Seminars
1. Internship Preparation and Workplace Culture
2. The Australian Workplace
3. Panel Session and Placement Preparation
Learning outcomes:
Students who complete this module should:
Gain insight into Australian work and employment practices, and the broad factors and forces which are shaping such practices in the early 21st century;
Develop practical skills that will make them more productive in the workplace — these include communication, project management, IT and team skills;
Become familiar with concepts and terminology used in contemporary Australian workplaces, e-commerce, information technology and career management;
Learn to recognise and apply transferable skills;
Develop effective career management strategies.
Required work and form of assessment:
Participation (15 %)
Attendance at all seminars and the placement is a threshold requirement for this module. Students are expected to complete all required reading and to involve themselves in group discussion.
Reflective Paper — 1,000 words (15 %)
This essay aims to encourage students to reflect on their expectations of employment practices in Australia and their initial experiences of the workplace. You should aim to convince the reader of your own opinion. To do so, you should undertake a close analysis and critique of the topic and draw upon your own experiences and perceptions. Engagement with the seminars, discussions and readings is essential. The reflective paper is due on Wednesday 13 July. You can email your paper to Fay email address: faa@unimelb.edu.au
Internship Assessment - (35%)
This will be a consultative assessment between the employer/supervisor and the Course Coordinators.
Project Presentation — (35%)
This is a major item of assessment in Module C. You are required to prepare and deliver a presentation of approximately twenty minutes duration based upon the work experience you have gained through your internship. This presentation will be delivered to the module and your fellow students on Thursday 28 July. We encourage you to be “natural” in your presentation style and to incorporate those insights, which seem most crucial to you. Your presentation should:
Provide the audience with a general introductory description of your placement,
Describe your role within the organisation,
Identify distinctive features of this workplace which seem to you significant,
Discuss any key differences from the work culture or organisation of the United States,
Highlight any skills that you learned during the placement and which you consider will make you more productive in the workplace.
Further details as to the details of the presentation day will be provided during the first seminar of the module.
content:
Seminar One: Internship Preparation and Workplace Culture
This seminar will serve as an introduction to the module and the seminar series. We will discuss the internship placements, the expectations in this module and the differences between internship cultures in Australia and America.
Prescribed Reading
Henry S. Albinski, ‘Cultural Reflections’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol 55, no 2, 2001, pp. 275-285.
Valerie Khoo, ‘Playing by Aussie Rules’ in Sydney Morning Herald, 14 June 2003.
George W. Renwick, A Fair Go For All: Australian/American Interactions (Yarmouth: Intercultural Press, 1991).
Seminar Two: The Australian Workplace
We will have a guest lecture examining the differences between American and Australian workplace; review value differences; consider attitudes towards authority; how we accord status; power distance; conflict styles; and making the most of your time.
Prescribed Reading
‘Covert Competencies’
George W. Renwick, ‘Summary of Basic Contrasts between US Americans and
Australians’ in A Fair Go For All: Australian/American Interactions (Yarmouth:
Intercultural Press, 1991).
Barbara West and Frances Murphy, ‘Focussing on Culture’ in G’Day Boss:
Australian Culture and the Workplace (Melbourne: Tribus Lingua, 2007).
Seminar Three: Panel Session
This seminar will comprise a panel discussing issues relating to different work place cultures including the media, philanthropic organisations and business.
Prescribed Reading
Julie Szego, ‘Blokes on top’ in the Age, 1 July 2006.
Gwynneth Singleton, Don Aitkin, Brian Jinks and John Warhurst, ‘Citizens at Work’ in Australian Political Institutions, (Sydney: Longman, 2000).
Seminar Four: Preparation for Placements
Placement Check In Session
This informal session is designed for the students to meet with us and discuss any issues or ask questions about their placement, expectations, reflective paper etc.
All Day Presentations
Other Resources:
There are several Australian Studies, Australian government and newspaper sites on the internet. The Baillieu Library has also collected websites for history and politics which are also useful. Start at http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/
Other relevant websites for your internship (and reflective paper) include:
Dr Fay Anderson was educated at La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne. After graduating, she worked as a journalist and lived in Paris and Jerusalem for several years. Since her return, Fay has been based at the Australian Centre. Fay’s PhD thesis was published in 2005 by Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) and was entitled, An Historian's Life: Max Crawford and the Politics of Academic Freedom. Her co-authored book with Richard Trembath, Witnesses to War: The History of Australian Conflict Reporting, is based on their Australian Research Council Grant was published by MUP in April 2011. Her new research is on the reporting of genocide in Australia.
Australian Internships
Seminars
1. Internship Preparation and Workplace Culture
2. The Australian Workplace
3. Panel Session and Placement Preparation
Students who complete this module should:
Attendance at all seminars and the placement is a threshold requirement for this module. Students are expected to complete all required reading and to involve themselves in group discussion.
This essay aims to encourage students to reflect on their expectations of employment practices in Australia and their initial experiences of the workplace. You should aim to convince the reader of your own opinion. To do so, you should undertake a close analysis and critique of the topic and draw upon your own experiences and perceptions. Engagement with the seminars, discussions and readings is essential. The reflective paper is due on Wednesday 13 July. You can email your paper to Fay email address: faa@unimelb.edu.au
This will be a consultative assessment between the employer/supervisor and the Course Coordinators.
This is a major item of assessment in Module C. You are required to prepare and deliver a presentation of approximately twenty minutes duration based upon the work experience you have gained through your internship. This presentation will be delivered to the module and your fellow students on Thursday 28 July. We encourage you to be “natural” in your presentation style and to incorporate those insights, which seem most crucial to you. Your presentation should:
Further details as to the details of the presentation day will be provided during the first seminar of the module.
Seminar One: Internship Preparation and Workplace Culture
This seminar will serve as an introduction to the module and the seminar series. We will discuss the internship placements, the expectations in this module and the differences between internship cultures in Australia and America.
Prescribed Reading
Seminar Two: The Australian Workplace
We will have a guest lecture examining the differences between American and Australian workplace; review value differences; consider attitudes towards authority; how we accord status; power distance; conflict styles; and making the most of your time.
Prescribed Reading
Seminar Three: Panel Session
This seminar will comprise a panel discussing issues relating to different work place cultures including the media, philanthropic organisations and business.
Prescribed Reading
Seminar Four: Preparation for Placements
Placement Check In Session
This informal session is designed for the students to meet with us and discuss any issues or ask questions about their placement, expectations, reflective paper etc.
All Day Presentations
There are several Australian Studies, Australian government and newspaper sites on the internet. The Baillieu Library has also collected websites for history and politics which are also useful. Start at
http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/
Other relevant websites for your internship (and reflective paper) include:
Dr Fay Anderson was educated at La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne. After graduating, she worked as a journalist and lived in Paris and Jerusalem for several years. Since her return, Fay has been based at the Australian Centre. Fay’s PhD thesis was published in 2005 by Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) and was entitled, An Historian's Life: Max Crawford and the Politics of Academic Freedom. Her co-authored book with Richard Trembath, Witnesses to War: The History of Australian Conflict Reporting, is based on their Australian Research Council Grant was published by MUP in April 2011. Her new research is on the reporting of genocide in Australia.