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Creative Writing David Prater, BA (Hons)(Syd) MA (Hons)(Melb) Summary This introductory course will equip students with a set of skills with which to write personal and/or autobiographical poetry and prose. Focussing on the notion of "Autofictions", it will encourage students to explore personal stories (whether about themselves, members of their families or friends) and then move beyond the personal as a creative writer. The course will allow students to develop their own writing skills (through a series of weekly exercises) as well as their understandings of writing practice (through a set of course readings). In addition, students will be expected to read and discuss their own and other students' writing in class with an informed critical eye. Students will receive a writing exercise each week and will be expected to hand in three exercises at the end of the first assessment period. The final assessment for the course will consist of a folio of writing of approximately...

Summary This special topic course will introduce students to the society and culture of Australia and its people. Utilising historical and contemporary examples of art forms including painting, poetry, film, novels and music, this course offers the perspective of one individual Australian on what defines Australia in the modern world. Topics to be considered include relations between indigenous Australia and settler/invader cultures, the formation of particular Australian identities through warfare, current threats to Australia's unique environment, Australian attitudes towards Asia, the role of sporting heroes in Australian culture, the figure of the renegade or outlaw in colonial literature, the development of a national youth culture in the 1990s, Australian poetry and globalisation, the history of democracy in Australia, the role of religion in contemporary Australian politics and Australia's relationship with the United States. Classes will utilise a mixture of written mat...