DESST 3518 - History Theory III

Complementing the global breadth of the foundation survey courses, History Theory I & II, this course takes an in-depth local historical approach to examine the role of the designed environment and associated design disciplines in the construction of specific places and societies. The course focuses on the colonial-modern history of South Australia and the transformation of the cultural landscape of its First Nations custodians, the Kaurna people, through the design and building of the city we know today as Adelaide. Articulating multiple story-lines and theoretical perspectives through indigenous and other expert collaborators, the course attempts a deeper critical reading of contemporary Australian landscape, architecture and urbanism. It will also introduce students to relevant areas of critical inquiry and scholarship in which academic staff and/or visiting researchers are engaged in the school. Students will enhance their foundation skills in academic research and writing, as well as the professional documentation and interpretation of built and landscape heritage through empirical inquiry using primary historical sources.