HIS31850 Contested Histories in Australia

Academic Year 2022/2023

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.

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Curricular information is subject to change

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
Lectures

11
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
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
Essay: A research essay of 4000 words Week 12 n/a Graded No

40
Presentation: A combined 15/20-minute presentation and 1500-word written essay version Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

40
Continuous Assessment: Students are graded on their contribution to seminars throughout the trimester Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20

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.