English/History/Politics Science / P.E / Outdoor Ed ESL Languages Mathematics and Information Technology Humanities and Media The Arts

Humanities & Media

Humanities

Learn about people and their behaviour in a variety of contexts be it History, Media, or Behavioural Science. Whether you want to know where we have been, where we are, or where we are heading; you will find there is a course for you.

There are a number of courses which will give you direct vocational skills,but all courses develop skills which are relevant to the workplace and further study.

Click on the courses below to see more details.

Behavioural Sciences:

Commercial Studies:

Environmental Geography

 

Psychology has the answers:

  • The study of psychology will enable you to explore aspects of human behaviour, your own and other peoples.
  • Can you improve your memory and intelligence level? If you enrol, experiments conducted in the classroom will help you with the answers.

Sociology:

  • Euthanasia
  • Adoption
  • Deviant Behaviour
  • Surrogate motherhood
  • AIDS
  • Power

What do they mean?

  • Sociology deals with human behaviour in its social context. It will help you understand the way in which our society operates.
  • Excursions and guest speakers provide great interest and improve your understanding of these complex issues.

Courses Available

  • Behavioural Science T/A
  • Psychology T/A
  • Sociology T/A

Contact
Josephine Dachs

Hayley Tronson

Ruth Edwards

Celia Stott – Executive Teacher

Accounting

In addition to providing valuable practical skills, Accounting embraces the wider academic and analytical aspects of this traditional branch of learning. 

Students will be exposed to a variety of learning environments in order to develop business acumen, enterprise and language competence through business literacy.  

Computer based software such as MYOB and Excel will test students capabilities with accounting and provide them with the skills and attitudes for a variety of entry points to employment including continuing study at tertiary level as well as employee and employer roles. 

Business Management 

Business Management will fit the student with the skills necessary to evaluate the economic, social and ethical world of business and be able communicate effectively and evaluate options open to business mangers. 

Through creating, planning and executing their own business initiatives students will experience first hand the role of the entrepreneur. 

Economics 

We are all, in various capacities at various stages in our lives, participants in economic decision making processes. We all line up in the economy as consumers, owners, and managers of capital or workers. Through elections we become economic decision makers. We are bombarded by economic issues through all segments of the mass media; our daily activities are related to the performance of economic functions and our daily discussions often involve matters related to economics. 

Individual decision-making is, therefore, extremely important in our economic system and it is most important that young economists understand the rules and forces at work in our basically free enterprise economy.


IB Economics

International Baccalaureate Economics will challenge students to further their economics through the diploma programme. 

Legal Studies
 
Legal Studies is aimed at giving students an understanding of the Australian legal system and developing an awareness of major issues related to the law existing in Australian society.  Units such as  World Order and Human Rights tackle the broader international legal issues and their effect on law in Australia.

For those who want to further their knowledge of advocacy and the courtroom procedures the mock and moot trials offer an opportunity to gain first hand experience in the ACT and NSW courtrooms.
 
Contacts:

Nick Avery

Bruce Fuda

Celia Stott – Executive Teacher


Environmental Geography

  • What are the issues facing the survival of our environment?
  • Why is geography so important in our economic development?

Geography examines the issues, it examines the causes and future problems.You will develop important investigative skills that will help you understand our society and gain valuable job skills.

Units offered are:

  • Australia’s Environment
  • Australia and Asia
  • Geopolitics and Conflict
  • Geography Beyond 2000
  • Marine Geography
  • Urban Geography
  • Tourism
  • Issues in Environmental Geography

Contact:

David Wallace

Celia Stott - Executive Teacher

Media

Through media education students explore the most powerful forms of mass communication used in contemporary societies. Students learn the ways visual, aural, oral and written modes are manipulated in the communication of ideas and messages through media such as film, television, newspapers, magazines, posters, radio and computer technology. In this course students will work extensively with the latest multimedia computers, and thus develop generic information technology skills, as well as the capacity to work cooperatively with others in a range of media projects.
Media is about:
  • creating and producing
  • communication
  • critical analysis
  • Units are not sequential. A student may do any combination to make a Media Studies Minor, Major, Major/Minor and double Major. Students can study at either accredited or tertiary level. Media Studies units may be included in the English course. See the English section of this handbook for details.

    Unit Description

  • Units are offered as either half-standardand/or standardunits as indicated against each unit.
    Aboriginal Film
    Students experience a range of films which involve Aboriginal Australians in roles in front of and behind the camera and look at the social, political and cultural significance that indigenous film and video production has for Australians.
    Animation
    Considers a wide range of animation types and their application in both film and television. Students work in 2D and 3D on both film and computer.
    Asian Film
    Studies some significant films and directors, looking at the reasons for their influence, their qualities, conventions in style and content, from selected Asian countries.
    Audio Communication
    Investigates how sound forms part of the communication process within the mass media and specific audio mediums.
    Audio Production
    Investigates the physical properties of sound and its role in media. Students will develop an understanding of the technical aspects of sound production.
    Australian Film
    Looks at the historical development of the Australian film industry and the significance of major themes in Australian film.
    Broadcast Journalism
    Studies the relationship between broadcast journalists, the products they make and their target audiences and develop skills in writing news for radio and television.
    Children's Media
    Considers the issues relating to the child as the audience and consumer in relation to film and television through viewing and creating children's media.
    Digital Media
    Looks at multi-media, video games and on line technology - the implications and impact of these on society.
    Documentary and Fiction
    Students identify, discuss, and compare the distinctive aspects of documentary and fiction films in relation to style, technique, content, and impact.
    Documentary Film
    Examines the development of documentary film and identifies distinctive aspects of the genre, through viewing a selection of documentary film classics.
    Documentary Production
    A further study of techniques associated with the production of documentaries.
    Extended Film Making
    Develops the knowledge and skills acquired in Film Making and highlights the area of sound, lighting, genre, avant garde, and centres on the small group production of a film with a soundtrack (dubbed, mixed, synchronised). Students script, film, edit, dub/mix sound and promote and screen their films. They also explore the independent film industry locally and nationally, and the place of the short film in our culture.
    Extended Video Production
    This course will build upon skills learned in Video Production and move into digital manipulation and video editing.
    Film and Television History
    This unit will explore the potential and limitations of film and television dramatisations in the study of history and contemporary issues.
    Film Genre
    Explores various Hollywood genres looking at cultural, political and economic forces which shaped these styles and the impact they had on the film industry.
    Film Making
    This unit centres on the production of a super 8 film (in small groups). Students are introduced to:
    • the camera, projection and editing equipment;
    • the visual language of the still and moving image; and
    • aspects of production, scripting, filming, editing, promotion and screening.
     
    Gender and Film Cultures
    Looks at how film can operate as a vehicle for ideology and culture and particularly at representations of gender, sex and identity.
    Media Advertising
    Explores some of the social functions and implications of visual images and text. Looks at how advertisers can manipulate images. Students produce a photographic/scripting project. Recommended as an excellent introduction to the media course.
    Media Culture
    This unit looks at the relationship between media, culture and our position as consumers, producers and analysts of media.
    Media Images
    Students learn how media images are constructed and examine the ways in which visual images structure and communicate meaning.
    Media Project
    This unit provides the opportunity for students who have studied the required units to produce a major media work in sound, print, video, film, or a combination of these. Students will work informally with the teacher and report to larger groups on the progress of their project, before finally presenting it to an audience.
    Media Theories and Research
    Identifies and applies a range of major media theories used in past and present contexts which help effective and appropriate research strategies to investigate media issues.
    Moving Images
    In this unit we compare the still visual image with video images and look at the way that sound affects the way visual images are interpreted.
    News Study
    An analysis of the different codes and means by which news is communicated in the media.
    Newspapers
    Look at the use of words/pictures in newspapers and interpret the meaning of news and newsworthiness for print media. Students produce their own newspaper via desktop publishing.
    Popular Media Culture
    Explores the media's role in popular culture. Emphasis on sectors such as music or the computer game industry.
    Print and Electronic Advertising
    Explores the techniques used in creating image and text messages for the print and electronic media. Students devise and produce a complete advertising campaign.
    Public Relations
    Looks at the type of activities performed by public relations teams and how they utilise the media through various models of communication.
    Radio
    This unit explores all aspects of radio production and programming in depth. Students will produce radio programs in analogue and/or digital format using multimedia computers.
    Radio and Television
    An overview of aural and visual codes used in TV and radio and an investigation into the links between the two mediums.
    Radio Journalism
    Studies the conventions of radio news and how radio news is structured, presented, networked and broadcast. Students produce radio programs.
    Sports Media
    Examines the role of sport in our society and how media affects our perception of sport and its function within our culture.
    Television
    A study of the development, use and social impact of television in Australia and study the codes and conventions associated with the television medium, with a focus on current affairs. Students produce relevant television programs.
    Television and Video Drama
    Study elements associated with the production of television dramas, including narrative structures and production techniques. Students produce relevant television programs.
    Television Documentary
    Students examine the characteristics of television documentaries, investigating the creative and selective process, and producing a short video documentary.
    Television Infotainment
    This unit analyses a variety of non-fiction infotainment programs (eg. sport, game shows, lifestyle programs, talk shows). Considerable time will be spent on examining the characteristics of television.
    Television Journalism
    Develops an understanding of how television news is structured and presented. Students will produce their own TV news/current affairs program on video.
    Understanding Film
    Examines the nature of film production looking at social, cultural, economic and political forces that shape film style and form. Covers the development and impact of film since its beginnings, from Citizen Kane to Pulp Fiction, and Hollywood classics such as Casablanca and Indiana Jones.
    Video Production
    This unit centres on all the learning activity involved with video production using the studio, portable cameras, scripting, directing, editing, (vision and sound mixing) and screening.
    Writing for Television
    This unit focuses on script writing: students critically analyse a variety of written scripts and develop skills needed for drafting, editing and producing a script for a television production.

Assessment

Includes items such as in class exercises, essays, scripts, production work and reports. The exact weighting given to each component varies from unit to unit. Details are available from faculty staff and in each unit outline.