2 Classes: 5 x 7 hour intensive workshops; or Online only. Prohibitions: BETH5206 Assessment: 5 x Online Quiz (50%); 1 x 2500 word essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode, Online
Note: If an insufficient number of students opt to attend intensives on campus, the coordinator may choose to teach this unit of study in online mode only. Students will be contacted if this occurs.
This unit provides students with an overview of the ethical and political issues that underlie public health and public health research. The unit begins with some fundamentals: the nature of ethics, of public health (and how it might be different to clinical medicine) and of public health ethics. It introduces key concepts in public health ethics including liberty, utility, justice, solidarity and reciprocity, and introduces students to different ways of reasoning about the ethics of public health. A range of practical public health problems and issues will be considered, including ethical dimensions of communicable and non-communicable diseases in populations, and the ethical challenges of public health research. Throughout, the emphasis is on learning to make sound arguments about the ethical aspects of public health policy, practice and research. Most learning occurs in the context of five teaching intensives, which are highly interactive and focus on the development and application of reasoning skills.
Textbooks
Students are provided with a list of readings (in digital format).
BETH5209 Medicines Policy, Economics and Ethics
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Wendy Lipworth, Dr Narcyz Ghinea Session: Semester 2 Classes: Fully online. Assumed knowledge: A degree in science, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, allied health, philosophy/ethics, sociology/anthropology, history, law, communications, public policy, business, economics, commerce, organisation studies, or other relevant field, or by special permission. Assessment: Online work (15%) 1 x minor essay (35%) 1 x major essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Online
Medicines save lives but they can be costly and can have serious adverse effects. Value-laden decisions are continuously being made at individual, institutional, national and international levels regarding the medicines we need, want and can afford. In this unit of study, we will explore and critique global and national policies and processes related to medicines, examining how research and development agendas are set; how medicines are assessed and evaluated; and how new technologies are translated into practice. We will also explore broader trends such as globalisation, commercialisation and changing consumer expectations. By the end of the course, students will understand the forces shaping the development, regulation, funding and uptake of medicines both nationally and internationally, and the political, ethical, legal and economic issues that are at stake. This course is designed to appeal to a wide range of students from ethics, law, public health, health care, policy, communications, economics, business, politics, administration, and biomedical science.
Textbooks
Readings will be provided
CISS6002 Strategy and Security in the Asia-Pacific
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Assessment: 2x 2000wd Essay (80%), 1x400wd equivalent Oral Presentation (10%), Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit focuses on the strategic dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region and the security challenges it faces. It combines a grounding in International Relations theory, and concepts of strategy and security, with a series of dedicated country profiles. Issues such as great power rivalry, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, piracy, and environmental degradation are all considered. The overall objective of the unit is to engage with issues and arguments about strategy and security that relate specifically to the Asia-Pacific region. Teaching and learning take place via a combination of lectures, student-led seminars, and independent research.
CISS6004 Health and Security
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1.5hr lecture/week, 1x1.5hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Issue brief (35%), 1x3000wd Research essay (50%), 1x500wd Self-evaluation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit assesses the political and security significance of disease-related events and developments. Whether one contemplates historical experiences with smallpox, the contemporary challenges posed by diseases such as HIV/AIDS and SARS, or the risks arising from new scientific developments such as synthetic biology, it is clear that diseases exercise a powerful influence over civilised humankind. The unit concentrates on areas in which human health and security concerns intersect most closely, including: biological weapons; fast-moving disease outbreaks of natural origin; safety and security in microbiology laboratories; and the relationships between infectious disease patterns, public health capacity, state functioning and violent conflict. The overall aim of the unit is to provide students with a stronger understanding of the scientific and political nature of these problems, why and how they might threaten security, and the conceptual and empirical connections between them.
CISS6006 Intervention and 'Fragile' States
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (40%), 1x2000wd intelligence briefing paper (40%), Seminar participation (10%), 1x500wd actor profile (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit critically examines the notion of state fragility within the global system. It investigates the characteristics of so-called 'fragile' and 'failed' states, and the nature of international engagement with (and discourses about) these states. It explores various perspectives on state formation in both Western and post-colonial contexts, and emphasises the ways in which knowledge is produced about non-Western states. The unit expands upon the theoretical literature with evidence from case studies in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
CISS6018 Nuclear Arms Control and Non-proliferation
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Take-home exercise (20%), 1x4500wd Research essay (60%)1, 1x500wd Group presentation (10%), Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to the basic knowledge of the issues, challenges, and policies related to nuclear arms control and non-proliferation. The principal objective is to give students a better understanding of the politics of arms control and non-proliferation and help them develop the analytical skills for undertaking policy-relevant research and the ability to develop policy recommendations. The unit is also designed to examine proliferation problems and the ways that arms control can contribute to national and regional security.
DVST6901 Development: Civil Society and Wellbeing
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SSCP6900 Assessment: Weekly online exercises 1000wd in total (15%),1x500wd Research essay proposal (10%), 1x3000wd Research essay (45%), 1x1500wd Take-home exercise (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
The post-1949 era of 'development' has seen a philosophical and policy shift from nation-building projects of 'modernisation' to the local responsiveness of market forces and civil society. An anthropological emphasis on cultural and local difference and a sociological understanding of state and civil society provide a critical perspective on both this history and current debates. Case studies raise questions of health, gender and childhood, project success or failure, and of the hopes and skepticism development evokes.
DVST6902 Development: Communication and Education
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SSCP6901 Assessment: 5x600wd critical reviews (50%) and 3000wd Research essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
Development is an international and intercultural process that seeks to both implement projects with specific objectives, and change the way people live and think. Language, as communication both enables such projects and is a source of incomprehension, misunderstanding and exclusion within them. Education as the longer term attempt to change the thinking and values of people and communities also has language at its heart. This unit examines the nature and politics of language and education and their relationship within development.
DVST6904 Rethinking Poverty
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Take-home exercise (35%), 1x1hr Exam (15%), 1x1000wd Reading notes (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
Poverty reduction has always been a central development goal. Major international programs such as the UN's Millennium Goals place poverty at their centre. New explanatory concepts such as social exclusion, capability, social capital and sustainability have considerably expanded our thinking about its nature. Students will examine cases from many parts of the world of the way discourses, policies and development practices operate together, enabling an evaluation of contemporary approaches to poverty and their effects on those most vulnerable.
DVST6905 Development Project Evaluation
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1800wd Qualitative analysis project (38%), 1x3500wd Project evaluation proposal (50%), 1x700wd Seminar presentation (12%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Project design, dynamics and evaluation are key elements of the management and delivery of development initiatives. This unit focuses on the history, significance, context and design of evaluation in that process. The unit addresses debates about participatory approaches to evaluation, quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Assessment is organized around the design of a proposal for a project evaluation.
DVST6906 Culture, Gender, Health in Development
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x500wd Research essay proposal (10%), 1x3500wd Research essay (60%), 1x1000wd equivalent Class presentation (15%), 1x1000wd Online weekly reading notes (15%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides an integrated and interpretive approach to understanding the culture and politics of health development in middle and low-income countries. The structures and processes that inform the politics and culture of health development are global, regional and local, and encompass and operate at different social and institutional levels in diverse settings. The articulation of these will be studied, along with the processes and transitions to local worlds that unfold in embedded cultural and social contexts.
ECOP6015 Global Employment and Migration
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1250wd short Essay (20%), 5x 250wd diary digests (20%), 1x1000wd Presentation and write-up (20%), 1x2500wd Research essay (40%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the evolution of international employment opportunities as a feature of the globalisation of economies. Different approaches to the analysis of labour markets provide conceptual frameworks for examining the changing character and structure of global employment and international migration. Case studies examine the effects of state regulatory arrangements and international institutions governing cross-border labour migration and cross-border employment in multinational firms, including professionals, skilled and unskilled workers.
ECOP6018 Economic Development: Growth and Wellbeing
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
ECOP6101 Core Concepts in Political Economy
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 4x4x500wd seminar papers (40%), 1x4000wd essay (45%), seminar participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The unit explores the core concepts of Political Economy through the lens of the principal schools of economic thought which comprise the social science discipline of economics. The historical origins of each school are identified along with their methodological approaches and analytical tools, policy prescriptions and insights. This examination illuminates the different views about the dynamics of the capitalist economy and lays the foundation for the application of political economic reasoning to a wide range of contemporary issues.
ECOP6103 Strategic Debates on Economic Change
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (30%), 1x4000wd Essay (60%), 1xGroup presentation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the processes of socioeconomic change, and the forces involved in bringing about such change. It introduces several theoretical perspectives and - using a number of contemporary case studies - considers the interests, the relationships and the constraints involved in socioeconomic change. Students consider a range of issues and debates, and make a detailed study in one such area.
ECOP6108 Economic Management for Sustainability
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x10min seminar presentation (10%), 1x1000wd seminar paper 1 (20%), 1x1000wd seminar paper 2 (20%), 1x3000wd research essay (40%), participation (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to environmental economic theory, ecological economics, and other critical perspectives in order to develop an understanding of the parameters that define management of economy-environment interactions. Students will develop a critical appreciation of the systemic nature of the pressures imposed on environmental/ecological systems and the intractable problems this presents. The unit examines the different tendencies that inform environmental management and sustainable development; and the relative merits/weaknesses of the strategies and policies advanced.
GCST5910 Health, Pleasure and Consumption
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x4000wd essay (60%), 1x2000wd case study (30%), participation exercises (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Pleasure is often thought to make everyday life worthwhile, but it is also commonly positioned as the antithesis of health. In this unit we explore how key strands of cultural studies have approached this paradox with reference to specific examples: Drug use, sex, consumption, leisure activities are possibilities. By considering how authorities have attempted to govern these practices, and with what effects, students will develop new associations between conceptual innovation, cultural intervention and policy impacts.
GCST6905 Gender in Cultural Theory
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1000wd critical paper (25%), 1x300wd oral presentation of final paper (15%), 1x3000wd final paper (50%), 1x200wd in-class presentation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What is the relation between femininity, masculinity and culture? Does sexual difference affect our identity and, if so, how and in what circumstances? Does it affect our relations with others? Is there any link between cultural and racial difference and sexual difference? What contexts may shape such links? Where does equality fit into all this? Drawing on the work of major cultural theorists and feminist thinkers this unit examines various theoretical conceptualizations and popular representations of gender; the issue of embodiment; and how sex and race are articulated within gendered conceptual frames.
GOVT6100 Foundations of Comparative Politics
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 2x1500wd writing assignment (40%), 1x3000wd research paper (50%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines major concepts and theories of comparative politics. Employing a range of theoretical perspectives and drawing on diverse cases from around the world, it explores topics such as the state, political regimes, development, institutional design, and state-society relations. Several major research traditions, schools of thought, and methodological approaches will be considered, and students will acquire the basic tools of comparative analysis.The unit will also explore some of the major debates and controversies among scholars working in this area.
GOVT6108 Democracy, Development and Rights in SE Asia
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Oral Presentation and written assessment (30%), 2500wd analytical Essay/report (30%), 1500wd exam (30%), Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Southeast Asia's economic experiences and socio-political challenges will be examined within an historical and comparative context in order to better appreciate the economic continuities, understand the major socio-political dilemmas and changing patterns of development. Themes such as the significance of colonialism on post-colonial economies and polities, role of the state in the national and global economy, causes of the region's high-speed growth in the 1980s and 1990s, subsequent economic downturn and future prospects, changing complexion of foreign investment, significance and operational dynamics of the Overseas Chinese Business Networks, salience of socio-economic and ethnic tensions, contradictions associated with the promotion of open economies within authoritarian political structures, the relationship between economic and political corruption, prominence of political Islam, rise of civil society actors, implications of the national and regional reserve army of labour, efficacy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the region's economic and security links with Northeast Asia will be analysed.
GOVT6109 Political Regimes and Regime Transition
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 3x1500wd analytical essay (75%), 1x1.5 hr final exam (20%), tutorial participation (5%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will provide an in-depth examination of theories of political regimes and regime transitions. Political scientists have developed a variety of theories to explain democratic breakdown and democratization, and formulated an expansive typology of regimes to describe the diverse forms of democracy, authoritarianism, and 'hybrid regimes.' This unit provides a broad overview of theories of political regimes and regime transitions, and introduces students to some of the major debates and controversies in this field of study.
GOVT6116 International Organisations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Assessment: 4000wd Essay (50%) and 2hr exam (30%) and Seminar participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit aims to introduce students to how states and other actors in the international arena cooperate to build institutions as a response to common problems. After completing the unit students should be able to analyse contemporary international organisations to see how they work, whose interests they serve, and to what degree they attenuate or enhance the power of sovereign states.
GOVT6119 International Security
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture-seminar/week Assessment: 2x 2700wd Essay (90%), 1x600wd In-class quizzes (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit reviews developments in international security since before World War l, to recent events like September 11 and its aftermath. The principal focus is on developments since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of Communism. The unit takes account of traditional notions about the causes of war and the conditions of peace, as well as changes in the structure and process of contemporary international relations.
GOVT6123 Globalisation and Governance
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x3000wd Research essay (40%), 3x 500wd Tutorial papers (30%), 1x1.5hr Examination (20%), 1x Tutorial participation (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
It is widely believed that we are entering a new era in which the transborder flows of capital, goods, ideas, and people are rapidly transforming human society. 'Globalisation', many claim, threatens the autonomy of nation-states and erodes the power of national governments to provide social protection and promote the nation's economic prosperity. This unit examines not only the causes and mechanisms of this process, but also assesses its social, economic, and political impacts. The views of radicals, transformationalists, skeptics, and institutionalists are compared and criticised. While globalisation is often viewed as a singular process, trending towards a global society, this unit offers a distinctive approach. Globalisation has uneven and highly differentiated impacts, whether harmful or beneficial, and this unevenness is closely associated with the nature of institutions of governance, at both the domestic and international levels.
GOVT6135 Global Environmental Politics
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (30%), 1x4000wd Essay (50%), Seminar participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the environment as a political and policy issue. Although relatively recent, the environment has become a full-fledged public policy issue exerting influence in local, national and international arenas. The unit will first focus on the specific features of the policy that influences the capability of contemporary societies to enhance the management of environmental resources and of public goods in general. Second, it discusses the development of environmental policy in Western countries, with a particular emphasis on the European Union. Third, a grid for the analysis of environmental policy will be presented, with a discussion of the main actors (political, institutional and socio-economic) involved in it and of the factors (interests and ideas) influencing their positions. Fourth, the unit briefly discusses environmental conflicts and consensual approaches used for tackling them.
GOVT6136 Asia Pacific Politics
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture-seminar/week Assessment: 1000wd issue brief (20%) and 2000wd research essay/two issue briefs (50%) and 2hr final exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is organised around the upsurge in regional economic and security cooperation within East Asia and the more nebulous Asia Pacific in the last 15 years. It also looks at academic efforts to define East Asia and the Asia Pacific as regions. The first part of the unit covers the domestic similarities in East Asia and what these mean for East Asian and Asia-Pacific regionalism. The second part of the unit covers efforts to develop regional institutions like APEC and ASEAN and the role of these institutions in spurring regionalism. While the Asia Pacific and its sub-regions are the focus of the unit, both domestic and global economic and political forces are fully integrated into discussions. The unit provides critical insights into the reasons for the upsurge in regional economic and security cooperation, its likely trajectory and how East Asia and the Asia-Pacific are defined.
GOVT6138 Gender, Family and the State
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1000wd book review (15%), 1x1500wd literature review (25%), 1x3500wd research essay (50%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Adopting a comparative politics perspective, this unit of study explores the relationship between gender and family roles to state development, particularly in the aspects of political participation, human rights, and the transformation/revolution of state forms. The unit will also focus particularly on the impact of two higher order social institutions: religion and the state, and examine how both have influenced women and the family in both capitalist and socialist states.
GOVT6147 Foundations of International Relations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2500wd mid-semester exam (40%), 1x2500wd final exam (40%), 1x1000wd (equivalent) seminar activities (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Why do states behave the way they do? Using a historical perspective, this unit explores the ways in which the different theories of international relations account for what shapes the international system - who are its main actors, what are its determining forces and structures. It examines both how these theories have vied with one another within inter-paradigm debates and how they developed in relation to specific historical events. These theories include realism, idealism, neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, Marxism, the English school, constructivism, poststructuralism, feminism, post-colonial approaches. While no prior study of international relations is required, a willingness to engage with theoretical thinking and grapple with complex questions of ontology and epistemology is essential.
GOVT6150 Challenges of Democratic Politics
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Research proposal (15%), 1x1000wd Seminar facilitation (15%), 1x4000wd Research essay (60%), 1x Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the challenges of modern representative government. Comparing models of democratic politics, we assess the continuing relevance of political institutions, such as parliaments and parties, and consider political processes, citizen disengagement and new forms of participation.
GOVT6156 Strategy and Civil Society
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Project Analysis (20%), 1x1000wd Research Proposal (15%), 1x3000wd Research Report (50%), 1x Participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides an overview of contemporary debates about policy making in democratic states, such as Australia. It examines how 'governance' is constituted by the interaction between the state and civil society. Governance is an emerging area of interest for both government and non-government organisations, and this unit analyses the way these social, economic and political organisations interact to both create public policy agendas and lead to social and political change. The unit covers the configurations of policy communities, political networks and social movements which shape both representative and participatory democratic practice. There is a particular emphasis on understanding the strategies that different political actors adopt.
GOVT6304 Development and World Politics
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Book review (20%), 1x3500wd Essay (50%), 1x1500wd equivalent Class presentation (20%), 1x Seminar participation (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will examine critical perspectives on international development. It will explore key questions concerning development, including: Have efforts to 'reduce poverty' been effective? What are the various meanings associated with development concepts like 'building capacity' and 'empowerment'? Is there any consensus about what development is and how to 'do' it? The unit will include an analysis of how much has been learned about development over the last fifty years. Finally, the unit will consider what role might individuals take.
GOVT6314 Terrorism and International Security
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent in intensive session Assessment: 1x3000wd research essay (50%), 1x1hr final exam (20%), 1x2000wd analytical brief (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides a comprehensive theoretical and empirical introduction to the problem of terrorism worldwide and its impact on global security. It will cover the origins of terrorism, the structure and behavior of terrorist organisations, social, political, economic, and technological trends that impact terrorism and the threat it poses, and the complexities of counterterrorism policy. The knowledge and analytical skills acquired by students in this unit will be instrumental in understanding the challenge of terrorism.
GOVT6316 The Politics of Policy Making
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Short Essay (30%), 1x4000wd Long Essay (50%), 1x Seminar participation (20%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit focuses on the nature of public policy and the processes by which it is produced. Relevant issues are common to all nation states, although they take specific forms in each individual country. First, the unit takes an overview of public policy - dealing with basic themes such as 'What is policy?' through to different approaches to understanding the policy process. These include policy cycles, rationality, interest groups, institutions, and socio-economic interests. Second, it maps out and examines the main components of public policy making: actors, institutions and policy instruments. Third, it focuses on aspects of policy-making processes which often attract a high level of attention from analysts. These include problem definition, agenda setting, decision-taking, policy implementation, policy evaluation and crisis policy-making. Fourth, it examines wider issues in terms of the state and who ultimately holds power over the making and shaping of public policy. Finally, it examines the 'bigger pictures' of long term policy trends, and the extent to which national policy making capacities and processes have been affected by globalisation. Assessments offer a large element of flexibility, allowing students to concentrate on areas of particular interest.
GOVT6357 International Policy Making
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Short Essay (35%), 1x4000wd Depth Essay (50%), 1x Seminar participation (15%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the interplay between international and domestic policy making. It evaluates the international context of policy making and public management in domestic arenas, attending to the roles of international governmental organizations and treaties, pressure groups, and multinational corporations in shaping policy decisions. It evaluates the diffusion of policy ideas and programmes internationally and the transfers of policies from one country to another and interrogates the factors that facilitate or frustration implementation.
GOVT6358 Comparative Migration Policy
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x4500wd Research Paper (60%), 1x1.5hr Examination (25%), 1x Seminar participation (15%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study covers immigration policy debates in the world's three largest immigrant selecting nations - Australia, Canada and the United States - with additional reference to developments across the European Union. Students will analyse the regulation of skilled, family, asylum and illegal immigration and the determination of the size and composition of immigration programmes. Integration and citizenship policies are also considered. In all of these debates, the role of policy instruments, institutions and actors in the policy process are considered.
JCTC6100 Sites of Trauma, Landscapes of Genocide
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2a Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week, 1x3hr seminar/week Assessment: 1xcritical assessment (1500wds) (20%), 1x1000wd learning journal (20%), 1x3500wd Essay (50%), Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Holocaust and genocide museums and memorials continue to grow in number and appeal. This unit tracks their evolution as a 'genre', the theoretical and political debates that have accompanied their development and their increasingly influential public and political roles. We examine both purpose-built institutions and those developed at former sites of mass murder, reflecting on how these 'sites of trauma' both shape our understanding of past events and contribute to contemporary debates concerned with genocide prevention and other related issues.
MECO6901 Media Relations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd communication plan (30%), 1x2000wd media relations tactics (30%), 1x500wd client pitch (15%), 1x1500wd final essay (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Media Relations provides students with practical experience in seeking media coverage for a specific issue on behalf of a non-profit organisation. It requires students to research, design, present, implement and evaluate a communication plan, and to develop key tactical elements including media releases for distribution across multi-media platforms.
MECO6936 Social Media Communication
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1a,Semester 2a Classes: 26hrs seminar in Intensive mode (equivalent to 1x2hr seminar/week) Assessment: 1x2000wd equiv Social Media Design Brief (25%), 1x2500wd Social Media Project (45%), 1x1500wd Online Article and Comments (30%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit introduces the fundamentals of strategic social media use for professional and organisational communication, media practice and cultural production. It aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to become competent, ethical social media communicators and to critically analyse social media forms, services and cultures. Students will explore online, mobile and locative platforms for interacting with audiences, publics and online communities, including professional networks.
PACS6901 United Nations, Peace and Security
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week plus 1x6hr Model UN or equivalent Assessment: 1x seminar participation (10%), 1x500wd Model UN exercise or equivalent (10%), 1x500wd short assignment (10%), 1x500wd essay plan (10%), 1x3000wd final essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day, Online
In this unit students critically examine the role of the United Nations in promoting international peace and security. Contemporary and historical case studies are used to analyse the UN's performance in relation to such activities as peacemaking, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peace enforcement. We assess the challenges facing the UN in achieving its mandate and implementing reform with a view to attaining peace with justice.
PACS6902 Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 6 day intensive or equivalent weekly or online (36 hrs total) Assessment: 1x300wd equivalent in-class exercise (5%), 1x1200wd assignment (25%), 1x3000wd essay (60%), 1x participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Online, Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In this unit we explore the concept of reconciliation and its relationship to conflict transformation and peacebuilding at personal, community, national and international levels. We will use case studies to highlight the psychological, spiritual, cultural, structural and political dimensions of reconciliation in different contexts such as indigenous/settler relations, restorative justice processes and transitional justice after mass violence.
PACS6909 Cultures of Violence
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Assessment: Seminar participation (15%) and 2x750wd seminar papers (15%, 20%) and 3500wd Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day, Online
This unit will study the cultural contexts, origins, meaning and leading varieties of 'violence' in the modern world. How violence has been defined historically, its character and prevalence in different times and places, and changes in public perceptions, media presentation, tolerance, prevention and prosecution will be examined. Topics such as violence in the home, sport, public protest, sexual and racial relations, terrorism, genocide, warfare, youth culture and the criminal justice system will be considered.
PACS6911 Key Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive or online Prohibitions: SCWK6930 Assessment: Seminar participation (10%), 1x2500wd personal learning journal (30%), 1x3500wd Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day, Online
This unit introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Peace and Conflict Studies and the history, philosophy and politics of peace. Students will gain an understanding of the nature and causes of violence, the potential of nonviolence and the means of achieving peace with justice in different conflict settings.
PACS6912 Nonviolence: Philosophy and Practice
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive March Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Prohibitions: SCWK6933 Assessment: 1x2500wd reflective journal (50%), 1x3500wd case study analysis (50%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit critically and experientially explores the philosophical basis and theoretical underpinnings of nonviolent civil resistance in local and global struggles against injustice. We will analyse the nature of power, the meaning of nonviolent action and how it can bring about social change. Extensive use is made of case studies of nonviolent social movements from across time and around the world as well as practical exercises to unpack assumptions about the use of violence and nonviolence.
PACS6914 Conflict-Resolving Media
Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive August Classes: Intensive delivery over 5 days (total 30hrs) Prohibitions: SCWK6935 Assessment: 2x2500wd Commentaries (80%), Seminar participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit examines media representations of conflict and their influence on the behaviour of those involved. It introduces creative ways for journalists, media development workers and media activists to apply principles of conflict resolution. Students diagnose 'war journalism' and 'peace journalism', and analyse conflict in a journalism context. Theories of news and concepts of objectivity and responsibility are critically explored. Students gain practical skills in peace journalism and media activism as well as devising peace journalism interventions in conflict-affected areas.
PACS6915 Human Rights, Peace and Justice
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or online equivalent Prohibitions: SCWK6941 Assessment: (1x500wd participation and presentation (10%), 1x1500wd short assignment (25%), 1x500wd essay plan (10%), 1x3500wd final essay (55%)) OR (1x500wd online discussion contribution (10%), 1x1500wd online short assignment (25%), 1x500wd online essay plan (10%), 1x3500wd online final essay (55%)) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day, Online
This unit explores the interrelationship between human rights, peace and justice in theory and in practice. We examine the philosophical underpinnings, legal instruments, political strategies and ethical challenges involved in understanding and attaining human rights locally and globally. Students will engage in debates about global responsibilities for the prevention and prosecution of mass human rights violations as well as specific rights such as those of women, refugees and indigenous peoples and how they contribute to peace with justice.
PACS6923 The Human Right to Food
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2b Classes: 3hrs online equivalent/week commencing week 2 for Semester 1, 3hrs online equivalent/week commencing week 6 of Semester 2 (Session 10) Assessment: Continuous assessment equivalent to 2500wds (70%), 1x2000wd Essay (30%), Mode of delivery: Online
The human right to adequate food is considered in light of recent developments in economic and social rights to complement civil and political rights: historical foundations; the influence of the World Food Summit 1996; the application of the human right to adequate food in various contexts - specific countries, in relation to refugees, infants etc; analysing concrete situations to identify violations of the human right to adequate food; and formulating proposals for policy and legislation to realise the human right to adequate food in specific contexts.
PACS6924 Democracy in the Developing World
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 3hrs online equivalent/week Assessment: 1x1500wd essay (30%), 1x3000wd final essay (60%), Online Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Online
This unit offers a comparative consideration of different concepts of democratisation and development including the criteria for compiling country development indices and typologies of democracy. Experiences of implanting and/or imposing democracy are examined in Japan, Iraq and other nations. The pan-Pacific model of development, and the pros and cons of using authoritarian means to achieve it, is also considered, with examples including Indonesia under Suharto and Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew. Relationships between development, conflict and poverty are examined - do elections lead to more democracy? More development? Or do they allow authoritarian winners to institutionalise power? What about the coup in Thailand?
PACS6928 Community Mediation: Theory and Practice
Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive April Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Assessment: 1x1500wd equiv seminar participation/role plays (25%), 1x1500wd reflective journal (25%), 1x3000wd Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit of study will focus on the theory and practical application of facilitation, communication and conflict resolution skills in a community mediation context. Students will learn about various models of community mediation and will become skilled in the stages of community mediation through role-plays and simulation exercises. In addition to specific training in community mediation, the unit provides students with transferable skills and knowledge about mediation.
SCLG6902 Ethics of Social Research
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCLG3003 Assessment: 1x1000wd ethics application (20%), 1x500wd equiv oral task (10%), 1x1500wd reflective piece (30%), 1x3000wd research proposal (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to key issues, debates and ethical questions in human research, enabling them to acquire knowledge and develop skills for research degrees and funding applications. It examines values and principles of research ethics, and encourages students to reflect on these in relation to research with human subjects.
SCLG6910 Comparative Welfare States
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Gyu-Jin Hwang Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCWK6909 Assessment: 4x30mins In-class quiz (20%), 1x2000wd Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Research proposal (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The unit provides a comparative analysis of welfare state development. It discusses how to meaningfully compare different welfare states and their social programmes. As a defining characteristic of welfare states, our primary focus is on the state's involvement in welfare services and benefits. Starting from there, we also explore various ways of `doing social policy' across different parts of the world and discuss the sort of socioeconomic outcomes they produce. Comparative research provides a useful venue to investigate the relationship between the institutional design of the welfare state and its size and how this relationship changes over time under the changing structural conditions.
SCWK6910 Working with Communities
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Amanda Howard Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 2x500wd on-line quiz (35%); 1x4000wd practice essay (45%); and participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Working with communities is a key policy and practice priority for government and non-government agencies in Australia. This unit will critically examine the current policy frameworks informing work with communities as well as current practice models of community development and community engagement. The unit seeks to explore the why and how of work with communities. It will draw on an emerging Australian body of research about working with communities based in the community of Glebe. This unit is suitable for practitioners seeking to work more effectively with communities.
SCWK6949 Global Social Policy
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x 2hr seminar/week - evening Assessment: tutorial presentation and paper (40%); global social policy research exercise (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
There is a well-established scholarship and governmental interest in both the impact of globalisation on social policy and the emergence of what is increasingly termed 'global social policy' which is a direct response to global social problems. It is a field that is growing in the areas of social policy and social work research and practice and can be clearly linked to increased employment opportunities for social workers and social policy graduates in the international/global arena. A key perspective of this unit of study is from non-government organisations' participation in the development of a global civil society and their contribution to global social policy. It also examines the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and how NGOs have contributed to both the ambitions of the goals as well as the outcomes for different countries. This unit provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding and knowledge of core global concerns such as poverty, health, education, environment, NGO corporate engagement and gender equality and make links to the vital role of NGOs in these areas.
SSPS6001 Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/lab per week Assessment: 1x2hr in-class exam (I) (35%), 1x2hr in-class exam (II)(35%), 3x660wd homework tasks (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Quantitative methods are vital to social science. This unit introduces students to commonly used techniques for collecting and analysing numerical data to answer empirical questions about social, cultural, and political phenomena. It addresses the description of data with graphs and tables, descriptive statistics, statistical models, hypothesis testing, and other topics. The unit is appropriate for beginners, who will gain perspective and confidence conducting their own quantitative research and critically understanding that of others. It is taught in a computer lab, giving students practical experience with statistical software.
SSPS6002 Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week Assessment: 1x2hr in-class exam (35%), 1x2000wd analytical memo (35%), 2x1000wd homework tasks (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Qualitative research rests at the heart of social science. This unit introduces students to commonly used techniques for collecting and analyzing categorical data to answer empirical questions about social, cultural, and political phenomena. It examines case studies and comparative history; interviews, ethnography, and fieldwork; plus archives and content analysis, among other topics. Instruction is provided by a team of teachers with experience using these methods. Students therefore gain valuable insight into how to conduct and consume qualitative research.
WMST6902 Arguing the Point
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1500wd skills exercise (30%), 1x2000wd peer-learning task (30%), 1x2500wd long essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit introduces students to some practices, methods, writing styles and forms of argumentation relevant to research in Gender and Cultural Studies. Through the study of different examples, students are encouraged to develop their own research practices and writing skills. The unit caters to students in the early stages of thesis conception and development. Students who have already begun writing their thesis will be encouraged to experiment with different ways of arguing and writing their research. Students who are just starting will have the opportunity to develop their ideas.
FASS7001 Academic English for Postgraduates
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1500wd Essay (35%), 1x500wd Annotated Bibliography (15%), 1x2500wd Reflection Journal (25%), 1xSeminar Presentation (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This elective is designed for International postgraduates who are new to study in an English language university. It supports the development of study, research, and critical thinking abilities, spoken English and academic language. Knowledge acquired in this unit will strengthen written and spoken English to help meet the standards necessary for successful completion of FASS Masters by coursework degrees. It is recommended that this elective be taken during the first semester.
FASS7002 Critical Thinking and Persuasive Writing
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Weeks 1-3: 2x1hr lecture/week, 2x2hr tutorial/week; Weeks 4-9:1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x500wd critical review (20%), 1x1500wd essay (35%), seminar presentation (20%),1x2500wd reflection journal (20%), tutorial participation (5%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This elective supports development of skills in critical analysis, writing in different genres, research, presentation, and developing individual scholarly 'voice'. While valuable for all commencing postgraduates, it is of particular benefit to those returning to academia after an extended break, or for International students wishing to orient themselves to local standards of practice for academic communication. This unit is structured to have additional seminars and lectures early in the semester and fewer later in the semester so students have the opportunity to apply new skills to all their coursework. The unit is ideally taken in the first semester of study.
Optional Specialisations
Global Migrations specialisation
6 credit points from the following
SCLG6700 Global and Regional Migration Governance
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x500wd equiv oral presenation (10%), 1x1500wd reflective journal (40%), 1x2500wd research essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit addresses debates about global and regional migration governance from structural as well as agency-related angles, by exploring the role of institutions at the global and regional level as part of the solution finding process to global challenges such as the movement of people across borders. It focuses on migration policy as an issue of ethics, governance, regulation and implementation at the regional and global level.
12 credit points from the following
ECOP6015 Global Employment and Migration
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1250wd short Essay (20%), 5x 250wd diary digests (20%), 1x1000wd Presentation and write-up (20%), 1x2500wd Research essay (40%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the evolution of international employment opportunities as a feature of the globalisation of economies. Different approaches to the analysis of labour markets provide conceptual frameworks for examining the changing character and structure of global employment and international migration. Case studies examine the effects of state regulatory arrangements and international institutions governing cross-border labour migration and cross-border employment in multinational firms, including professionals, skilled and unskilled workers.
GOVT6358 Comparative Migration Policy
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x4500wd Research Paper (60%), 1x1.5hr Examination (25%), 1x Seminar participation (15%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study covers immigration policy debates in the world's three largest immigrant selecting nations - Australia, Canada and the United States - with additional reference to developments across the European Union. Students will analyse the regulation of skilled, family, asylum and illegal immigration and the determination of the size and composition of immigration programmes. Integration and citizenship policies are also considered. In all of these debates, the role of policy instruments, institutions and actors in the policy process are considered.
GOVT6108 Democracy, Development and Rights in SE Asia
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Oral Presentation and written assessment (30%), 2500wd analytical Essay/report (30%), 1500wd exam (30%), Seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Southeast Asia's economic experiences and socio-political challenges will be examined within an historical and comparative context in order to better appreciate the economic continuities, understand the major socio-political dilemmas and changing patterns of development. Themes such as the significance of colonialism on post-colonial economies and polities, role of the state in the national and global economy, causes of the region's high-speed growth in the 1980s and 1990s, subsequent economic downturn and future prospects, changing complexion of foreign investment, significance and operational dynamics of the Overseas Chinese Business Networks, salience of socio-economic and ethnic tensions, contradictions associated with the promotion of open economies within authoritarian political structures, the relationship between economic and political corruption, prominence of political Islam, rise of civil society actors, implications of the national and regional reserve army of labour, efficacy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the region's economic and security links with Northeast Asia will be analysed.
Social Policy specialisation
6 credit points from the following
SCLG6901 Citizenship Rights and Social Movements
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCWK6901 Assessment: 1500wd reading journal (30%) and 2500wd research essay (50%) and 1000wd equivalent oral presentation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is delivered at the University of Sydney.
This unit will provide an analysis of theories and practices of citizenship rights in Australia, other Anglophone countries and European countries in the 20th and 21st centuries. It will examine the relationships between different modes of citizenship, claims for rights and the formation of social movements with regard to the women's movement, Indigenous movements (where applicable) and movements concerned with migration, ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. Analyses will focus on the processes, content and outcomes of social movement advocacy.
12 credit points from the following
SCLG6910 Comparative Welfare States
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Gyu-Jin Hwang Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCWK6909 Assessment: 4x30mins In-class quiz (20%), 1x2000wd Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Research proposal (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The unit provides a comparative analysis of welfare state development. It discusses how to meaningfully compare different welfare states and their social programmes. As a defining characteristic of welfare states, our primary focus is on the state's involvement in welfare services and benefits. Starting from there, we also explore various ways of `doing social policy' across different parts of the world and discuss the sort of socioeconomic outcomes they produce. Comparative research provides a useful venue to investigate the relationship between the institutional design of the welfare state and its size and how this relationship changes over time under the changing structural conditions.
SCWK6948 Social Policy Frameworks
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Sue Goodwin Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr seminar/week - evening Assessment: 1x2000wd essay proposal and presentation (40%); 1x4000wd major essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
This unit aims to provide students with a sound understanding of the key institutional components of the Australian welfare system and the key issues and debates associated with the theory and practice of contemporary social policy. The target audience for this unit includes participants from a diverse range of organisations involved in human service provision. All human service work takes place in the context of social policy: social policy provides the mandate and the resources for human service work, and the activities of workers are extensively defined and shaped by social policy. In turn, human service workers are increasingly involved in the shaping of policy, or policy action. The rationale for this unit is to provide an opportunity for students to develop an advanced understanding of social policy frameworks in order to inform policy action.
SCWK6949 Global Social Policy
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x 2hr seminar/week - evening Assessment: tutorial presentation and paper (40%); global social policy research exercise (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
There is a well-established scholarship and governmental interest in both the impact of globalisation on social policy and the emergence of what is increasingly termed 'global social policy' which is a direct response to global social problems. It is a field that is growing in the areas of social policy and social work research and practice and can be clearly linked to increased employment opportunities for social workers and social policy graduates in the international/global arena. A key perspective of this unit of study is from non-government organisations' participation in the development of a global civil society and their contribution to global social policy. It also examines the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and how NGOs have contributed to both the ambitions of the goals as well as the outcomes for different countries. This unit provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding and knowledge of core global concerns such as poverty, health, education, environment, NGO corporate engagement and gender equality and make links to the vital role of NGOs in these areas.
International Relations specialisation
12 credit points from the following
GOVT6137 Forces of Change in Int Relations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x3000wd Essay (40%), 1x1000wd Paper (10%), 1x2000wd Take-home exercise (30%), 1x Seminar participation (20%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to some of the most important contemporary structural changes in the global political economy and power structure with special attention to non-state actors (including corporate ones) and global civil society. The unit begins with an outline of the dominant modes of thinking about international political and economic relations, surveys some of the main theoretical schools and then examines global politics and political economy in terms of those events and forces that have been or are capable of precipitating major change. The historical focus will be principally on the role of war (including the so-called War on Terror), globalisation, power shifts and ideological innovation (including American unilateralism and Islamic fundamentalism) in the post Cold War period. The new agenda of international politics will be explored in a theoretical perspective - including the climate change emergency and the issue of effective global governance; the struggle for global social and economic justice, and the global prospects of democracy. The unit is designed as an advanced introduction to international relations for students pursuing postgraduate studies.
GOVT6147 Foundations of International Relations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2500wd mid-semester exam (40%), 1x2500wd final exam (40%), 1x1000wd (equivalent) seminar activities (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Why do states behave the way they do? Using a historical perspective, this unit explores the ways in which the different theories of international relations account for what shapes the international system - who are its main actors, what are its determining forces and structures. It examines both how these theories have vied with one another within inter-paradigm debates and how they developed in relation to specific historical events. These theories include realism, idealism, neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, Marxism, the English school, constructivism, poststructuralism, feminism, post-colonial approaches. While no prior study of international relations is required, a willingness to engage with theoretical thinking and grapple with complex questions of ontology and epistemology is essential.
6 credit points from the following
GOVT6116 International Organisations
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week or equivalent intensive Assessment: 4000wd Essay (50%) and 2hr exam (30%) and Seminar participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit aims to introduce students to how states and other actors in the international arena cooperate to build institutions as a response to common problems. After completing the unit students should be able to analyse contemporary international organisations to see how they work, whose interests they serve, and to what degree they attenuate or enhance the power of sovereign states.
GOVT6123 Globalisation and Governance
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x3000wd Research essay (40%), 3x 500wd Tutorial papers (30%), 1x1.5hr Examination (20%), 1x Tutorial participation (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
It is widely believed that we are entering a new era in which the transborder flows of capital, goods, ideas, and people are rapidly transforming human society. 'Globalisation', many claim, threatens the autonomy of nation-states and erodes the power of national governments to provide social protection and promote the nation's economic prosperity. This unit examines not only the causes and mechanisms of this process, but also assesses its social, economic, and political impacts. The views of radicals, transformationalists, skeptics, and institutionalists are compared and criticised. While globalisation is often viewed as a singular process, trending towards a global society, this unit offers a distinctive approach. Globalisation has uneven and highly differentiated impacts, whether harmful or beneficial, and this unevenness is closely associated with the nature of institutions of governance, at both the domestic and international levels.
GOVT6156 Strategy and Civil Society
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Project Analysis (20%), 1x1000wd Research Proposal (15%), 1x3000wd Research Report (50%), 1x Participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides an overview of contemporary debates about policy making in democratic states, such as Australia. It examines how 'governance' is constituted by the interaction between the state and civil society. Governance is an emerging area of interest for both government and non-government organisations, and this unit analyses the way these social, economic and political organisations interact to both create public policy agendas and lead to social and political change. The unit covers the configurations of policy communities, political networks and social movements which shape both representative and participatory democratic practice. There is a particular emphasis on understanding the strategies that different political actors adopt.
GOVT6304 Development and World Politics
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Book review (20%), 1x3500wd Essay (50%), 1x1500wd equivalent Class presentation (20%), 1x Seminar participation (10%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will examine critical perspectives on international development. It will explore key questions concerning development, including: Have efforts to 'reduce poverty' been effective? What are the various meanings associated with development concepts like 'building capacity' and 'empowerment'? Is there any consensus about what development is and how to 'do' it? The unit will include an analysis of how much has been learned about development over the last fifty years. Finally, the unit will consider what role might individuals take.
GOVT6357 International Policy Making
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Short Essay (35%), 1x4000wd Depth Essay (50%), 1x Seminar participation (15%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines the interplay between international and domestic policy making. It evaluates the international context of policy making and public management in domestic arenas, attending to the roles of international governmental organizations and treaties, pressure groups, and multinational corporations in shaping policy decisions. It evaluates the diffusion of policy ideas and programmes internationally and the transfers of policies from one country to another and interrogates the factors that facilitate or frustration implementation.
Social Research specialisation
12 credit points from the following
SSPS6001 Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/lab per week Assessment: 1x2hr in-class exam (I) (35%), 1x2hr in-class exam (II)(35%), 3x660wd homework tasks (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Quantitative methods are vital to social science. This unit introduces students to commonly used techniques for collecting and analysing numerical data to answer empirical questions about social, cultural, and political phenomena. It addresses the description of data with graphs and tables, descriptive statistics, statistical models, hypothesis testing, and other topics. The unit is appropriate for beginners, who will gain perspective and confidence conducting their own quantitative research and critically understanding that of others. It is taught in a computer lab, giving students practical experience with statistical software.
SSPS6002 Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week Assessment: 1x2hr in-class exam (35%), 1x2000wd analytical memo (35%), 2x1000wd homework tasks (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Qualitative research rests at the heart of social science. This unit introduces students to commonly used techniques for collecting and analyzing categorical data to answer empirical questions about social, cultural, and political phenomena. It examines case studies and comparative history; interviews, ethnography, and fieldwork; plus archives and content analysis, among other topics. Instruction is provided by a team of teachers with experience using these methods. Students therefore gain valuable insight into how to conduct and consume qualitative research.
6 credit points from the following
ECOP6031 Research in Political Economy
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Paper (25%), 1x1000wd Paper (25%), 1x4000wd Report (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit focuses on conducting research in political economy. Weekly seminars examine a range of topics including research design, literature review, data collection and analysis, and writing a research proposal. The seminars provide an opportunity for critical discussion to identify, debate and reflect on the nature and challenge of undertaking research. The assessment is structured to assist the progressive development of a research proposal. Completion of this Unit of Study is a pre-requisite for a Masters dissertation.
GOVT6139 Research Design
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (30%), 1x4000wd Proposal (50%), 1x Seminar participation (20%), Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will provide students with the fundamentals for constructing and conducting effective research projects in the social sciences. An overview of social science inquiry will be presented through an examination of the diversity in theoretical and methodological approaches used in research. This will include a focus on both primary research, using interviews and questionnaires, and secondary research, using statistical databases, content analysis and textual analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative methods will be covered in the unit, as will an overview of ethical practices associated with research design. The assessment will be based around constructing practical research projects that can be utilised in both university and workplace-based research.
SCLG6902 Ethics of Social Research
This unit of study is not available in 2020
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCLG3003 Assessment: 1x1000wd ethics application (20%), 1x500wd equiv oral task (10%), 1x1500wd reflective piece (30%), 1x3000wd research proposal (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to key issues, debates and ethical questions in human research, enabling them to acquire knowledge and develop skills for research degrees and funding applications. It examines values and principles of research ethics, and encourages students to reflect on these in relation to research with human subjects.
Capstone units of study
Students completing a Master of Human Rights are required to complete at least 6 credit points of capstone units of study. Students complete either of the following three capstone options:
(1) Semester-long research project
SCLG6905 Independent Research Project
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 4x1hr supervision meetings or equivalent/semester Assessment: 1x6000wd research project (100%) Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Research and writing on an approved topic of the candidate's own choice, under the supervision of an academic member of staff. The form of written output can include a long essay, a journal article, a research or funding proposal or a range of industry relevant writing outputs including, for example, a shadow report or evaluation report. The output produced must demonstrate appropriate scholarly engagement. Department permission required.
(2) Year-long dissertation project
Students wishing to complete the year-long dissertation project must also take SSPS6001 or SSPS6002.
SCLG6906 Dissertation Part 1
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 4x2hr seminar/semester, 4x1hr supervision meetings or equivalent/semester Prerequisites: 24 credit points at 6000 level Prohibitions: HRTD6909 Assessment: Minimum 6000 word equivalent progress towards 12000 word dissertation Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Research and writing for a dissertation, on an approved topic of the candidate's own choice, under the supervision of an academic member of staff. To be completed in SCLG6907 during the following semester i.e., candidates must enroll in both units of study. Departmental permission required.
SCLG6907 Dissertation Part 2
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/semester, 4x1hr supervision meetings or equivalent/semester Prerequisites: SCLG6906 Prohibitions: HRTD6911 Assessment: Submission of a 12000wd dissertation (100%) Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Completion of research and writing for a dissertation on an approved topic of the candidate's own choice, under the supervision of an academic member of staff. Departmental permission required.
(3) Student placement program
SCLG6923 Social Justice Vocational Project Design
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prohibitions: SCLG6914 Assessment: 1x2000wd resume evaluation project (30%), 1x 1000wd online training evaluation (20%), 1x3000wd vocational project proposal (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides students with practical training in experiential learning methodologies with application to working in the social justice sector. Students will also be introduced to cross-cutting issues in the sector, such as funding, and will receive training in vocational competencies, such as cultural competence and project management. Assessment in this unit of study allows students to critically apply their own area study and/or disciplinary lenses in setting professional development goals and planning a future project. Department permission required.
SCLG6913 Social Justice Vocational Placement
Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive December,Intensive February,Intensive January,Intensive July,Intensive November,Semester 1,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2b Classes: 1x placement induction, 1x 140hr vocational placement Prerequisites: 24 credit points at 6000 level and including SCLG6923 Assessment: 1x140hr vocational placement (50%), 1x1500wd reflection journal (35%), 1x500wd case study (15%) Mode of delivery: Field experience
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit offers students the opportunity to gain a working knowledge of social justice practice by undertaking a project-based placement in a domestic or international organisation. Under the supervision of the organisation, students undertake a specific focused task or set of tasks relevant to the organisation's mandate. Building on knowledge and skills developed in SCLG6923, this unit allows students to draw links between their practical project and scholarship relevant to their host degree program. Completion of this unit of study is assessed as pass/fail. Department permission required.