This sample list of courses is tentative and subject to change. Students should request an update from AIFS of all courses and descriptions indicating which courses have prerequisites. Students must make sure they have met all prerequisites for a course. Recommended semester credits are in parenthesis.
Note: Macquarie University emphasizes that the final list of courses offered in any one semester is confirmed only shortly before the semester begins. Therefore, students must check the latest information from the Macquarie University handbook at: http://www.handbook.mq.edu.au/
This link will also provide you with an extensive list of courses available at Macquarie University. The courses listed below are only an example of the many courses available to AIFS students.
| July-December Semester | |
| Course Code and Credits: | ANTH 150/Anthropology 250 (3) |
| Course Title: | Introduction to Anthropology |
| Course Description: | |
| This unit conveys the excitement of the challenge posed by Anthropology to our common sense understanding of the world. It is divided into two parts, each dealing with a particular contribution of anthropology to our understanding of human beings. In the first half of this unit we examine many of those elements of identity that we regard as natural or as objectively given: space, food, childhood, language, and even the body itself. In each of these we gain insights into the profound role of culture in shaping us, and therefore, the way it can vary and differ from one culture to another. The second half of the unit introduces students to the more complex set of power relations in the contemporary world: relations of class, of colonialism, of nationalism, race, and gender. More broadly, the senses are a fundamental theme of the unit, ranging from illness and healing, world music, religious imagery, to the sensory experience of place itself. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | BIOL 347/Biology 447 (3) |
| Course Title: | Australia and World Vegetation |
| Course Description: | |
| This unit provides an understanding of natural vegetation resources and the tools to implement sustainable vegetation management. Topics include: an overview of Australian and world vegetation; classification and description of vegetation; vegetation distribution and structure in relation to environmental factors such as climate and soil type; methods for describing, monitoring, sampling and mapping vegetation; plant population biology; vegetation management within a landscape context; the future of vegetation with climate change; landscape fragmentation and invasive species; and rehabilitation of vegetation. Laboratory and fieldwork are important components of the unit. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | BBA 102/Business Admin 202 (4) |
| Course Title: | Business Organization Principles |
| Course Description: | |
| Organizations bring people together to achieve what they could not achieve individually. This unit addresses two areas of interest to those wishing to understand their organization or to pursue a career in management. One area is the nature of organizations, their construction and operation. This unit seeks to provide an understanding of the development of organizations and management; the context or environment of an organization; what constitutes performance for an organization; basic strategy at corporate and business levels; structure; operations management and quality; and sustainability. Some relevant areas are not covered as they are addressed in other units, specifically: marketing (e.g. MKTG101), human resource management (e.g. HRM107), advanced strategy (BBA350), and accounting (ACCG units). Another area is the development of skills that are valuable in one's career both as a student and professional. These skills are in the areas of research and researching; writing and presentation; working in teams; planning and organizing; and thinking. This unit is presented in two distinct streams. The lecture stream consists of a series of lectures that loosely parallel the management component of the text. The tutorial stream addresses additional areas that either extend the lecture material or address issues too recent to be included in texts. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | BBA 216/Business 316 (3) |
| Course Title: | Business Communications |
| Course Description: | |
| This course covers the principles of effective organization and presentation of ideas in written and oral contexts for a range of ad¬ministrative applications. The course will be project based, work¬ing as far as possible with material from other units in the pro¬gram. Assessment will take into account individual performance as well as group work. Students will be encouraged to explore the intricate relationship between text, technology and audience to maximize the impact of their business presentations. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | ECON 110/Economics 210 (3) |
| Course Title: | Macroeconomic Principles |
| Course Description: | |
| This is an introductory unit in macroeconomics—the study of the economy as a whole or as an aggregated entity. Topics covered include: GDP and inflation; savings and wealth; unemployment; business cycles; the basic Keynesian model; fiscal policy; money and monetary policy; the aggregate supply – aggregate demand model; the exchange rate; and balance of payments. This unit should enable students to appreciate economic problems more clearly, to recognize which factors are critical and which arguments are dubious, and to begin to be able to evaluate conflicting claims about the economy. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | ECON 210/Economics 310 (3) |
| Course Title: | Public Economics |
| Course Description: | |
| This course examines the role and functions of the public sector in the mixed economy. Topics include the nature of the public sector in Australia, the nature of the state, welfare economics and the role of government in the economy, theories of government behavior and regulation, cost-benefit analysis, privatization and corporations, public expenditure analysis in transportation, education and health, distributional policies of government, optimal size of the public sector and economic growth. Providing practical tools for decision making in the public sector, this core course is for economics majors and is also useful to non-economics majors who expect to work in, or closely related to, the public sector. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | EDUC 106/Education 206 (3) |
| Course Title: | Education: The Social and Historical Context |
| Course Description: | |
| This course presents a socio-cultural history of Australian education. This course is one of two foundation units offered by the School of Education. It is designed to complement EDUC 105/Education 205, the other foundation course, but has a different approach to the study of education and draws on different theoretical disciplines. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | ENGL 202/Literature 338 (3) |
| Course Title: | 20th Century Drama in Context |
| Course Description: | |
| Significant drama texts from the late 19th and 20th centuries, in their social, intellectual and theatrical contexts, with specific focus on the relations between ideological factors and dramatic themes and forms. Debates about sexual roles, conscience, the uses and abuses of power; theater as polemic to influence social change; 20th century experiments in dramatic mode and form; aspects of staging and performance. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | MHIS 114/History 214 (4) |
| Course Title: | The World Since 1945: An Australian Perspective |
| Course Description: | |
| World developments influencing Australian history from 1945 to the present. Post-war European crisis and decline to current resurgence with Australian themes: migration, ideological trends, economic integration and decolonization. The U.S. as a world power with special attention to Cold War era politics, economics and the spread of American values. East Asia: principally Chinese and Japanese post-war settlement and economic transformation, acknowledging trade ties and ensuing Australian cultural adjustments. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | MHIS 243/History 343 (3) |
| Course Title: | History on Film |
| Course Description: | |
| Many people gain much of their knowledge of history through film and television. In this course, students will examine the promise and problems of history on film. Through lectures, film screenings and discussions, students will explore how images are selected and arranged, whether it is possible for the filmmaker to tell an interesting and plausible historical story and show that historical ideas are open to debate, and consider the advantages and disadvantages of film as a medium for history. Students will also examine the role film can play in stimulating public debate about the past and identify ways to foster critical discussion. These questions, in turn, will lead the class to consider the definition of history (historiography) and why people want to know about the past. Questions considered will include: Why study history on film?; Can film show us what really happened?; Is there more to documentaries than facts?; What can filmmakers say that historians cannot?; Can film help us hear the “hidden voices” of the past?; and Can historical films be educational? Films that will be screened include: Le Retour de Martin Guerre; Distant Voices, Still Lives; Rashomon; Saving Private Ryan; Shoah; and Life is Beautiful. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | MKTG 101/Marketing 201 Both semesters (4) |
| Course Title: | Marketing Fundamentals |
| Course Description: | |
| This course explores the proposition that marketing is based on an understanding of consumer value. The unit looks at the evolution of marketing from a production orientation to its current state. The unit covers gathering information on consumer needs and the marketing environment. It then looks at the tools the marketer uses to satisfy those needs—the marketing mix. Lectures include the latest developments in marketing theory, illustrated with examples of best marketing practice from Australia and major economies overseas. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | POL 107/Politics 267 (3) |
| Course Title: | Thinking Politically |
| Course Description: | |
| We often think politically without being aware of it. When we say that some people in our society have not been treated justly or when we condemn violence and injustice in other societies, we are making political judgments and using political concepts. How does our sense of fairness or our compassion in cases such as these relate to our political judgments? This unit explores key political concepts such as justice, equality, democracy and the rule of the law as well as the role of morality in political judgment. We also consider the concept of ideology and examine particular ideologies including: liberalism, nationalism, conservatism and fundamentalism. Among the selected readings for this unit are the classics of political thought such as Machiavelli and more. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | POL 108/Politics 268 (3) |
| Course Title: | Introduction to Global Politics |
| Course Description: | |
| This unit is an introduction to the modern study of international relations. The unit is designed to give students a basic understanding of the actors, institutions, and ideas that influence international politics. The primary goal of the unit is to provide students with a set of analytical tools for making sense of international political phenomena in a variety of historical periods and geographical regions. Chief among these tools are the basic theories of international politics: realism and liberalism. Attention is paid to Australia's place in the international system. War has always occupied a central role in the study of international relations. In this unit considerable time is devoted to examining the problem of international conflict, violence, and warfare. But interstate war is actually a rare event in international life. States engage in relations over many issues, involving varying degrees of conflict and cooperation. We consider the dynamics of both cooperative and conflictual relations across a variety of military, political, economic and environmental issues. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | POL 206/Politics 364 (4) |
| Course Title: | Modern Political Thought |
| Course Description: | |
| What are the limits of the legitimate use of force by political authorities? How should the power of government be limited? When is a government or political regime legitimate? These and related questions have been the subject of a continuous debate in political theory since the 16th century. This unit examines the various theories of human rights and of social contract as well as theories which reject the liberal/democratic approach to the question of legitimacy. Among the authors to be read are Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Burke, Marx, Rawls, Schmitt, and Foucault. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | SOC 180/Sociology 280 (3) |
| Course Title: | Sociology of Everyday Life |
| Course Description: | |
| As the study of social behavior and social processes, the discipline of sociology has always paid close attention to the theme of “everyday life”. In this unit students will be introduced to the analysis of everyday situations such as the home, the street, work, shopping, community, church and various sites of leisure and entertainments; as well as the many tools and “props” that we use to negotiate these everyday activities (clothes, mobile phones, automobiles, computers, furnishings, etc.). The central theme will be that our participation in these activities reveals a great deal about ourselves and the social forces that shape our every-day lives. | |
| February-July Semester | |
| Course Code and Credits: | BBA 280/Business 380 (3) |
| Course Title: | Business Models and Organization Structure |
| Course Description: | |
| An organization’s business model and structure substantially influence its short and long term profitability. This unit examines: various organization structure types and their application; business models (the set of activities which a firm performs, how it performs them, and when it performs them), their selection, costing and performance; and the compatibility between structure types and business models. Traditional and Internet organizations are considered. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | ECON 110/Economics 210 (3) |
| Course Title: | Macroeconomic Principles |
| Course Description: | |
| This is an introductory unit in macroeconomics—the study of the economy as a whole or as an aggregated entity. Topics covered include: GDP and inflation; savings and wealth; unemployment; business cycles; the basic Keynesian model; fiscal policy; money and monetary policy; the aggregate supply – aggregate demand model; the exchange rate; and balance of payments. This unit should enable students to appreciate economic problems more clearly, to recognize which factors are critical and which arguments are dubious, and to begin to be able to evaluate conflicting claims about the economy. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | EDUC 105/Education 205 (3) |
| Course Title: | Education: The Psychological Context |
| Course Description: | |
| This course is primarily concerned with the psychology of the teaching and learning process. It includes the study of student characteristics such as cognitive and social-cultural development, and environmental factors such as the relationships between teachers and schools and their effect on student learning. The unit focuses on development among school-aged learners, but broader applications to lifelong learning are also considered. Students who have a general interest in human development and learning processes would benefit from this class. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | MHIS 109/History 209 (3) |
| Course Title: | The Making of Australia |
| Course Description: | |
| This unit considers how Australian experience has been shaped by both material forces and projections of imagined identity and values onto the land, its Indigenous people and the development of a white settler colony and nation. Key themes include Australia's relationship with the region and the world, the expansion of European settlement and the evolving forms of industry, work and culture. These developments were accompanied by narratives of progress, race, empire and identity that shaped the young Commonwealth and generated conflicts and ambiguities that remain contested. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | MKTG 101/Marketing 201 Both semesters (4) |
| Course Title: | Marketing Fundamentals |
| Course Description: | |
| This course explores the proposition that marketing is based on an understanding of consumer value. The unit looks at the evolution of marketing from a production orientation to its current state. The unit covers gathering information on consumer needs and the marketing environment. It then looks at the tools the marketer uses to satisfy those needs—the marketing mix. Lectures include the latest developments in marketing theory, illustrated with examples of best marketing practice from Australia and major economies overseas. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | POL 101/Politics 265 (3) |
| Course Title: | Australian Politics in Global Context |
| Course Description: | |
| An introduction to Australian politics. Key concepts: citizenship, representation and power, with contemporary issues such as the Republican debate, women’s representation and notions of political sovereignty. Issues are studied in the context of changing institutions: the Constitution, federalism and the states, the High Court, electoral systems, political parties, the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, mass media, pressure groups and public service. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | POL 201/Politics 350 (3) |
| Course Title: | Contemporary Issues in Australian Politics: Race, Nation, Class and Gender |
| Course Description: | |
| Despite persistent rhetoric that Australia is one nation, united and indivisible, the realities of social division in this country are undeniable. One's skin colour, ethnicity, social class background, gender, and sexuality continue to have a significant effect on one's social status and life chances. Moreover, these divisions are shaped by, and in turn help shape, the political process. Taking this premise as our starting point, this unit is organised around the themes of race, nation and class, exploring the ways in which these dividing categories are articulated and deployed in contemporary Australian politics. Topics covered include: race and reconciliation; immigration and multiculturalism; citizenship and fear; the new white nationalism; industrial relations and welfare reform; the contemporary Liberal and Labor parties; and the 2007 federal election | |
| Course Code and Credits: | POL 279/Politics 370 (3) |
| Course Title: | International Relations |
| Course Description: | |
| This unit investigates the origins, evolution and demise of the Cold War, largely through the prism of American–Soviet rivalry in the Third World: from the politics of containment and conflict during the 1950s and 1960s, to the rise and demise of superpower detente in the 1970s, to a revival of superpower conflict during the Reagan era, to the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s and the return to the world of a single superpower (United States of America) in the 1990s. The last part of the unit focuses on post-Cold War policy toward the Third World. The case studies include: the 1990–1991 Gulf War; the United States of America's policy toward Cuba; and the application of the Bush Doctrine to Afghanistan and Iraq. | |
For a complete list of courses available during the July-December and February-June semester please see the Macquarie University handbook at http://www.handbook.mq.edu.au/units.php?edition=2009&level=ug. It is important to keep in mind that the July-December semester is considered semester two and February-June semester is semester one. July-December courses are labelled E2 and D2, February-June courses are labelled E1 and D1.
