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  3. Genealogies of Place

Genealogies of Place (CWRI90021)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 1 - On Campus
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This subject engages with creative and intellectual concepts concerning an understanding of place (and places) and the relationship between place and individuals, communities and cultural formations. These places may be physical, social or psychological, and can include "natural" landscapes, urban/industrial environments, the genealogies of family, or place and the connections between memory and physical space. This subject asks students to engage with the work of novelists and poets in addition to non-fictional texts to stimulate their own creative writing project. These projects will be developed and workshopped in the seminars. Students will explore the relationship between the creative process and the development of written and performative texts. On completion of the subject, students will have produced a folio of writing that includes prose-fiction, poetry, performance/script or non-fiction. 

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

  • Critique texts that deal with the relationship between physical and natural landscapes;
  • Create texts that deal with the relationship between the individual, family and communities;
  • Explain, interpret and apply ideas dealing with social/political memory and place;
  • Explore the relationship between place, the creative process and the development of written and performative texts;
  • Articulate how their creative work engages with specific theoretical or thematic concepts;
  • Build a cooperative and ethical writing practice with/in a community of peers.

Generic skills

Students who successfully complete this subject should be able to:

  • Demonstrate analytical and communication skills necessary to engage in debates and discussion in a group setting
  • Apply theoretical knowledge and creative skills to produce an interplay of theory and practice in written work
  • Demonstrate critical thinking skills and capacity for self-directed learning to devise questions, analyse schools of thought and develop creative projects.

Last updated: 1 December 2025