C (continuation): Creating Colony, Citizens of Australia, Cinema and Cars

As you remember our course is about BOTH Australian history and its culture.

This week we are going to step aside from the chronological path for a moment in order to delve deeper into the Aussie soul.

We'll be talking about following topics:

1. customs

Two very interesting (if somewhat ridiculous) videos here:
Video 1
Video 2

Drinking etiquette as described on my favourite website. Read about the "shout" (somewhere in the middle of the article) and have a look at the quotes at the end.
















Click on the picture to see a really thought-provoking social commentary on The Australian Citizenship Test.


2. car fetishism

Aussies LOVE their cars. Watch the clips and try to work out which two cars have cult status in Australia.

car 1:
Road Warrior (1981)
Love the Beast (2009)

car 2:
Two Hands (1999)
[it's a very vague clue, pay attention to the first shot]


If you are still confused go here, type the title(s) in the search box, and then read "plot" and "trivia" sections.


***For movie buffs only***

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) - a film from Peter Weir, the same director who later shot the cult classic Picnic at Hanging Rock, and such films as Dead Poets Society and recently Master and Commander.


3. cinema (industry and film festivals)

Australian Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. Visit their official site, browse around, and find out some information about the rules and the venue. You can also watch some competition films. They are all under 7 minutes long, so it won't take you too long ;-)

The ones which I would recommend are: The Story of Bubble Boy and An Imaginary Life.


4. Canberra

Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup Day is Australia’s best known horse racing event held on the first Tuesday of November every year. It is an annual public holiday in the state of Victoria. This event is popularly dubbed as “the race that stops the nation”.

Read more at Timeanddate

As you can see young Australians attending the race are often up to no good. Read more about what it was like last year on news.com.au

This year's Cup was marred by the death of a horse.

C: Convicts and Crocs

This week we are going to be talking about:

- convicts: historical background (have a look at the TIMELINE), settlement, life conditions, pardons and famous prisoners

- convicts in popular culture: songs, stories, art

- the impact of convict past on Aussie mentality and national pride (concentrate on "social psychology" and "why?" in this article; we'll also touch upon the concept of "mateship")




















(the Fremantle Prison flogging post)

CLICK BELOW to read more:
Fremantle Prison educational resources
(downloadable PDFs)

And here is the story of Alexander Pearce



and...

Our second topic is...
- crocodiles











(click on the picture)

*

B: Botany Bay

Last week we dived into the style of life of the native inhabitants. This Wednesday we'll see what happens when these people clash with Europeans.

First watch the video below:

(You can switch on the CC if you feel subtitles will help)

Here you will find reading and activities (in case you lost your printed copy).

Below is the video we were supposed to watch in class - watch it to complete your NOTES:

Didn't I tell you?

Deadly poisonous fungus - that shrinks your brain - has recently been found in Queensland, Australia. Touching might kill you. Eating will DEFINITELLY kill you.

Happy travels ;)

A: Aboriginal Australia

In the coming weeks we will be trying to make sense of Australia - what country it is now, and how it came to be this way.

But first we need to understand the complex interconnections between Aboriginal Australians, Convicts and Free Settlers. As you remember from our class, societies that developed in isolation were usually disadvantaged when finally the confrontation with foreigners happened. Do you remember why?

Watch the video below to revise the topic:

What kind of people were the Aborigines? We used parts of this presentation in class. Read the first half (Australians).



This presentation was originally written by IJO graduates Magdalena Waligóra and Marcin Piechnik, I just updated some content. The copyright belongs to them and the owners of visuals used in this presentation. All sources have been cited.

Follow up watching.

This is a long documentary but you do not need to watch all of it. Watch about 10 minutes to get a feel of what life was like in Australia at the time when Native Australians were still isolated from other societies.

Extra reading: Rottnest Island prison

Welcome to Australia class!

Hello everyone!


So you have successfully made it here. Well done! ;-)

Please check this space regularly - I will be adding tons of materials, clips, links and pictures related to the topics of our classes.

Also please feel free to comment and add your own recommendations. They are most welcome!

Happy exploring!


So, how does it work exactly?

Well, I DO hope you listened carefully in the class, but if someone is still a little confused here is the general idea again:

1. In each class we will be talking about an array of Australia-related topics, all of which will begin with a given letter of the alphabet.

2. You will know these topics in advance, so you'll be able to find out some information beforehand.

3. In class, first I'll give a short presentation with audio/video materials, and then will be asking you some very tricky questions or ask you do complete some practical tasks.

Our class is a FLIPPED CLASSROOM. This means that instead of delivering a lecture on a given topic in class, and then giving you homework, I'll ask you to learn on your own at home FIRST and then when you come to the classroom we'll use the information you have obtained to do something practical with it.

Picture taken from: https://www.goconqr.com/en/learn/flipped-classroom/

Hope it all makes sense now :)