This course examines the development of important aspects of Australian political culture from the perspective of the country's connections with the outside world. Included in the course will be consideration of the development of a specifically Australian nationalism within the British empire and its transformations since then. The course will deal with Australia as a European settler state in the Asia Pacific region, the historical and contemporary dilemmas of conceptualising security, the ways in which indigenous people were dealt with and perceived in Australian history and the impact which this has had on Australian political culture. The historical development of an advanced economy in Australia - in a region of largely underdeveloped economies - will also be dealt with. Questions of immigration and "race" in a geopolitical context will be considered as they affected Australia's domestic politics and international position as will current issues of identity, multiculturalism and refugees.

Each segment of the course will begin with a theoretical discussion of the issue and be followed by the application of this theory to the Australian context.