The course is designed to familiarise students with interdisciplinary and cross cultural approaches to humanities research. It is led by experts in visual anthropology, literary studies, history, biographical studies and cultural theory, and comprises a range of readings from areas as diverse as pacific history, indigenous cultures, biography and life narratives, new media and globalization, postcolonial theory, world literature, and philosophical debates on disciplinarily. The course will challenge students to evaluate a range of humanities approaches and to consider which ones might best suit their own research.

The course will be conducted through 9 sessions in two blocks. The first will run for 5 weeks, the second for 4. The first block will be facilitated entirely by the convener. In the second block, guest scholars will address the assigned readings and respond to students’ questions on their theoretical and methodological approaches. This second part will build students’ capacity to structure research questions and enhance their critical engagement with interdisciplinary work. The final session will be a 3-4 hour symposium at which students will present an overview of their research plans in relation to the issues raised in the course readings.

Course aims:

Critical reading, clear writing and effective oral communication skills are the essential foundations of humanities scholarship. The course aims to develop each of these skills by exposing students to a wide array of scholarly approaches. Further it builds students’ capacity to evaluate the merits of scholarly work and to arrive at methods and theories best suited to inform their own research.

Learning Outcomes:

On completing the course, the students will acquire knowledge and skills to:

1. Synthesize a range of theoretical and methodological literature written from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives
2. Identify and extend scholarly argument (rather than simply describing or summarising the content of assigned readings)
3. Use specific examples to demonstrate key issues, methods and approaches used in humanities scholarship
4. Interpret and assess the applicability of theoretical and methodological approaches to their own research
5. Devise their own research question and independently identify ways in which to frame and approach their respective projects.

Assignment 1: Reading Journal

 May 17: Due date for Part (a) – 1500 words

 June 7: Due date for Part (b) – 3000 words

 Instructions:

Students must respond to the questions raised by the set readings and the seminar discussions, elucidating how these readings and the class discussions have helped them think about their respective research projects. Part (a) will be based on their response to the Block 1 readings and should incorporate detailed discussion of at least 3 readings. Part (b) which constitutes the completed Reading Journal will incorporate their responses to the guest seminar leaders and the readings the latter have set.

Assignment 2: Seminar presentations

Students will present a 15-20 minute paper giving an overview of their developing project, their responses to the assigned readings they found most significant to their work, and the ways in which they have been able to critically evaluate and integrate the course work material into their research plan. Each assignment will be marked as pass/fail.

Contact time for this course will be approximately 19-20 hours over 9 weeks. Two contact hours are scheduled for every week except the last session of the final block which will run for 3-4 hours. In addition students are strongly encouraged to attend a variety of events (seminars, workshops, conferences or forums) hosted by the Research School of Humanities and the Arts.

All other courses included in the Liberal Arts program.

All required readings listed in the course outline are available on electronic reserve at the ANU Library: http://anulib.anu.edu.au/lib_home.html. Search under the Convener’s name or the surname of the author of the reading. Most journal articles are available in the library’s collection of e-journals.

Attendance requirements

It is strongly recommended that students attend all sessions. Their peer group, course convener and guest seminar leaders provide an invaluable source of academic support and feedback opportunities.