The unit will introduce academic skills allowing students to become successful, reflective and independent tertiary learners. Students will develop a foundational understanding of key theories, concepts, debates and perspectives relevant to the successive first year university units within the field of Social Sciences. This unit will support students towards completion of an interactive authentic task, designed to explore possible positive change in contemporary social life.

This unit introduces Asian societies, cultures, religions, and histories. Considering both traditional and contemporary times, it seeks to place Asia's diverse cultures in a global context. It examines issues such as how to define Asia, how Asian states related to each other, and how Western ideas of international relations have transformed these relations. The unit considers how the great religions/philosophies of Asian societies - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Confucianism - have influenced Asian states and relations between them. It explores other forces which have shaped the civilisations, polities and communities of Asia and how they have related to each other and the world beyond.

This unit introduces students to the theory and practice of criminology and the sociology of deviance. It considers the ways in which social order is produced, maintained and transgressed from a range of perspectives, including the Chicago school, labelling and deviance theory, Marxism, feminism, and post-colonial theory. These perspectives are explored through a discussion of contemporary issues and controversies, such as terrorism, asylum seeking, the criminalisation of protest, Indigenous incarceration, alcohol and other drug use, and transnational crime.

This unit introduces the major approaches to the study of criminology and the sociology of deviance. It considers the ways in which social order is produced, maintained and transgressed from a range of perspectives, including the Chicago school, labelling and deviance theory, Marxism, feminism and queer theory. These perspectives are explored through a discussion of contemporary issues and controversies, such as crime in Western Sydney, the media and moral panic, the criminalisation of HIV transmission, Indigenous incarceration, and alcohol and drug abuse. The unit also addresses the politics of law and order and the resurgence of neo-liberalism in debates over crime and deviance.

In 2019 this unit replaced by 102709 - Introduction to Criminal Justice.This unit provides an introduction to the study of criminal justice from a critical criminological perspective. How crime is measured and explained, who are identified as criminals or victims, and how to effectively respond to crime is not straightforward. The unit examines the workings of the criminal justice system, and analyses how police, courts and corrections influence the processes of criminalisation and victimisation, and the societal context in which this occurs. The unit looks at other forms of control and prevention beyond those of the criminal justice system.

In this introductory unit to policing, who the police are, what they do and the practice of policing will be described explained and analysed. The unit will consider the communities, groups and individuals the practice of policing exposes the police and other criminal justice agencies to. Students will consider and critically think about contemporary strategies and approaches applied to policing practice in the 21st Century. Students in this unit will also explore policing theory and apply it to practice. As this is an introductory unit, a focus on developing students' academic skills such as writing for university, reading and annotating will feature throughout the delivery of content.

In this unit, the role and function of police from a social, historical and comparative perspective as well as different policing practices in Australia and other nations, are described, explained and analysed. The structure, roles, and reform of police are addressed, as are other issues such as social diversity and community relations and debates about distinct policing strategies and their social impact. Students will explore the relevance of policing theories and concepts in contemporary society.

Understanding Society introduces first year students to key sociological concepts, methods and theories used for the examination of individuals, social interactions, institutions and structures. Students explore how individual experiences are connected to wider social patterns. Considering questions of power, students will be introduced to various debates concerning structure and agency, and will examine social inequality. With a focus on contemporary social life, the unit provides opportunity for students to consider current social issues and processes of social change. At the conclusion of their studies in this unit students will have been presented with opportunities to develop skills in critical reading and sociological analysis.

Understanding Society will introduce students in the first year of their studies to key concepts and theories used in examining and understanding social action, social policy, social institutions, social structure and social change. Students enrolled in the unit will be introduced to factual information concerning contemporary societies and the methods of interpreting such information. At the conclusion of their studies in this unit students will have been presented with opportunities to develop skills in critical reading and sociological analysis.

Understanding Society introduces first year students to key sociological concepts, methods and theories used for the examination of individuals, social interactions, institutions and structures. Students explore how individual experiences are connected to wider social patterns. Considering questions of power, students will be introduced to various debates concerning structure and agency, and will examine social inequality. With a focus on contemporary social life, the unit provides opportunity for students to consider current social issues and processes of social change. At the conclusion of their studies in this unit students will have been presented with opportunities to develop skills in critical reading and sociological analysis.

In 2021, this unit replaced by 102815 - Introduction to Indigenous Australia: Peoples, Places and Philosophies. A diverse range of professionals use social science research, theories and principles in their work with communities. In this unit students will explore common scholarly ideas and practices that inform work with communities and how these are applied in a range of professional settings. This unit introduces students to the methods and principles of community participation, capacity-building, community needs assessment, and resilience. Students will be guided to identify and analyse global, local, government and organisational aspects and interests in the development of their own and wider communities. Students will plan a professional approach to working with an example community by building and reporting on a chosen case study.

This introductory unit provides foundational skills and knowledge required for professional practice in a range of social science related careers in which working with and as part of communities is essential. With an emphasis on practical understanding through both team-work and fieldwork it introduces students to a range of skills in interpersonal and written communication, and to community and organisational processes and structures. It enables students to identify issues of change; conflicting and collaborative interests; participation and collaboration. It provides practical experience in working with others to achieve shared objectives with mechanisms for goal setting, issues identification, information and resource sharing that operate in everyday life and all professional contexts

This unit is designed to develop student awareness of culture, identity and difference in the Australian context. Students are introduced to and expected to develop a working knowledge of the concepts of culture, identity, power relations, whiteness and difference. From these theoretical bases, issues of identity and difference and power relations are explored in the Australian context with particular focus on Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations and multiculturalism. In addition, the effects of socially constructed differences of race, gender, class, and sexuality are explored.

The purpose of this subject is to develop awareness and understanding of cultural differences, whiteness and power relations in Australian society. Students are introduced to and required to develop a working understanding of theories of whiteness, culture, identity, difference and relations of power. Through assignments and activities students have the opportunity to work through the application of these theories in relation to different groups and social issues in the Australian context.

This unit introduces students to criminal justice issues and practices through an examination of the Australian criminal justice system and its processes. This is achieved through a court visit (either virtual or physical) as a method of unobtrusive participant observation. Students will examine how the criminal justice system works (and sometimes fails to work), and how police, courts, and corrections influence the processes of criminalisation, victimisation, and (in)justice.

This unit introduces students to criminology, policing, and criminal justice issues and practices through an examination of the Australian criminal justice process. Students will examine how the criminal justice system works (and sometimes fails to work), and how police, courts, and corrections influence the processes of criminalisation, victimisation, and (in)justice.

Understanding Society introduces students to key sociological concepts, methods and theories used for the examination of individuals, social interactions, institutions and structures. Students explore how individual experiences are connected to wider social patterns. Considering questions of power, students will be introduced to various debates concerning structure and agency and will examine social inequality. With a focus on contemporary social life, the unit provides opportunity for students to consider current social issues and processes of social change. At the conclusion of their studies in this unit students will have been presented with opportunities to develop skills in critical reading and sociological analysis.

A diverse range of professionals use social science research, theories and principles in their work with communities. In this unit students will explore common scholarly ideas and practices that inform work with communities and how these are applied in a range of professional settings. This unit introduces students to the methods and principles of community participation, capacity-building, community needs assessment, and resilience. Students will be guided to identify and analyse global, local, government and organisational aspects and interests in the development of their own and wider communities. Students will plan a professional approach to working with an example community by building and reporting on a chosen case study.

This unit introduces students to a range of contemporary theories and concepts that will develop their understanding and analysis of culture, identity and difference within the Australian context. Students will explore the historical and social aspects of culture and identity, and the power and positioning within these. Locations of difference will also be explored such as gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, geography in the Australian context.

This unit introduces students to the nature of western ethics and moral discourses, to ethical methodology and to the possibilities and limits of ethical discourse and practice. It covers the history of the formalisation of ethics as well as its current philosophical, sociological, and professional dimensions. It also deals with various case studies of ethical issues and moral debates students may encounter in their everyday day and professional lives. Students will be invited to reflect on moral discourse(s), their own understanding of morality, and on the use of ethics for social justice and fairness.

This unit aims to provide an overview of police investigations with a specific focus on understanding the interaction of police powers and the investigative process. The unit will introduce the common criminal offences in order to outline the investigative process through scenario based case studies. The unit will refer to both NSW and Commonwealth legislation. The unit will also examine the role of the courts in applying the rules of evidence to determine whether or not evidence gathered by investigators is sufficiently reliable to be admitted into evidence at a trial. The unit will examine the impact of technological change on the investigative process including the impact of forensic science. Whilst NSW legislation will be a significant focus, the investigative process is universally applicable.

This unit examines contemporary foreign policy issues in North Asia from the perspective of China and Japan. Core issues include a critical evaluation of contemporary Sino-Japanese relations, the role both countries play in regional affairs and why North Asia (in particular the Korean Peninsular) is an intersection point for geo-politics.

The demise of corporal punishment and the regular use of imprisonment are defining features of control in modern states. This unit provides an historical and sociological examination of the models, practices and justifications for punishment and incarceration. It begins with an overview of early liberal notions of the social contract, the modern movement away from corporal punishment towards incarceration, and criminology's emphasis on treatment, reform and rehabilitation. Following from this, the unit explores the development of probation and parole systems, decarceration, community corrections, mass imprisonment, and the contemporary control of risk and 'dangerous' populations. These themes are considered through the role of intersecting structural factors such as age, gender, sexuality, social class, racial/ethnic identity and disability, and the impact of imprisonment and corrections on different individuals and groups.

This unit provides an overview of police investigations with a specific focus on understanding the interaction of police powers and the investigative process. The unit will build on knowledge of the common criminal offences covered in the unit 'Criminal Law for Policing' and outline the investigative process through scenario-based case studies. The unit will refer to both NSW and Commonwealth legislation, and examine the role of the courts in applying the rules of evidence to determine its reliability to be admitted as evidence at a trial. The unit will examine the impact of technological change and forensic science on the traditional investigative process, and provide students an introduction to research into the organisation, processes and governance of Investigative Units.

This unit develops an understanding of the complexity of youth justice by addressing the historical, political, cultural and socio-economic factors associated with youth crime, constructions of youth, and, governmental strategies for regulating and preventing youth crime. Insights from legal practitioners, police, youth workers, adolescent psychologists, and juvenile justice case managers form part of the unit's inter-disciplinary framework. This is used to develop a critical appreciation of the impacts of the regulation of particular youth groups that are over-represented in the juvenile justice system, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, youth in out-of-home care, and other racial/ethnic minority youth. Lastly, the unit critically assesses a range of official interventions for working with young people within the youth justice system.

This unit will examine the theory, politics and practice of crime prevention while exploring how this relates to alcohol, illicit drug use and criminalisation. In particular, this unit will explore key elements of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) research, service delivery and policy approaches that are framed, both practically and symbolically as crime prevention measures. It will address current approaches to crime prevention, evaluate their effectiveness and examine emerging strategies in the field. Some key case studies in the field of critical drugs studies will be used throughout this unit to demonstrate some principles of crime prevention introduced in the first part of the unit.

In 2022 this unit replaced by 102916 First Peoples and Criminal Justice. How does colonialism underscore the foundational narratives, knowledges and operation of the legal and criminal justice institutions of colonised nations? Focusing primarily on the Australian context of colonial invasion and settlement, this unit explores the plight of Indigenous peoples and their severe over-representation in the Australian criminal justice system. Studying the impact of colonisation and exploring Indigenous narratives, students will critically examine issues faced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and their experience of criminal justice in Australia. Overall, the unit will equip students with an understanding of the relationship between dominant colonial narratives of race and institutional racism, while considering how Indigenous knowledge can inform better social and criminal justice outcomes for Indigenous populations. Comparative examples of criminal (in)justice for Indigenous populations in other colonised nations will also be considered.

In this unit students continue their education in social research, building on 400337 Social Research Methods. Students gain experience in using tools and techniques for the collection, analysis and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data using real world examples. They gain experience in using various primary and secondary sources of data and designing the collection of data through surveys and interviews. Students will also examine the application of research to, for example, program evaluation and policy development, thus preparing students for professional contexts as generators and critical consumers of social research.

This unit explores the concept of children's culture and the diversity of cultures to which children belong. The unit focuses on current debates about childhood and children's culture, including the rise of children's consumer culture. Students will gain insights into children's lives and culture by critically engaging with a variety of objects and institutions that are part of children's lives, for example, toys, videogames, children's television programs, films and books. The unit will also examine the role of adults in children's culture, including in marketing and advertising to children.

Consumption and consumerism are words that frequently have negative connotations in popular usage, yet globally, rates of consumption and consumerism continue to grow. This unit presents cultural research that investigates the range of consequences - positive, negative or otherwise - that the rise of consumer culture has brought to contemporary global societies. Students analyse a range of cultural products and practices, and consider topics including the ethics of consumption, the role of consumption in forming identities, how consumer culture relates to class, gender, race and ethnicity, the rise of brands, and consumer culture in the digital age.

Focused upon professional practice this unit will provide Social Sciences students with an opportunity to improve their career readiness. Using a combination of practical and theoretical teaching framework, this unit will teach students how to translate their social science knowledge to professional, career relevant knowledge. In doing so, it will also provide students an opportunity to engage with contemporary social issues related, for example, to diversity, work and employment, place, sustainability, violence and alternative to violence, health and cyberworld and cyber-experiences.

In Spring 2020 this unit replaced by 102708 - Crime Prevention and Drugs. This unit will examine the theory, politics and practice of crime prevention. It will address current approaches to crime prevention, evaluate their effectiveness and examine emerging strategies in the field. The unit will consider the diversity of crimes and the ways in which some are constructed as preventable and others are not, while discussing the challenges posed by unreported crime, fear of crime and the relation between patterns of victimisation and social disadvantage. The unit will draw on empirical literature linking individual, social and contextual factors to the production and prevention of deviant behaviours and explore the potential of crime prevention strategies for alleviating the social ills associated with crime and deviance.

In 2020 this unit replaced by 102710 - Crime, Media, Culture. Contemporary societies are replete with images of crime, including in fiction, the media, film and television. In this unit we explore this phenomenon through the lens of cultural criminology and its interest in the exciting and adrenaline-inducing aspects of crime. We explore the link between culture and crime by looking at both textual/visual and ethnographic research. This means studying the way crime is experienced as 'thrilling' not only by those who consume it via images but also by those who actually engage in violent and transgressive conduct. This unit examines the relationship between cultural images of crime, the lived experience of criminal activity and its social and cultural impact.

This subject focuses on major ethical theories, challenges, and concepts in a cross disciplinary environment. Students' knowledge and understanding of ethics will be further developed through interdisciplinary lenses on critical ethical thinking and decision-making. Students will be required to analyse ethical frameworks and systemic failure to discuss and reflect on various cross disciplinary challenges in diverse settings. By applying ethical concepts to personal journeys as citizen scholars and future professionals, students will develop their own ethical framework and gain skills required for future success as emergent leaders.

In recent decades, models and understanding of gender have become a major way of explaining crime and victimisation. Most obviously, feminist researchers have pioneered studies of the neglected victimisation of women from male violence and the impact of gendered discourses on the criminal justice system. This unit will critically engage with this material and also focus on contemporary accounts of the links between criminal offending and different violent and non-violent masculinities. Lastly, the shifting regulation of different sexualities and their criminalisation will be analysed.

This unit examines the theory and practice of heritage interpretation for visitors at natural and cultural heritage sites. It examines the development of heritage interpretation within national parks and museums and explores the various issues facing contemporary interpretation in the context of multicultural and postcolonial societies and the advent of digital media.

This unit examines the relationship between heritage (both cultural and natural) resources and tourism. It firstly provides an introduction to contemporary issues in heritage and tourism management. Secondly, it investigates the phenomenon of heritage and tourism - its nature, the market, visitors, the issues in planning and management - in the context of sustainable tourism praxis in Australia (and globally) as well as in the context of local communities.

Drawing on global case studies, this unit aims to introduce students to some of the pressing socio-cultural issues facing indigenous peoples around the world. The unit examines the complex relationships between globalisation, colonialism and post-colonialism and contemporary indigenous cultures and identities. It draws attention to the way in which issues of representation, cultural autonomy, cultural commodification, development and human rights play out with respect to indigenous peoples' lives. More specifically, the unit interrogates the power relations and politics central to many of these issues and examines the nature of contemporary indigenous and non-indigenous interactions, particularly in the contexts of tourism and heritage, the cultural industries, the environment, development and urbanisation.

This unit introduces students to the adversarial system, the legislative context of everyday policing, and the different forms of state and federal courts. It includes an emphasis on police powers (NSW and elsewhere), summary and indictable offences, and the role of enforcement and discretion. In particular alternative resolution and specialist courts are described and their role and function analysed. This unit is of value to students in policing, criminology, law, and community welfare.

Contemporary criminological knowledge typically concerns explanations of offending, victimisation, prevention and safety, but debates about these matters also reflect unequal power, social division and exclusion. The unit will focus on the criminological concern with offenders across all domains, with particular attention to crimes of the powerful. Additionally, it will analyse the impacts of the blurred lines between the public and private, the national and global, citizens and aliens, as well as evidence about the expansion of more intensive forms of governance in national and global contexts.

This unit deals with the evolution of the figure of the detective and of the criminal; the development of an aesthetics of crime from the later 18th Century; the dynamic nature of fiction, film and television genres of detection. Literatures of sensation, detective fictions, true crime writing and the non-fiction novel will all be examined to allow an in-depth analysis of the changing ethical and psychological character of the detective, and of his nemeses. The crime story in film, television and in other new media may also be addressed to facilitate an analysis of changing cultural contexts for the crime story.

The unit will trace the idea of authority in the West back to its genesis in Ancient Greece and track its development in modern thought. The aim is to demonstrate the variegated relation between power, law and revolution by closely examining a wide array of texts in a variety of disciplinary fields, including literature.

This is a 10 credit point year-long subject taken over two terms (5 credit point in each term). The subject claims to engage students with current global contexts to integrate professional knowledge and develop skills, attitudes and behaviours that support them to be global citizens with inter-cultural competence. As part of the subject students will be required to undertake an global learning experience relevant to their studies. This experience may involve travel to an overseas organisation and/or community, or participation with a local or online globally focused organisation. The subject is completed across a year of study, with the first semester a preparatory experience, mid-semester the opportunity to complete an global short program, and the final semester a time to reflect. Students will immerse themselves in their new global environment, make sense of the organisation's or a community's modes of action and meaning, and negotiate their ways of acting and being in the process of becoming a member and contributing to the organisation and/or community with which they engage. Students in this subject will reflect on global engagement experiences to discuss self-learning and how this learning informs personal and professional development.

There is a close relationship between representations of crime in mass and social media, and policy and legal responses to crime. Media consumers are producing and circulating content about crime and criminality through new media technologies, and some are using social media and the internet to engage in new forms of criminality. In this unit, we explore the complex role of mass media and 'new' media in debates over crime and crime control, and the facilitation of criminality by media technologies. This means studying contemporary media theory and its relevance for criminology, and the effects of social media and computing technology on representations and practices of criminality. The unit maintains a strong focus on the ways in which media and culture informs crime policy and criminal justice processes.

The demise of corporal punishment and the rise of incarceration are defining features of control in modern states. This unit provides an historical and sociological examination of the models, practices and justifications for punishment and incarceration. It begins with an overview of early liberal notions of the social contract, the modern movement away from corporal punishment towards incarceration, and a subsequent welfare oriented emphasis on treatment, reform and rehabilitation. Following from this, the unit explores the development of probation and parole systems, decarceration, community corrections, mass imprisonment, and the contemporary control of risk and 'dangerous' populations. These themes are considered through an intersectional analysis of structural factors such as age, gender, sexuality, social class, racial/ethnic identity and the impact of imprisonment and corrections on different individuals and groups. This unit pays particular attention to the over-representation of Indigenous populations in Australian prisons.

This unit examines how the economy is being reclaimed as a space of political decision in the Anthropocene, the new geological epoch in which human activity is having global impact on the Earth's ecosystems. It critically explores how different ways of thinking about economy shape the worlds we inhabit. It analyses contemporary examples of economic experimentation and human-non-human assemblages that are making 'other worlds' possible. It explores connections between ecological and economic thinking and asks how our conception of the economy and subjectivity changes when we consider the needs of other species as well as our own.

This unit creates an opportunity for intensive reading on the candidate's research project. Lectures and seminars direct students to identify classic texts, watershed publications, leading scholars, and current debates in their chosen field of research. While expanding their knowledge of existing scholarship, they will become aware of the discursive structures and academic protocols that govern their discipline. What theoretical approaches are used? What does the field of research require of its scholars? What makes their work authoritative? What sources do they use? What questions guide their research? In what context? How has the discursive field changed over time? Such questions direct the formulation of a research project of current relevance.

This unit provides an overview of the emerging interdisciplinary field of Environmental Humanities. It provides a space of dialogue for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students to work collaboratively in developing novel ways of thinking about the relationships between culture and nature. The Unit centres on emerging conceptual trends interrogating notions such as: Anthropocene, extinction, planetary boundaries, critical zones, socio-ecological change dynamics, as a way of engaging with fundamental questions of meaning, justice, value, responsibility and purpose in a time of rapid and escalating change. The unit also focuses on methodological issues and tackles questions of co-construction between HASS and STEM disciplines.

This unit explores how innovation in the digital era is transforming society on a global scale. Reflecting on examples drawn from around the world, students learn about the latest trends in communication, media, computing and the knowledge economy. Current and future directions are surveyed in the context of contemporary issues such as big data, digital identity and privacy, social media and crowdsourcing, gaming and visualisation, geographical information systems, virtual environments and artificial intelligence.

This unit explores key ideas in social and cultural analysis - such as culture, society, experience, power, nature, local/global, etc - as a way of helping students think through their own research projects. It draws on an approach to cultural and social research, developed at the Institute for Culture and Society, which addresses the contradictions of a world that is increasingly globalised, culturally diverse and technologically mediated. A key aspect of this approach is to revisit the central concepts of social and cultural theory, linked to an overview of existing approaches, developing skills of critical analysis and reflecting on the challenges of interdisciplinarity, methodological pluralism, cultural complexity and engaged research.

The School of Humanities and Communication Arts teaches across a range of disciplines including Design, Music, Creative Arts, Communications and Media, Languages and Linguistics, Cultural and Social Analysis, Philosophy, Literary Studies, History and Political Thought, International Relations and Asian Studies, Indigenous Studies. This shell unit provides advanced academic training, advanced knowledge and intellectual development in the student's academic discipline by focusing on current debates in selected fields of study. The content of this unit will change according to fields of research represented in the cohort of each year, the issues of current concern in the discipline streams taught, and staff expertise. It will be taught in streamed, parallel seminars organised by broadly defined disciplinary grouping.

Researching Post-Capitalist Possibilities offers HDR students the opportunity to explore how the humanities and social sciences can play a role in making other worlds possible. It develops the thinking capacities we need as scholars to shape the world and reviews the ethical responsibilities that come with this work. It offers an opportunity to work with scholar members of the Community Economies Collective within the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) who have been thinking outside or beyond capitalist relations since the publication of J.K. Gibson-Graham's The End of Capitalism (As We Knew It) in 1996.