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HIS31850

Academic Year 2022/2023

Contested Histories in Australia (HIS31850)

Subject:
History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
History
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Professor Amanda Nettelbeck
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module surveys important controversies and defining national moments in Australian history, and invites students to situate these within a comparative context of historical contestations in other western democracies, particularly Ireland. Through a case study approach, students will engage debates about the place of history in the production of national identity, and undertake guided research and analysis of a chosen topic. Topics for consideration include: national commemorations and the statue wars; colonial rebellion and relationship to empire; war and nation-building; indigenous rights; access to citizenship.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module students will have developed a critical understanding of the role of history in the making of modern Australia; they will have explored popular as well as academic engagements with the Australian past; they will have developed an understanding of key debates in Australian history; and also enhanced their analytical, comprehension and writing skills in the process.

Indicative Module Content:

1. Founding figures and the statue wars

2. Commemorating nation: Australia Day and Saint Patrick’s Day

3. Convict origins

4. The frontier wars

5. Empire and colonial rebellion

6. War and nation-building: Australia, Ireland and conscription debates

7. Reading week

8. Indigenous rights: from the 1967 Referendum to parliamentary voice

9. Refugees and migration, post-WWI to the present

10. The rise of the new conservatism

11. Citizenship and the ‘values test’

12. Republicanism

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

95

Autonomous Student Learning

95

Lectures

11

Seminar (or Webinar)

22

Total

223


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a small-group, seminar-based module. It is taught through a one-hour weekly lecture and a two-hour weekly seminar. Lectures will provide a basic overview of main themes in the module, while seminars will be centred around primary source readings relating to a defining theme. The weekly seminar is focused upon individual active / task-based learning by means of class debates, discussion and student presentations. Advanced research, writing and citation skills are developed through a combined individual student presentation on primary sources and written essay, and a semester-long 4,000 word research project. Autonomous learning is advanced through student-led debate and discussion of set primary sources and / or student presentations each week.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Additional Information:
Students must have completed one of the above modules


 

Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Essay: A research essay of 4000 words Week 12 n/a Graded No

40

No
Continuous Assessment: Students are graded on their contribution to seminars throughout the trimester Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20

No
Presentation: A combined 15/20-minute presentation and 1500-word written essay version Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

40

No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on the written assessments will be provided in writing via brightspace. Informal feedback on the in-class presentation will be given verbally during seminars. Students can arrange one-on-one meetings to discuss their assessments, particularly in relation to preparations for the end of trimester essay.