Undergraduate Courses
  • Students are to follow the requirements of the Handbook for the year they commenced the course.

    However, the subject links below do not contain the subject information for the current year. You can view current subject information through the new Course Handbook.

Indigenous Studies

Indigenous Studies is an interdisciplinary major that is designed to equip students to think reflexively about issues that impact on Indigenous individuals and communities on a local, national and global scale. Indigenous Studies emphasises the role of Indigenous people as active knowledge producers rather than simply the subjects of other people's knowledge.

Indigenous Studies is anchored in the critical study of Australian Indigenous experiences. This includes a focus on cultural, political, economic and social factors that have shaped, and continue to shape, the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is enriched through the study of international Indigenous experiences and engagement with a range of Indigenous perspectives and organizations on a global scale.

Indigenous Studies explores the controversies, complexities and contradictions that shape what it means to be Indigenous in Australia and the world today.

Major Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this major students will be able to:

  1. Identify how Indigenous Studies has developed as a focus of scholarly inquiry and how it relates to other areas of study.
  2. Evaluate the ideologies and paradigms that continue to shape both popular and scholarly understandings of Indigenous peoples.
  3. Analyse, both critically and reflectively, Indigenous peoples’ understandings of themselves and the world.
  4. Evaluate the major social and political influences that have underpinned the history of colonisation and resistance. 

Subjects Required for Major Study

A major in Indigenous Studies consists of at least  48 credit points as outlined below.

The major consists of four core subjects that all students must undertake and other elective subjects offered by the Indigenous Studies Unit together with a choice of subjects offered by other participating Faculties. Students are advised to consult with the Indigenous Studies Unit about available subjects prior to enrolment.

Subject CodeSubject NameCredit PointsSession(s)
Core

ONE from the following:

INDS150Introduction to Indigenous Australia6Autumn
INDS130Indigenous Knowledge in Global Contexts6Spring
Plus:
INDS207Critical Themes in Indigenous Studies6Autumn First Offered 2017
INDS208Working with Indigenous Communities 6First offered 2017.
INDS305Research and Indigenous Communities (Capstone)6Autumn First Offered 2018

Plus at least FOUR subjects from the following. At least THREE must be at 300 level

As part of the four subjects either of the following 100 level subjects not already taken as a core can be selected:

INDS130Indigenous Knowledge in Global Contexts6Spring
INDS150Introduction to Indigenous Australia6Autumn

Other Electives

INDS205 Redefining Eden: Indigenous Peoples and the Environment6First Offered 2017
INDS206Indigenous Self-Representation in Contemporary Texts6Spring First Offered 2017
INDS302Indigenous Thinkers: Global Perspectives6Spring First Offered 2018
INDS303Indigenous Youth and Cultural Production6Spring First Offered 2018
INDS304Special Topic in Indigenous Studies6Autumn/Spring First Offered 2018
AUST101Australian Studies and Identities 6Autumn
CST 130Cultures in Context6Spring
PHIL151Critical Reasoning6Spring
SOC103Introduction to Sociology6Autumn
CAVA123Australian Aboriginal Arts6Autumn
CAVA232Contemporary Indigenous Art: Theory and Practice6Autumn
HIST292Water in Australia: An Environmental History6Spring First Offered 2017
MEDI243Comparative Indigenous Health Issues6Autumn
PHIL218Ethics6Spring First Offered 2017
SOC225Youth Cultures6Spring First Offered 2017
SOC227Gender and Sexualities6Autumn First Offered 2017
SOC234Social Research Methods6Spring First Offered 2017
PHIL226Global Ethics6Autumn First Offered 2017
CST 361Cultures of Sex, Gender and Sexuality6Autumn First Offered 2018
CST 371Race and Place6Spring First Offered 2018
ENGL381Animals and Ecology in Literature and Film 6Autumn First Offered 2018
HIST351Debates in Australian Cultural History 6Autumn First Offered 2018
LAW 344Indigenous Peoples and Legal Systems6Not Offered in 2016
MEDI341Research in Indigenous Health6Autumn
MEDI343Indigenous Community Development: Social and Emotional Wellbeing6Spring
HAS 331Social Determinants of Indigenous Health8Spring

Minor Study

A 24 credit point minor in Indigenous Studies is available.

Honours

See Bachelor of Arts (Honours).

Credit Arrangements

Credit and articulation arrangements are available from the Course Finder. Refer to UOW's credit arrangements for information on how to apply for credit.

Other Information

Further information is available at:
UOW Course Finder
Email: lha-enquiries@uow.edu.au

Last reviewed: 19 December, 2017