Cultural Competence - Aboriginal Sydney

This course explores some of the key themes and capabilities of cultural competence by exploring Aboriginal experiences and narratives of Sydney. Australia was ‘claimed’ for the British Crown in 1770, by Captain James Cook, but the invasion began in earnest when the First Fleet of British arrived in 1788 and established a penal colony in Sydney.

As a consequence Sydney is a city rich in diverse pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary sites of significance to Aboriginal peoples. Too often though our perceptions about Aboriginal peoples consign them to an ancient past or perpetuates stereotypical imaginations that Aboriginal peoples live in remote communities (Hinkson, 2010).

At the heart of this MOOC is the theme that Sovereignty was never ceded and Sydney always was and always will be Aboriginal Land. Despite this the Aboriginal presence in the city is often invisible to non-Aboriginal eyes. This course aims to bring to light marginalised narratives of Aboriginal presence in this space.

To understand hidden and marginalised narratives and experiences it is necessary to develop cultural competence capabilities. Key elements of practicing cultural competence include being able to understand and interrogate context, which in the case of Sydney includes not only learning about the peoples, places and histories of Aboriginal Sydney but to also understand issues about how knowledge is created and how dominant narratives can exclude diverse knowledges and experiences.

Course learning outcomes

1. Develop knowledge about cultural competence capabilities.
2. Develop a deeper and multi-layered knowledge and understanding about Aboriginal peoples, cultures and places in Sydney.
3. Develop a greater understanding of how history, cultures and places are represented, contested and interpreted and how that relates to their own context.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge that this course was developed on the land of the Gadigal Peoples of the Eora nation. We pay our respect to the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge that the land that the University of Sydney was built on has been a place of learning for many thousands of years.

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Syllabus

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Introductions
Week 2
Representation and visibility in Aboriginal Sydney
Week 3
Sovereignty and self-determination in a colonised place
Week 4
People, past and present
Week 5
Visibility in place
Week 6
Resistance

FAQ

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.

The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?

When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Cost

Students can take this course for free or elect to purchase a certificate for $64 AUD.

Learners who pre-enroll in an upcoming session can immediately access unlocked course resources, including:

· videos

· slideshows

· readings

· all assessments except peer review assignments

They can’t access peer review assignments before the session begins (every 4 weeks) because there needs to be enough learners enrolled in the session to grade the assignments in a timely manner. Once a session is active, learners gain access to all assessments and resources.

Who can enrol in the course?

As this is an open online course, anyone in the world can enrol!

How will I know when my session starts?

The Enrol Now button on the left hand side of the course page indicates when the next session will begin. Once students have enrolled and are engaging with the course on a weekly basis, they will receive regular email updates about the progression of the course.

Reviews

Thank you. I thought I had a good grasp of the decolonisation process. I had no idea. Thank you for offering this

Very thought provoking and enlightening. I learnt so much. This is just the start of my journey.

Absolutely loved it. Very educational, very confronting, very informative and great pace. Thank you.

Great course. Well thought out in terms of conte. Very interesting.