Short Programs  

• Winter School 2008 (June/July)
• Customized Short Programs

Winter School (June/July)

The program is intended to provide an opportunity for cultural immersion for international students through academic courses that contain a strong focus on Australian issues and contexts.

• Each course can be taken separately, and will be available to domestic as well as international students.

• The International Student Centre will provide international students with an orientation day on Friday 27 June before the academic program begins on Monday 30 June.  

Courses include

Indigenous culture & history

Australian Stories: Fast track video production A

Please also see the Winter School website for more information and a full list of available courses.

Winter School Accommodation Information

Accommodation for Winter School participants is available at the University of Adelaide Village. The University of Adelaide Village is home to over 400 students each year. The Village is a University managed, “purpose built “, student accommodation facility situated in the vibrant West End of Adelaide’s Central Business District. 

Located at 210 Grote Street, The Village offers independent living in a supervised environment. Students can chose to live in a fully furnished Townhouse or Apartment, sharing with other University of Adelaide students.  

The Village is staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days a week and provides a safe and supportive environment with a focus on academic success.

Equipped with a “state of the art  “ home theatre unit “, pool table and table tennis table the Recreation Room offers residents a place to retreat and meet people. Fully functional computer room and group study areas, The Village offers the perfect foundation for academic success.

For more information please refer to The Village website:

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/accommodation/uni/thevillage/

Winter School 2008 Accommodation Package:                      

Accommodation Fee:     24 June 08 – 27 July 08           $1,400 (AUD) 

Administration Fee:             (Non Refundable)              $   250 (AUD) 

Security Deposit:                   (Refundable)                  $   800 (AUD) 

 Note: All fees must be paid in advance and prior to arrival.

Winter School Application Information

To apply for Winter School and Winter School Accommodation please contact: 

Study Abroad and Exchange
The University of Adelaide
South Australia 5005
Phone: +61 8 8303 8220
Fax: +61 8 8303 3988
Email: study.abroad@adelaide.edu.au

Customized Short Programs

The University is able, through the Centre for Professional and Continuing Education, to offer short term tailored programs for groups of university students.

An example of a short term program is the following course organised for The College of William and Mary.  (Short term programs are generally offered in May/June/July or in December/January.)

Footprints on the Great Southern Land
Dr. Peter Gell

This short course discovers the dynamic nature of Southern Australia by examining patterns of climate change over millennia, focusing on the evolution of the biota through the Tertiary and, as it dried out, the Quaternary. We contrast this pre-human condition with the period of the initial footprint of people on the island continent. We follow the contentious debates over when people first set foot in Australia, their use of fire and its impact on Australian vegetation, and the loss of the mega- marsupials: was this loss akin to the American overkill, or was it due to the harsh dry climates of the last ice age? We contrast changing patterns in landscape, climate, vegetation and human activity over the last 10,000 years with the recent, post-industrial phase of landscape modification, the heaviest footprint. Does Greenhouse Australia have past climate analogues, and what does climate change mean for sustainable use of water and land resources? Land- and water-use issues of salinisation, erosion, eutrophication and cyanobacterial blooms, species loss, forestry and fire management are major themes.

The program includes a six-day field trip into the jewel of South Australia's ecological and landscape crown, the Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre. Dr. Gell has conducted several successful trips into the arid heartland examining lake, river and vegetation change, the recent impact of the pastoral industry, and the overpopulation of feral goats and native kangaroos. Accommodation includes tents, shearers' quarters for the real Aussie experience, and a night in an outback resort. You'll be able to recover from a day in the field in an outback spa fed by two-million year old artesian water and marvel at the Flinders landforms from a light plane. Astronomy enthusiasts get one of the best possible views of the southern night skies. On an additional three day field trip to the Murray River we witness the waxing and waning of inland seas and review the River by reference to limestone cliff exposures along the banks of Australia's largest river system.

The program includes practical work where we instruct students in deciphering records of environmental change by analysing sediments and microfossils archived in the bed of a key Australian lake. Dr. Gell has competitive funding for a project based on this technique. The period from 3,000 to 2,000 years ago on Kangaroo Island is critical to our understanding of how indigenous Australians used the land. We examine lake sediments in the laboratory and for their fossil pollen, diatoms and charcoal remains, and test the thesis that, when indigenous Australians left the island about 2,500 years ago, the departure with them of fire stick farming brought on high intensity fires characteristic of modern Australia. We undertake these analyses in three intensive laboratory sessions using state-of-the-art microscopy that provide students with valuable laboratory skills.

Australian Indigenous History
Dr. Rob Foster

The course surveys the history of relations between indigenous people and European settlers in Australia, with a particular focus on south and central Australia. After an introductory examination of indigenous culture at the time of European settlement, we examine the changing nature of the relationship between Indigenous people and the State. As well as establishing what happened in the past, we also consider how subsequent generations have thought about that history in folklore, literature, the visual arts and film. The overarching theme is the relationship between ideology and action. By way of establishing context, the subject matter also includes some comparisons to the experiences of indigenous people in North America and New Zealand.

In an effort to allow students to have some time to themselves (for study and other activities), we compress the teaching into a few long sessions rather than many short ones. As a consequence, each session covers a series of topics and comprises a mixture of short lectures interspersed with discussions on themes arising from the lectures and the set readings.

Dr Foster has worked in the field of Australian Indigenous history since 1980, and has taught courses in both Aboriginal History and Comparative Indigenous History at the University of Adelaide since 1994. In addition to his academic work he has also been involved in Native Title consultancies and given expert evidence in the Federal Court. His recent book, Fatal Collisions: The South Australian Frontier and the Violence of Memory, co- authored with Amanda Nettelbeck and Rick Hosking was short-listed for the New South Wales Premiers Prize for Literature and, in 2002, won the John Tregenza Prize for South Australian History.

Students will have a detailed course guide containing an overview of the course, together with articles and primary source documents. The course does not have a textbook; instead, introductory texts will be recommended.

Assessment has two components, a seminar presentation and a research project that can be written up at the end of the Summer School.