CN2254 - War, Remembrance and Popular Culture

[Offered in even-numbered years]

Credit points:	03
Year:	2012
Student Contribution Band:	Band 1
Administered by:	School of Arts & Social Sciences

The tragedy of total war has been a defining characteristic of the past century, as have its mourning, commemoration and remembrance. This subject explores these phenomena as they have found expression in cinema, other visual media, and literature, placing them within the context of popular culture, and focusing especially on the Great War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the evolution of the Anzac Tradition.

Learning Outcomes

• an understanding of how the mourning, commemoration and remembrance of war have evolved over the past century, and how this has found expression in cinema and popular culture;
• a capacity to critically analyse the role played in this process by collective memory, cultural trauma, ritual, ideology, propaganda, mythology, civic religion and popular culture;
• an understanding of how different national traditions emerge in this area (eg Anzac), how they relate to their respective national identities and how they find expression in cinema and popular culture.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments, and to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically;
• The ability to select and organise information and to communicate it accurately, cogently, coherently, creatively and ethically;
• The acquisition of coherent and disciplined sets of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics from at least one discipline area;
• The ability to reflect on and evaluate learning, and to learn independently in a self directed manner;
• The ability to read complex and demanding texts accurately, critically and insightfully;
• The ability to speak and write clearly, coherently and creatively;
• The ability to work with people of different gender, age, ethnicity, culture, religion and political persuasion.

Assumed Knowledge:	To undertake this subject, students must have successfully completed 12 credit points (4 subjects) of level 1 study at tertiary level.
Inadmissible Subject Combinations:	CN3254

Availabilities
Townsville, Internal, Study Period 2
Census Date 23-Aug-2012
Coord/Lect:	Dr Mervyn Bendle.
Contact hours:	26 hours lectures 12 hours tutorials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (60%); tutorial attendance and participation (15%); (25%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.