Print this page In Search of Terra Australis

Trace the long search for Terra Australis through the maps that imagined, hinted at and eventually recorded Australia. This course follows the cartographic and exploratory journeys of the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and British across the southern oceans.

From ancient ideas of a southern continent to Cook’s charting of the east coast and Flinders’ circumnavigation, you’ll see how geography, empire and curiosity shaped changing understandings of the land we now call Australia. A rewarding course for lovers of history, maps and exploration.

DELIVERY MODE

Hybrid

(Face to face and online simultaneously)

COURSE OUTLINE

• The concept of a southern continent according to the Greek Philosophers
• The possible first sighting of Australia by the Portuguese
• The first Dutch landing on Australia
• The first Spanish sighting of Australia
• The Dutch mapping of the north, west and south coasts of Australia
• The British charting of the east coast of Australia
• Matthew Flinders circumnavigation of Australia

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Follow the history of Australia from its first maps
2. Understand the importance of the Flinders map of Terra Australis or Australia

COURSE RESOURCES

• The Tasman Map - The Biography of a Map (Ian Burnet)