Based on close reading of individual authors, this unit introduces students with limited background in cultural theory to key thinkers for contemporary cultural studies. Students will learn about the influence of such theoretical fields as Western Marxism, psychoanalysis and feminism on cultural studies as well as how to relate cultural research to the cross-disciplinary traditions of structuralism and post-structuralism as these have been taken up in different intellectual contexts around the world.

This unit explores key debates in cultural studies as an exploration of its core concepts. Unit content will vary from year to year in response to current issues in Australian cultural studies, but will also cover foundational debates in the discipline, including the relation between ideology and mass culture, between taste and habitus, and between changing media technologies and models of subjectivity. It will also consider ethical debates over theory and practice and the institutionalisation of cultural studies.

In this unit students will examine recent transformations of everyday life in the context of new digital communication technologies, cultures and platforms. Through in-depth case studies of everyday practices, spaces and experiences in a digital age (visual culture, algorithms and automation, communities and activism, locative and mapping technologies, the sharing economy, digital health and food cultures, social media), students will engage with theories of everyday life and research contemporary, real-world examples and contexts.

An interdisciplinary unit on research into girlhood, boyhood, and girl and boy cultures, and the constitution and complication of distinctions between boys and girls. Topics include: girls, boys, and feminism; education and schooling; gendered play and leisure; popular representations of boys and girls; age-based media regulation; race, youth and intersectionality; the politics of age and development; trans and non-binary youth; young sexualities; risk and harm-reduction policies; youth, harm and violence. Students will develop a critical understanding of the formation of discourses on girls and boys and how this structures the opportunities and experience of young people today.

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.

This unit examines cultural policy across a range of sectors such as museums and heritage, the arts, media, and the cultural industries. It will provide theoretical perspectives and practical insight into policy formation processes in Australia and internationally. The multiple actors and rationales that shape policy and ground claims for its relevance amid social change and cultural diversity are considered. Students learn how to analyse policies in relation to the institutional, social and political contexts of their emergence.

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.

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.

This unit examines theories of consumption in regards to cultural and media products and practices, with a specific focus on gender. Drawing upon a wide range of feminist media and cultural theories, we will critically analyse different forms of belonging and identity that are created through these practices. We will also pay close attention to the critiques of globalisation and consumption, theories of the 'citizen consumer' and the realities of geo-political and economic inequalities that underpin many forms of consumption.

This unit examines modernism, modernity and postmodernism through a range of 20th century concepts, practices and movements, including the avant-garde, feminism and modernism, the 'everyday', mass culture and technology, cinema and visual technologies, ethnography and the invention of 'culture' and the emergence of postcolonial thought. The unit will provide an important foundation for some of the key intellectual ideas and approaches of cultural studies.

The relation of film to industrial modernity is an ongoing issue for film theorists. With the advent of digital image processes and production the relation of art and industry has re-emerged with a new set of problems. How do we conceptualise the new forms? What theoretical and aesthetic language(s) do we draw on? And how best to rethink film in the face of rapid technological, formal and cultural change? These issues will be investigated via an examination of the history of film theory's attempts to formulate concepts adequate to the age of industrial modernity.

Digital media technologies are increasingly central to society, culture and everyday life. They mediate individual experience, reconfigure communities and build connections into networks. This unit introduces key theories and explores the role of digital media in visuality, feelings, identities, power relations, activist practices, mobilities and algorithmic cultures. Students are equipped with tools for researching digital cultures and sociality to design a research project using ethnographic and/or text-mining methods.

Media audiences are experiencing and creating knowledge, art and entertainment in novel ways as the cultural industries increasingly adopt emerging technologies. Digital Audiences and Communities investigates the range of contemporary practices of production, distribution and consumption associated with digital tools. We examine the sites where audiences experience digital media - smartphones, platforms, social networks, and more - and look to understand what new forms of viewing and audience engagement are emerging through these developments. We analyse how these spaces and interfaces structure audience experience, afford and structure interaction, and encourage participation.

Asia is fast becoming the centre of new developments in the mass media. Focusing on East and Southeast Asia, this unit will introduce major regional trends in film and television, differences in media systems, and cross-cultural understandings of Asian media. Particular focus will be on the analysis of feature films and television from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and/or China, and on pan-Asian developments. These analyses will include discussions of the social, cultural and political roles of media.

This unit examines the development and challenges of media industries in East Asia; Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR, and China. It takes a broad comparative approach to identify political, economic, social, cultural and technological factors that affect the industries in this dynamic region. The unit covers various aspects of old and new media in the region, such as development and transformation of media industries, state regulation and policy, and the implications of the emergence of new communications technologies.

The unit introduces the core concepts of political economy through the lens of the principal schools of economic thought - Classical Political Economy, Marxian Economics, Neoclassical Economics, Institutional Economics, Keynesian Economics and Contemporary Political Economy. You will consider each school’s historical origins, their methodological approaches, analytical tools, policy prescriptions and insights. You will learn about the foundations for the application of political economic reasoning to advance understanding of contemporary issues like the climate crisis, precarious employment, energy impoverishment, the contemporary university business model, and global pandemics.

This unit examines politics and media. From the relationship between news media and electoral politics, the study of the intersection of media and power now includes the consideration of new media forms and their relationship with the "soft" politics of representation and performativity.

This unit introduces key concepts in health communication. Students will explore micro- and macro-level theories of health (behaviour) communication that inform the design and implementation of health communication campaigns, planned and unplanned effects of communication campaigns, and the evaluation of such campaigns. It aims to give students a critical and practical understanding of theory and research concerning the role of communication in health promotion efforts.

This unit tracks the ethical and political disputes surrounding the ownership, control and care of cultural property. It begins by establishing historical attitudes towards cultural property which are then compared to current attempts to protect cultural heritage and regulate its movement. In doing so it considers how, more recently, museums have entered into dialogues with source communities about restitution and repatriation, new methods of display and ongoing relationships. The unit analyses numerous Australian and international case studies in order to define current models of best practice.

The discipline of Performance Studies has drawn upon a wide range of theoretical positions and resources, from semiotics to New Historicism, cultural studies, feminism, psychoanalysis, discourse theory, deconstruction, phenomenology and hermeneutics. This unit functions as an advanced reading seminar in which you will consider some key theoretical texts and examine how they have been applied to the analysis of performance.

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.

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.

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.

Taking the example of violence against women, this unit of study builds upon previous studies of social inequality to explore the role of gender inequality as both a cause and consequence of violence against women. The intersection of gender inequality with other forms of inequality, such as that based on race, class and ability is also explored. Because of its short and long term impacts on womens health, well being and life chances, social workers in all settings are involved in responding to violence against women. Students will engage critically with a range of theories, research approaches, and policy and practice reponses to violence against women at local, national and global levels.

This unit of study introduces students to a range of research methods and focus on quantitative and qualitative methods. Many other research issues in developing a research proposal will be addressed through the semester. It is intended that, at the conclusion of this unit, students will have developed a research project able to implement through either further study or in workplaces.

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. The unit offers practical support to higher degree research students developing, or planning to develop, a human research ethics application.

This unit examines the Hollywood studio film before and after the Internet. It studies Hollywood's power as
a cultural symbol, its relationship to film production, cultures of reception, and digital distribution. This will include not only the analysis of feature films but also the ideas of filmmakers, theorists and media scholars. Questions of technology, authorship and audience will be a focus of the unit.

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 your first semester.

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.

This unit offers an opportunity for direct work experience in a range of organisations, businesses and institutions undertaking or requiring cultural research or analysis, from education, legal, policy or popular culture research to consumer or community ethnography. Candidates will undertake an approved internship pending availability of an appropriate placement. Students should note that approval may be required from the host organisation to use material from the placement in subsequent publications.

Following directly from GCST5906, this unit requires that students complete a research project based on their internship placement experience, developing their understanding of cultural research in theory and in practice and their capacity to conduct independent research.

Research and writing towards a dissertation of 15,000 words on an approved topic, under the supervision of an academic member of staff. In this unit, students will be required to develop a 3,000 word dissertation prospectus. Prospective candidates should consult the postgraduate coordinator prior to enrolment, in order to formulate a topic.

Research and writing towards a dissertation of 15,000 words on an approved topic, under the supervision of an academic member of staff. Prospective candidates should consult the postgraduate coordinator prior to enrolment, in order to formulate a topic. Enrolment requires approval.