UNCC300 - Justice and Change in a Global World

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

UNCC100 Self and Community: Exploring the Anatomy of Modern Society OR PHCC102 Being Human OR PHCC104 Ethics and the Good Life

Incompatible

UNCC301 Humanity in Catholic History and Culture (International) , UNCC302 Human Dignity in an International Context , PHCC320 The Just Society

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

‘Interdependence obliges us to think of one world with a common plan‘.(Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home, p.122)

Pope Francis challenges us to extend our thinking across new ways in which the relationship between self and community can be realised. In achieving a global consensus on the nature of our relationship to each other and the world in which we live, Pope Francis calls for a renewed emphasis on the dignity of the human person as the basis of all action, advocacy and solidarity. Universal fraternity and aspirations for the common good begin with a basic recognition that we need one another. In this unit you should develop your understanding of the dignity of the human person within the context of a global community. You should develop skills that may assist the cooperative efforts of government, business, faith groups, and not-for-profit agencies to achieve a more just and equitable world. On completion of this unit you should have acquired the skills and knowledge to become an active agent for change in an interconnected and interdependent world. This unit is the second of two units which are part of the University Core Curriculum.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe how the efforts of public, private, not-for-profit agencies, faith-based groups and you as a professional, can result in the realisation of a more just global community. 

LO2 - Critically analyse the challenges with realising aspirations of the common good in your professional community, locally and globally. 

LO3 - Critique a global issue where shared responsibility for the common good is not being realised and propose ways to address this challenge. 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include: 

• Revisiting key concepts from UNCC100, e.g., Human Dignity 
• Frameworks for Human Dignity 
• Historical examples where human dignity was absent 
• Human dignity in contemporary society 
• Case studies 
• Defining advocacy 
• How does one achieve advocacy in a professional context? 
• Community engagement principles 
• Models of community engagement 
• Community engagement - global organisations 
• Working for change and the common goo 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is delivered in one of: 

• mixed mode over a 10 week period in a normal university semester, with lectures delivered online and tutorials via attendance; or 
• intensive mixed mode delivered in winter and summer semesters with lectures delivered online and tutorials via attendance; or 
• online mode over a normal university semester. 

This unit will consist of 150 hours of study. The use of the LMS is integral to the unit. The approach to learning and teaching is via active learning where students are supported through the provision of learning resources and class activities (ether in physical or virtual classrooms) to take responsibility for their individual learning, Students are expected to participate in the activities provided either in class or online and to be able to extend their learning through working alongside other students and undertaking individual research. Students are supported in their learning through the provision of; 

• Learning modules 
• Discussion forums and chat rooms 
• Guided readings and links to electronic readings 
• Self-assessments and other self-directed learning activities. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessments undertaken in this unit are intended to assess student learning through application in ‘real world’ settings.  

Where possible, students will be encouraged to present their work using multi-media to prepare students for presentation styles they may encounter in their professional life. Assessment will also focus on demonstration of ‘deep’ learning, through a written piece, which enables students to develop an argument about the topic they choose to write about from the list provided in the Unit Outline. 

In order to pass this unit, you are required to achieve a final grade of 50% or better as an aggregate score of all points from assessment tasks completed in this unit. The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for you to demonstrate your achievement of each learning outcome. If your final grade is between 45 and 49%, you may be eligible for a supplementary assessment to provide you with another opportunity to pass the unit. 

Supplementary assessment will address those Learning Outcomes not yet demonstrated and a mark of 50% or greater will be required to pass the supplementary assessment. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

1. Aslin, H.J. & Brown,V.A. (2004). Towards Whole of Community Engagement: A practical Toolkit. Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.  
2. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (2015). 2015–2016 Social Justice Statement. ‘For Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas’: Justice for refugees and asylum seekers. Editors: John Ferguson and David Brennan, at: https://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/files/SJSandresources/2015-SJS-Statement.pdf   
3. Korgen, J. (2007). Solidarity Will Transform the World. Orbis Books, New York.  
4. Massaro, T. (2016). Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action. Rowman & Littlefield, London.  
5. Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home [Encyclical]. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals.index.html   
6. Scottish Centre for Regeneration Communities Scotland. (2004). Creating a learning landscape: A skills framework for  community  regeneration. https://staff.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/746319/creating_a_learning_landscape_scotland.pdf  
7. United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights