What Camera?

I’m going to learn about photography! So I can do justice to roses 🙂 and petals.

University of Sydney is holding a basics course in December. But I need a camera. Does the following even make any sense?

“To participate in this photography course, participants must bring their own camera (DSLR, FourThirds or Micro FourThirds camera with manual exposure controls and RAW file recording capability).”

Yes, I’m a beginner. Have no idea what that even means. What camera should I buy?