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...
- crocodiles











(click on the picture)

*

B: Botany Bay

Last week we dived into the style of life of the native inhabitants. This Thursday 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 watched in class - you can watch it again to complete your notes:

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

Once we start our classes I hope you'll be paying more attention to the news from the Down Under.

Here's a report from yesterday. Sadly a British citizen has died in Northern Territory after he had been bitten by a sea snake.

British backpacker killed by sea snake in Australian waters

Welcome to the course!

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 :)

XYZ: goodbye!

1. Youth culture and youth problems

 Romper Stomper is a film which kick-started the career of Russel Crowe and which tackles the difficult topic of bullying and subcultures. A raw and brutal film, but one of the most iconic in Australian cinematography.
Here is the trailer.



On a slightly brigther note - a clip from Muriel's Wedding.




And here are two movie tips. Both films are a perfect illustration of the topic of youth problems.
Both deal with the insecurities of young people: loneliness, lack of understanding, problems with defining one's identity, lure of the big world and its temptations, and so on...
Both star a very talented female - Abbie Cornish. In both she co-stars with two Australian actors representing the young generation whose potential has been recognised by Hollywood.

Here are the trailers for you:

Candy (2006)



Somersault (2004)



2. Time Zones

Australia has 3 Time Zones

• EST - Eastern Standard Time
  Australian Capital Territory,
  New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria
• CST - Central Standard Time
  Northern Territory and South Australia
• WST - Western Standard Time
  Western Australia

		Standard Time	Daylight Savings
1	Western Australia	+ 8.0 hours GMT	no change
2	Northern Territory	+ 9.5 hours GMT	no change
3	South Australia	+ 9.5 hours GMT	+ 10.5 hours GMT
4	Queensland	+ 10.0 hours GMT	no change
4	Lord Howe Island	+ 10.5 hours GMT	+ 11.5 hours GMT
5	New South Wales	+ 10.0 hours GMT	+ 11.0 hours GMT
5	ACT	+ 10.0 hours GMT	+ 11.0 hours GMT
6	Victoria	+ 10.0 hours GMT	+ 11.0 hours GMT
7	Tasmania	+ 10.0 hours GMT	+ 11.0 hours GMT

3. Zoos



NATIONAL ZOO CANBERRA

SYDNEY AQUARIUM