Australian Indigenous History

This course will provide students with an overview of Indigenous history in Australia pre- and post-contact. It will consider traditional Aboriginal Society practices and structures, including Indigenous religion and beliefs (kinships, lore and the Dreaming), and relationships to the land and environment. It will then introduce policies and events that have affected Aboriginal society since colonisation, including policies that led to the Stolen Generations, welfare and church practices, Protector practices, social policies of segregation, and policies of self-determination.

Quick Info

Currently offered by Alphacrucis: Yes
Course code: HIS240
Credit points: 10
Subject coordinator: Daniel Carrigy

Prerequisites

The following courses are prerequisites:

HIS102—Church History Foundations

Awards offering Australian Indigenous History

This unit is offered as a part of the following awards:

Unit Content

Outcomes

Analyse and effectively communicate the state of knowledge about the history of Indigenous peoples in Australia, both pre-contact and post-contact.
Analyse the context and effectively examine arguments about Aboriginal origins and contact history in the context of colonialism, racism, and Australian polity.
Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the contrasting disciplinary approaches (anthropological, political, sociological, historical) to understanding Indigenous Australia.
Research, analyse and apply knowledge about the historiography of contact, community development and the place of Christianity in Indigenous Australia.

Subject Content

Cultural Protocols in Aboriginal Studies; theories of origins and the shape of Aboriginal pre-history; the spread of aboriginal language groups, cultures; debates about anthropological and ‘investigation bias’; historiographical approaches to ‘Deep Time’.
Introduction to Aboriginal culture and traditional ways of life.
Contact history; the frontier, the pastoral industry, and historiography: debates and disputes.
Aboriginal protection regimes: the shifting legal status of indigenous people; Churches and Aboriginal people.
Extinction theory, Social Darwinism, eugenics, and White Australia.
Stolen Generations and the Parliamentary Apology, Aboriginal activism and Christian involvement.
Land Rights, and the ongoing challenge of reconciliation
Untangling ‘Christian’, ‘urban’ and ‘European’ in Christian responses to Aboriginal Australia.

This course may be offered in the following formats

Face to Face (onsite)
Distance/E-learning (online)
Intensive (One week: 7 hours per day for 5 days = 35 class hours + approx 85 hours out of class time for research, writing, exam preparation and execution, ancillary activities associated with completion of assigned tasks)
Extensive (5 days spread over the semester. This allows for students to complete readings, reflection and assessment and prepare for in-class activities between classes. The hours are the same as for an intensive: 7 hours per day for 5 days = 35 class hours + approx 85 hours out of class time for research, writing, exam preparation and execution, ancillary activities associated with completion of assigned tasks)

Please consult your course prospectus or enquire about how and when this course will be offered next at Alphacrucis University College.

Assessment Methods

Case Study (25%)
Major Essay (50%)
Field Study Report (25%)

Prescribed Text

Primary readings provided