University of Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia

APPLY

www.unimelb.edu.au

Available Courses

This subject investigates the role of ethics and law in responding to the opportunities, challenges and risks raised by increasingly widespread use in society of artificial intelligence (AI) and related computational processes. Techniques such as expert systems, machine learning, neural networks, natural language processing, and machine vision are affecting almost every aspect of modern society. In particular, these techniques are changing the way in which government and business make decisions and the interaction between humans and machines in almost all facets of life. These developments have many beneficial consequences. They also raise a host of concerns, including about the impact of AI on privacy, employment, interpersonal relationships, and human rights. Developing technical, ethical and legal responses to these kinds of technologies, and those have yet to be developed, requires cross disciplinary insights, including from the humanities, science, design, economics, computing, and law. Drawing on these perspectives, and also industry expertise, “AI, Ethics and the Law” explores these issues through a series of case studies, including:



surveillance and facial recognition technologies

predictive policing and algorithmic sentencing

fake news and deep fakes

algorithmic decision-making in government and by business for employment, credit and social services

AI in medicine, finance and legal law

AI in environmental protection and animal welfare

service and care robots.

This subject will introduce you to the natural history of Australia from the Cretaceous to the present and the influence of Australia’s First Peoples and Europeans on Australia’s environments. You will explore the major biomes and climatic zones that have existed across the continent in the past, and the influence of climate change on their present and future distributions. You will learn of the incredible diversity of Australian flora and fauna both on land and in aquatic environments, and consider the biological challenges, adaptations and evolutionary journeys that have led to our current species diversity. This will include Australia’s familiar and our more elusive inhabitants – from eucalypts and kangaroos to velvet worms and orchids. Throughout, you will learn of the conservation successes and failures and how we protect our precious flora and fauna for the future. This subject will require you to observe, record, and reflect on the diversity of the natural world, and complete self-guided field trips with your peers within the Melbourne metropolitan region.

Drugs that Shape Society is a compelling story of drugs that provides insight to us as individuals and as a society. Drugs impact our lives in many different ways. Social responses to their use have shaped our laws, the health system, commerce – even foreign policies.

In Australia the use of therapeutic drugs is carefully regulated to maintain cost and safety, some recreational drugs are taxed heavily to provide government income, while others are banned and huge costs are incurred attempting to prevent their use. Other countries have a different blend of risk, responsibility and regulation.



Drugs that Shape Society is a University breadth subject available to all second-year students. Using a case-study approach, students will explore the scientific, social, historical and legal issues associated with alcohol, opiates, tobacco, penicillin and thalidomide.



Any drug use carries risk – medical, social, ethical and legal. Who has been, or is, responsible for managing that risk? What is the role of policy and regulation in minimising risk and assigning responsibility? These questions will be explored by consideration of the scientific, ethical and economic factors determining drug development; the addictive nature of certain drugs, the striking contrasts between drug marketing strategies, ranging from illegal dealing to professional multi-facted advertising; and the risks associated with legal and illicit drug use and abuse.



Lectures will provide basic information about the processes leading to the development of the drugs, their mechanism of action, the historical context of their impact on society, and how this has been handled legally. Tutorials and small group work will allow students to discuss and debate the issues raised and to put them into the context of their own experiences.

The subject will develop your understanding of the engineering modelling and design processes by taking you through the life cycle of a real-world engineering project and using a combination of lectures and hands-on workshop sessions.



You will work in a small team of students on one of several interdisciplinary engineering challenges, applying engineering concepts, scientific knowledge and creative problem-solving skills in order to satisfy specific design goals.



Along the way you will gain an understanding of the depth and breadth of the engineering design process, while gaining competency in the technical tools and professional skills required to not only complete the challenge, but more broadly help serve the engineering needs of an increasingly complex society.



Please view this video for further information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypa7eZmbhrM

Entrepreneurship for Sustainability is a project-based subject. Working in teams, learners will propose an entrepreneurial venture to improve Australia’s performance against at least one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through this subject, learners will be introduced to the SDG framework and its uses, as well as various tools to elicit and validate an entrepreneurial concept.



This subject is for anyone interested in learning, through experience, about entrepreneurial approaches to addressing real challenges to create impact and value – not just learners with entrepreneurial ambitions.



The subject contains a high degree of industry and community interaction, including guest speakers who have experience addressing SDGs through entrepreneurial means.



Learners will be supported to:

• integrate their own disciplinary knowledge relating to the problem they choose to tackle

• learn from industry speakers to enrich their grasp of the problem

• conduct background, user, and expert research to develop a deeper, shared understanding of the problem

• identify and assess creative means to address the problem, and

• design a proposed solution for impact, considering the social, environmental, and economic inputs, influences and dynamics at play.



Learners are not required to come into the subject already having an idea. At the beginning of the semester, learners will be provided with a series of prompts – specific ideas for problem areas they may choose to tackle.

The purpose of this subject is to study topics on entrepreneurship and innovation. The subject closely examines the definition of an entrepreneur as an innovator who recognises and seizes opportunities; converts those opportunities into workable/marketable ideas; adds value through effort, money and skills; assumes the risk of the competitive marketplace to implement these ideas; and realises the rewards from these efforts.



This subject presents some of the key frameworks and tools needed by entrepreneurs and is for anyone who has an interest in understanding entrepreneurship, not just potential founders. The subject uses the lens of entrepreneurship to investigate developing areas of knowledge that are relevant to all organisations, from traditional firms to startups, while also recognising that in the future, many students will either start or work for non-traditional organisations.

This interdisciplinary subject recognises and explores the intricate link between food, human health, and the sustainability of our planet. As the world is becoming increasingly urbanised and citizens are becoming more affluent, people are turning towards unhealthy “Western-style” diets characterised by high-energy, nutrient-poor processed and refined foods. This shift in dietary patterns has led to an increased morbidity burden due to obesity and other non-communicable diseases. Thus, there is an urgent need to address diet-related health problems created by under/over-nutrition and poor dietary practices by tackling the underlying scientific, technological, policy, regulatory, cultural, and economic determinants, and obstacles to creating healthy food and food systems.



Human diets inextricably link health and environmental sustainability. The present food system is one of the main causes of resource depletion and unacceptable environmental impacts, and is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, meeting nutritional needs for improved health while staying within “planetary boundaries” is the biggest challenge for humanity.



Solving the problem of providing enough healthy food for all while maintaining environmental health requires a radical shift to a global food system that needs to draw on knowledge and skills from the many disciplines of both Science and Humanities.



Eminent scholars will teach students from across the full range of disciplines in arts, biosciences, nutrition, medicine, agricultural science, and economics, plus practitioners from the food, nutrition, farm industry and the natural resource sector. Students will learn and develop methods to frame and discuss complex food and health-related issues through team exercises with fellow students.

In the era of globalisation, contemporary cultures are increasingly shaped by transnational movements: of humans, commodities, and media, among other things. Global Cultures leads students to explore the human, subjective and cultural dimensions of these intensified transnational mobilities with a focus on the Asian region. Central concepts include mobilities, migration, cultural hybridity, translocality, precarity, and superdiversity. The subject introduces students to these concepts by drawing on theorisations from cultural studies and other disciplines in the humanities and, to some extent, social sciences, using contemporary, mainly Asia-based case studies to ground the conceptual material. The subject explores how lived experiences of mobility intersect with the power dynamics of gender, race, sexuality, and class, and engages with critical cultural theory to work toward not simply an understanding of globalisation as a series of social processes, but more importantly a cultural critique of globalisation. It introduces students to representations of mobility and globalisation across a range of popular media that may include film, television, Internet cultures and others, and explores how experiences of mobility––through migration, international education, tourism, mediated imagination and other modes––shape subjectivity.

Indigenous Cultures and Knowledges will introduce students to the diversity of Indigenous culture, epistemologies, practices and engagements with the contemporary world. It will also introduce students to the immense body of scholarship on traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies, cultures, languages, history and prehistory in curricula, research and knowledge exchange.



The subject will be presented as a series of Masterclasses given by specialists from across the University with expertise in language and culture, environmental science and land management, social and political theory, education, music and performing arts, cultural heritage, and public health and wellbeing. Each Masterclass will be structured to include one or more of:



A presentation/seminar by a guest lecturer or Indigenous knowledge holder on a particular field of Indigenous knowledge, such as:

Indigenous environmental knowledge, including environmental science, and habitat management

Indigenous astronomical knowledge

Indigenous engineering knowledge, practices and adaption of local environments developed for food production, resource management, dwelling and settlement, and economic purposes

The anthropology of Indigenous rituals and symbolism

Key concepts expressed in Indigenous languages, linguistic understandings of polysemy, and translation and interpretation into English

Ethnomusicology and The Arts

Landscape and Place-making

Cultural heritage and its preservation.

An object-based learning activity, which provides an opportunity for students to engage with the subject material to develop reflective, observational, practice and critical thinking skills

A case study of community engagement

Examples of Indigenous epistemology and practice

A field trip to a site of significance to Indigenous peoples, and/or to an Indigenous community

A framework for reflection on ethical and interdisciplinary challenges in Indigenous studies.

The philosophy and values underpinning this subject will foster:



The development of respect for the Indigenous knowledges and cultural heritage

Academic approaches to preserving, maintaining, and engaging with Indigenous knowledges and cultural heritage, such as digital and online databases and web portals

An awareness of ways in which these perspectives can inform a broader, contemporary world.

This subject examines differences in diverse people’s experiences of urban life, the opportunities and challenges it offers them, and their ability to shape the city. We will examine how social differences such as class, gender, ethnicity, race, and disability have been understood in urban studies from varied theoretical perspectives, including liberalism, Marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. We will explore these themes with case studies from many cities around the world, with a particular interest in Melbourne, where students will undertake independent field research. Specific issues to be investigated include: the social and cultural lives of rich, poor, middle-class and gentrifying neighbourhoods; the negotiation of gender roles and relations in the private and public spheres of the city; intergenerational conflicts in urban housing and labour markets; inequalities in the spatial distribution of urban infrastructures such as roads, transport, education and health services; racial segregation and conflict; the displacement and marginalization of Aboriginal communities in Australian cities, and their activism. Students completing the subject will demonstrate in-depth understanding of how social inequalities develop and manifest in cities; but also, how cities can become places of resistance, inter-cultural encounter and transformation.

This subject examines the pressures of technological change on contemporary media institutions and communications practices. Students will be introduced to key debates about media convergence, the relationship between technological change and media practices, and the shift from mass communication to networked communication. A range of case studies drawn from different media sectors including photography, the music industry, television, cinema, and the Internet will be complemented by examination of emerging practices such as video games, digital art and surveillance. Students completing the subject will be able to develop a critical understanding of the forces affecting how new technology is adopted, and will be able to identify the major pressures shaping the media-communications industries in the future.

What makes a city cool? Is Melbourne really one of the most liveable cities in the world—and for whom? How do different populations (artists, students, migrants from elsewhere in Australia, young and old, people of different genders) experience the city? And who has the capacity to shape the future of our cities? To explore these key questions, this subject gives students the opportunity to undertake ethnographic research in Melbourne. It aims to familiarize students with key issues in urban anthropology that reflect the dynamics of cities across the world. Students will explore processes of place-making, urban migration, spatial segregation, and urban governance and conflict. Working together with peers and teachers, they will conduct research by observing and participating in urban events, mapping spatial and social relationships, conducting unstructured and semi-structured interviews, digital ethnography, and more. Each year, classes will focus on a shared set of themes, sometimes in collaboration with research partners. Overall, this subject will help participants to develop important job-relevant skills, prepare for more advanced study in social sciences, and get to know fellow classmates through collaborative research.

This subject is natural history. This is an old, lovely, and holistic term referring to what is in the natural world. This subject joins the humanities and the sciences; it will be delivered across disciplines, with a rich and exciting mix of material and information. It is an overview of: human history and past landscapes; Earth history; some soils; how plants work; material conserved in collections; the history of natural history collecting; herbaria, museums, arboretums, and national parks; indigenous knowledge; agricultural history; ocean systems; and dealing with natural history in a designed, built, and managed future. It is suitable for all built environment majors as an Elective. Breadth students are very welcome; this will be an excellent subject for you. This subject will extend written skills and enhance appreciation of the variety of the natural world.

This interdisciplinary subject will introduce students to the core concepts of One Health in its broadest sense, as a concept that describes the interconnectedness of the health of humans, animals and the environment. Key themes that will be explored during the course, with reference to case studies, will include:



The historical progression of animal health, wildlife health and conservation;

Sustainable agricultural development, food security and human nutrition across a range of country/development contexts;

Emerging infectious diseases at the animal/human interface, the role of infection reservoirs, intermediate hosts and vectors;

The ecology of microbial pathogens, including food borne diseases and the development of antimicrobial resistance;

Surveillance and response in a One Health framework;

Societal norms and behaviours in relation to the intersection of human and animal health;

The holistic concept of “One Health” in the context of indigenous health; and

Ethical, political, cultural and governance challenges in the “One Health” domain.

The basic theoretical framework of marketing, including segmentation, buyer behaviour, product management, market communications, channel management and pricing decisions are introduced in this subject. Students are also introduced to basic concepts in market research and management of marketing programs.

Urban Transport systems face many challenges due to growing levels of congestion and rising levels of environmental, social and safety problems.



This subject will use the systems approach as a framework for developing the key skills that need to be acquired to develop and implement new transport technologies that can improve the sustainability of urban transport systems.



This course will focus on (1) the fundamental knowledge to understand transport systems from the perspective of an engineer and planner, and on (2) how new technologies can be integrated with existing transport services to improve accessibility and sustainability in transport systems. Key skills will be attained in the areas of data collection and processing, analysis, and evaluation.

From illegally spray-painted stencils to secret exhibitions in abandoned warehouses to exclusive multi-million dollar art fairs, this subject explores the rise of street art in the contemporary city.



The subject examines the diversity of artists, materials and political impulses that drive street art and graffiti and its shift from an illicit subculture to a mainstream practice. Using examples from Melbourne and other key cities such as New York, Rome and Berlin, the subject investigates how the meaning and impact of street art derive from spatial and social contexts and how street art can provide new ways of understanding a city, as well as broader debates about art, public space and urban development.
Students undertaking this subject will develop skills in identifying, mapping and designing street art in Melbourne’s laneways.

‘The Earth is a finite environment, with its physical systems tightly interconnected with all life on the planet’. Humanity, as part of the Earth, is now in the historic position of changing the global balance of both the physical and biological environments, with unintended consequences. Achieving sustainability on Earth requires global values and actions that are ecologically sound, socially just and economically viable.
In its Sustainability Charter, the University of Melbourne recognizes its responsibility to help shape sustainability on Earth through ‘knowledge, imagination and action’. This subject is an academic and practical opportunity for students to enter into that endeavor.
In this subject we utilise sustainability to explore, understand and analyse human-environment relationships. Topics include: needs and inter-dependencies of all beings; the diverse ways humans meet their needs through material and non-material means and the ecological and social consequences of this for humans and other beings; the economic, social and political norms that shape the ways we meet our needs; the ethical and disciplinary frameworks through which the sustainability of human-environmental relationships can be assessed. We will consider sustainability of systems at multiple scales and through diverse ways of knowing including scientific, historical and Indigenous perspectives. Through this subject, students will develop foundational knowledge, skills and values to facilitate a sustainable future.
This subject is relevant to students in all degrees who are interested in issues related to society and the environment such as climate change, land management, extractive industries and more. It will appeal to students that are seeking ways to support change in their lives and careers.



Learning will be grounded in analysis of sustainability, with class room activities and assessment tasks designed so that students can directly and critically contribute to the University’s aspiration to be an international exemplar of an ecologically sustainable community; as well as to think critically about the function of their future discipline, and their own practices in facilitating sustainability. There may be some optional volunteering opportunities in sustainability.
This subject is relevant to students in all degrees who are interested in issues related to society and the environment such as climate change, land management, extractive industries and more. In particular, it offers:

Arts and Music students the opportunity to explore the intersection between power, hope and the arts to influence societies ideas about our relationship with the environment and sustainability;

Biomedicine students conceptual tools like systems thinking and needs analysis to see how contextual drivers shape health outcomes for humans and the environment and the interdependencies between them, that can then influence sustainability;
– Commerce students an insight into the history of capitalism and how it shapes our relationships with the environment and our ability to facilitate sustainability;
– Design students a range of tools including multi-scale analysis and the integration of different discipline perspectives to generate new insights for sustainability; and
– Science students the opportunity to build their critical assessment of the reasons and strategies for shaping sustainability including the retention of ecosystem services, as well as ethical decision frameworks.

There is no exam in this subject, however, students are expected to make academic arguments, and work in teams.

Responding critically and ethically to contemporary issues, whether they be of local, national or global significance, requires one to go beyond the mere discovering of ‘facts’ and determining of ‘truths’. What one does with these ‘facts’ and ‘truths’ is equally important. What we claim to know may be helpfully understood in its emergence from and application to highly complex and seemingly intractable problems. Addressing such ‘wicked problems’ thoughtfully and collaboratively can reveal the nature of knowledge: how it is generated, how it is applied and contested, and what purposes it serves. Research areas in the Humanities, The Arts and the Social Sciences (HASS) as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will be introduced and problematised.
Building on the ideas or C. S. Peirce, John Dewey and Matthew Lipman, this interdisciplinary subject will therefore focus on developing effective communities of inquiry, where the use of critical but cumulative talk is favored and where good questioning, in‐depth knowledge, sound reasoning and self‐reflection is applied to addressing and critically appraising wicked problems.
To this end, the subject will examine wicked problems arising from a wide range of disciplinary areas and cultural perspectives, including: climate change skepticism, Indigenous knowledges, fake news, and major societal issues and innovations arising from recent advances in Science, Technology, and the Arts.

Urban Design introduces the visual, spatial, social and design dimensions in planning for public spaces. Urban Design for People and Places examines how a city’s built form, function and structure is shaped by its interaction with multidimensional forces – including the physical, technological, cultural, social, economic, and environmental –to create a public life which continuously shapes and is shaped by both people’s activities and the places they inhabit. It explores a broad range of concepts, theories, principles, and processes to frame the urban design practice – developing, proposing and negotiating creative urban design solutions to address urban issues in a dynamic setting.
Prescribed software programs with a cost:
Sketchup

Prescribed software tools:
– Image editing software (e.g. Affinity Photo)
– Vector editing software (e.g. Affinity Designer)
– Layout software (e.g. Affinity Publisher)
– Details of software availability and pricing are captured at https://edsc.unimelb.edu.au/student-experience/it-support