Sex and violence pervaded early colonial society. Looks at the way violence was used to dispossess Aboriginal people from their land and to establish and maintain convict society. Examines the complex relationships arising from sexuality: sex as a form of currency, domination, negotiation and identity for both Aboriginal people and Europeans. What is the legacy of these brutal beginnings for modern Australia? Are we still marked by the convict stain? And how did the criminal system develop in Australia? Did early colonial Australia recreate the class, gender and ethnic inequalities of 18th and 19th century Britain? Also includes an excursion to a historic site in the Sydney region.

At the completion of the course, students will have developed a broad overview of the history of colonisation in the period to 1850 which will involve a sense of the major social, economic and political developments in the colonising society and an appreciation of the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal societies. Students will also have gained detailed knowledge of a few specific themes.