1997 Swinburne Higher Education Handbook

Obiedives and Content
~dehs about the world and our relationship to the universe.
Within the general framework of social history the main
emphasis is on the interaction of culture, civilisation, social
change, and science.
Major topics include ancient societies, religion and science,
concepts of the universe, theories and hypotheses.
Recommended reading
Please consult with lecturer before buying recommended reading.
Koestler, A. The Sleepwalkers A History of Man's Changing Vision
of the Universe. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1964
Kuhn, T. The Copernican Revolution. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard
University Press, 1957, Repr. 1973-74
AH1 03 Critical Thinking
3 hours per week Hawthorn Prerequisite: nil
~ssessment: continuous
A subject in the Bachelor of Arts
Objectives and Content
The aim of this course is the development of critical
reasoning skills which students will find very useful in both
academic and everyday contexts. The course focuses on the
study of argumentation. A variety if practical skills is
taught. For example, how to distinguish claims from
evidence, and assess claims in the light of the supporting
evidence; identify fallacies; organise material in logically
coherent patterns; identify problematic uses of language;
critically evaluate extended arguments, and write evaluative
essays. Such skills are central to the effective completion of
academic assignments, as well as to good reasoning in
everyday life.
Recommended Reading:
Please consult with lecturer before buying recommended
readings.
Govier, T. A Practical Study of Argument. 3rd ed, Belmont,
CA, Wadsworth, 1992
Barry, V. and Rudinow, J. Invitation to Critical ninking.
3rd ed, Fort Worth, Texas, Harcourt Brace, 1994.
AH201 Mind, Language and Thought
3 hours per week Hawthorn Prerequisite: one of AH1 00,
AHIOI, AHlO2, AH103 or approved equivalent
Assessment: continuous
A subject in the Bachelor of Arts
Obj ves and Content
This subject explores theories of the relationship between
mind, cognition, language and culture. Themes studied will
be chosen from the following list: mind, brain and
cognition; language, meaning and truth; language as
representation and as metaphor; signs, language and culture.
Recommended reading
Please consult with lecturer before buying recommended reading.
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago,
University of Chicago Press, 1980
Teichman, J. Philosophy and the Mind. Oxford, Blackwell, 1988
Dreyfus, H.L. What Computers Still Can't Do. Cambridge, Ma,
MIT Press, 1992.
AH203 Nature and Human Nature
3 hoursper week Hawthorn Prerequisite: AH100, AHlO1,
AH102, AH103 or approved equivalent Assessment:
continuous
A subject in the Bachelor of Arts
Objectives and Content
The purpose of this subject is to examine the ways in which
biological theories of behaviour and heredity have
influenced social thought. The interrelationships between
theories of human nature are explored in terms of the birth
of the new science of psychology at the end of the
nineteenth century. Themes to be explored include the 'mismeasure
of man'; the origins of the nature/nurture
controversy; the rise of the concept of culture in social
science: the origins of industrial psychology; biology and
scientific utopias; the concept of the savage; behaviour and
the perfectibility of man; scientific theories of race and their
impact; the image of the black Australian in European
anthropology; Sigmund Freud, his life and times.
Recommended reading
Please consult with lecturer before buying recommended reading.
Fancherf, R. Pionem of Psychology. 2nd edn, New York, Norton,
1990
Freud, S. Two Short Accounts of Psychoanalysis Harmondsworth,
Penguin, Repr. 1972
Gould, S.J. The Mismeasure of Man. Harmondsworth, Penguin,
1984
AH204 Philosophy of Culture
3 hours per week Hawthorn Prerequisite: one of AH100,
AHIO1, AH102, AH103 or approved equivalent
Assessment: continuous
A subject in the Bachelor of Arts
Objectives and Content
This subject is designed to provide students with the
historical and philosophical background to current research
in the study of culture, to examine the assumptions
underlying the major theoretical developments and major
schools of cultural studies and thereby to show the
relationships between the different dimensions of culture, to
reveal the practical implications of such research, and to
consider what are the most promising lines of research for
the future. The subject examines Marxist, hermeneuticist,
structuralist, post-structuralist and other European
approaches to culture, and the conflicts between the
proponents of these different approaches.
Recommended reading
Please consult with lecturer before buying recommended reading.
Alexander, J. and Seidman, S. (eds) Culture and Society,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990
Bronner, S.E. and Kellner, D.M. (eds) Critical Theory and Society
A Reader. New York, Routledge, 1989
Dupre, L. Marx's Social Critique of Culture. New Haven, Yale
University Press, 1983
Lodge, D. Modern Criticism and Theory A Reader. London, New
York, Longman, 1988
Swinburne University of Technology 1997 Handbook 223