Reflective Journal 1

The following quote summarises Stephen Jay Gould’s view of the consequences of race [or biodeterminism].

‘We pass through this life but once

Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life

Few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope,

By a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within’

Gould, S.J. 1981. The Mismeasure of Man [W.W Norton New York].

Write a reflective account of your own understanding of ‘race’, and discuss whether or not you think the concept of race has any validity or value.

SCH1101: 2015.1

Reflective Journal 2

In his role as personnel manager for IBM, Geert Hofstede attempted to categorise or determine the features of the ‘national’ culture of the countries of origin of IBM employees.

Reflect on whether or not you believe that Australia has a ‘national’ culture, and discuss the characteristics of that culture.

SCH1101: 2015.1

Reflective Journal 3

Australia ranks among the highest [is currently ranked at number 2 out of almost 190 countries] on the Human Development Index [HDI]. The HDI includes a measure of a country’s living standards [including income], life expectancy, levels of education and so on.

Despite this, the life expectancy of Aboriginal Australians is at least 10 years lower than that of their non-Aboriginal counterparts, and is one of the lowest life expectancies of Indigenous nations around the world.

Reflect on the role that the colonisation of Australia has played in the discrepancies between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

Sources:

Australian Bureau of Statistics [2013]

United Nations report, State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples [2009]

2011 Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme