| Semester 2, 2022 Online | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts |
| School or Department : | School of Humanities & Communication |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Overview
This course provides students with the opportunity to explore the explanatory potential of competing approaches to power in relation to injustice, exploitation and inequality on the one hand, and social movements resisting these on the other. Students will examine the way our understanding of power can itself facilitate or limit our capacity to exploit opportunities for resisting or overcoming injustice.
Power is a central concept for social justice studies and for all the social sciences, including sociology, politics, anthropology, economics, and communications studies. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the examination of competing theories of power from the perspectives of these social science disciplines. This course contrasts the conventional concept of power as having its basis in coercion, dominance, and `control over'; with competing conceptions of power that treat as primary humans as social animals with a desire and capacity for cooperation. The examination of alternative concepts of power in this course provides the foundation for their application in the rest of the Social Justice major.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
- demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of theories of power in the social sciences;
- demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of power for achieving social justice;
- complete an independent research essay;
- demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of ethical research and inquiry;
- demonstrate appropriate academic and professional literacy skills.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Language, power and submission | 10.00 |
| 2. | Theories of power | 30.00 |
| 3. | Artificial intelligence and power | 10.00 |
| 4. | Politics and power | 10.00 |
| 5. | Power and the media | 10.00 |
| 6. | Gender and violence | 10.00 |
| 7. | Globalisation and power | 10.00 |
| 8. | Building evidence and knowledge | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
| Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz | No | 30 | 1,2 |
| Essay | No | 30 | 3,4 |
| Time limited online examinatn | No | 40 | 3,4,5 |