History

Ann Curthoys, BA Syd., PhD Macq.
Professor and Head of Department

Introduction

History comprehends all aspects of human experience. The Department’s units explore that experience, help students to develop critical and analytical skills, and encourage them to ask questions which lead to an understanding of past and present societies.

Within the Department’s units it is possible for students to pursue their particular interests in politics, economics, philosophy, and religion. Our units also explore the historical significance of ideas, technology, personalities and culture, and they provide opportunities to study elites and the lives of ‘ordinary’ people. There are units which cover broad themes across national boundaries and others which explore the theories and values that underlie all historical explanations; there are units which investigate our own society, some which examine aspects of Western societies and cultures in Europe and North America, and some which concentrate on communities in South Africa and the Pacific.

History is, therefore, an important discipline within an Arts degree. It may be combined with many Arts subjects; history units may also be included in Asian Studies, Economics or in the various combined Arts degrees (eg Arts/Law, Arts/Science, Arts/ Economics). History units are also included in many of the programs offered within the Faculty of Arts.

While students who have studied history before coming to University will be able to extend their knowledge and interest, no prior grounding in history is required to take units in this Department.

Apart from Faculty requirements there is no limit on the number of history units which may be included in the pass degree course.

Students may take the Arts degree with honours in the Honours School of History or in certain combined honours schools.

Enquiries about units that may be offered in 2000 should be directed to the Department of History.

The following units will be offered in 1999:

Units offered by the Department but not available in 1999 are listed towards the end of this entry.

The Major

A history departmental major consists of 44 credit points, made up of twelve credit points in first-year units offered by the Department, with 32 credit points in later-year units offered or approved by the Department.

Alternatively the history pass major may consist of 48 credit points of later-year units offered or approved by the Department where the first-year history units are counted as part of another major or where exemption from the first-year units has been granted by the Head of Department. At least 28 credit points must be in units taught by the Department. Units which are jointly taught will count as departmental units if they are listed as offered by the Department.

General requirements

In all history units students will be required to submit written work by the due dates, attend tutorial classes and present prescribed tutorial exercises. Failure to fulfil these requirements may lead to exclusion from the unit. Tutorial attendance is compulsory even if specific marks are not allotted for tutorial participation, and students who miss more than three tutorials in any semester in any particular History unit may be excluded from assessment in that unit. Students are expected to possess prescribed text books and course readings and will be expected to use them in tutorials and, in some instances, in annual examinations.

Content of history units

The distribution of emphasis within each unit and possible adjustments to the content will be discussed with students early in each semester.

Assessment in history units

Methods of assessment will be discussed with students early in each semester. A student’s final grade in a unit will usually take into account some or all of the following elements: essays and other exercises undertaken in the unit; contributions to tutorials; a final examination or, alternatively, a synoptic essay. In first-year units the final examination is compulsory; in later-year units there is normally a choice between a final examination and a synoptic essay.

Prerequisites

For all later-year units forming part of a History departmental major ¾ any first-year units to the value of twelve credit points offered by the Department of History unless otherwise specified. For particular later-year units not forming part of a departmental major, other units may serve as prerequisites where specified in programs, or where judged appropriate by the Head of Department.

Approved History units taught by other Departments and Centres

The following units, up to a maximum of 16 credit points, may be counted towards a history major.

See entries in this Handbook under the relevant Department or Centre for descriptions of these units.

Department of Classical and Modern European Languages

ANCH2007    Rome and the Greek World
ANCH2009    Artefacts and Society in the Greco-Roman World
ANCH2010    The World of Athens
ANCH2011    Economy and Society in Ancient Greece
ANCH2012    Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

Women’s Studies

WOMS2019    Race, Gender and Nation

Asian History Centre, Faculty of Asian Studies

ASHI2161    China Under Mao 1946-1976
ASHI2203    Origins of East Asian Civilizations
ASHI3002    The Chinese Southern Diaspora
ASHI2005    Modern Korea
AREL2264    How to Live in the Real World: “Practical Learning” in East Asia
ASHY2011    Colonialism and Resistance: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines
ASHY2012    State, Society and Politics in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines
ASHY2013    Mainland Southeast Asia to 1900: Cambodia, Myanmar (Burmar) Thailand and Vietnam
ASHY2014    State, Society and Politics in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burmar) Thailand and Vietnam

FIRST-YEAR UNITS

Australian History    HIST1203

(6 cp)

First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Professor Ann Curthoys

Syllabus: Australian history can be seen as the story of European, especially British, cultures meeting, confronting, and interacting with indigenous societies in a large island continent located in the Asia-Pacific region. In this unit we explore the broad outlines of this history, beginning with the forces in British society leading to the establishment of colonies on the other side of the world and moving onto the complex, protracted, and still continuing processes whereby these colonies were transformed into an independent nation. We consider the ways in which the creation of an Australian nation involved and continues to involve extensive debates on matters of national identity, the Federal system, and relationships with Britain and Asia. Within this broad framework, themes of particular interest include: relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, especially in connection with land; divergent experiences of migration and settlement; and class and gender relationships. Wherever possible, examples from popular culture ¾ ballads, journalism, cartoons, novels, radio, theatre, film, television, travel and tourism ¾ will be used to explore these themes.

The unit also aims to help students think historically, by introducing issues such as (present day) perspective, interpretation, narrative, and perceptions of time, all of which affect the way we study and understand the past.

Proposed assessment: Tutorial participation, exercises, an essay of 2500 words, and an examination.

Preliminary reading

• Day, D, Claiming a Continent (Penguin 1996)
• Peel, M, A Little History of Australia (MUP 1997)

Incompatibility: HIST 1001 Australian History

Note: This unit may be taken as part of the Australian Studies program major.

The French Revolution: A Cultural Perspective    HIST 1017

(6 cp)

First semester
Two 1-hour lectures and one tutorial per week

Lecturers: Dr Forth

Syllabus: The French Revolution is undoubtedly one of the great historical events of the modern era and fundamentally transformed the ways in which westerners conceive of politics and society. This unit will guide students through the many twists and turns of the French Revolution and help unravel some of its complexity. We will assess the Revolution’s short-term social and economic causes and chart its development from the fall of the Bastille through the Reign of Terror to the rise of Napoleon. Considerable attention will be given to the long term cultural transformations that, in the words of one historian, made the Revolution ‘possible because conceivable’. These changes include: new ideas about society and nature generated during the Enlightenment, slanderous and pornographic literature directed against authority figures, the decline of religious belief, and changes in the relationship between the king and the populace. An emphasis on festivals, symbols, imagery, and gender will be sustained throughout the semester as we consider the Revolution as it existed in the collective imagination of the French during this tumultuous period. Finally, we will explore the expansion of revolutionary consciousness in Europe generally.

Proposed assessment: Essays and tutorial participation.

Preliminary reading

• Hunt, L, Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution, California, 1984.
• Sutherland, D, France, 1789-1815: Revolution and Counterrevolution, Fontana, 1985.

Incompatibility: HIST 1014 Culture and Society in Britain and France, 1750-1851

Rome: Republic to Empire    HIST1019

(6 cp)

First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week

Lecturer: Mr Barnes

Syllabus: This unit considers the political, social and cultural history of Rome in the period when the Roman state changed from a republic to a virtual monarchy (approximately 70BC-70AD). Through a study of ancient sources it examines the crisis in republican institutions brought about by the growth in Rome’s empire, the civil wars, the Augustan settlement and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. It also considers the development of social classes (including slaves) and the roles of women in this period. Finally it considers cultural developments, with particular attention to literature, art and architecture.

Preliminary reading

• Scullard, H H, From the Gracchi to Nero, Methuen, 5th ed.

Proposed assessment: a bibliographical assignment, an historiographical assignment, one essay, tutorial participation and a final examination.

Incompatibility: This unit is incompatible with the former units ANHY1001 and ANCH1003.

Note: This unit is also part of the Classics major.

Ends of Empire: British Colonial Rule and its Outcomes    HIST1015

(6 cp)

Second semester
Two hour-long lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturers: Mr Hancock, Dr Hyslop

Prerequisites: None.

Syllabus: The expansion of the Second British Empire from the late 18th century created or transformed societies throughout the New World. The legacy of this empire meant in some cases the substantial implantation of British civilisation, and in others the superficial introduction of Western democracy. The imperial inheritance also bestowed racial and ethnic divisions, social inequalities, and lop-sided economic and cultural development. In this unit we shall investigate how new states emerged and older ones collapsed; how traditional religions and political structures resisted or collaborated, or contrived to do both; how racial attitudes determined the character of British or settler rule; and how the character of colonial government in turn affected racial feelings. Other themes to be examined include: the formation or development of white settler colonies; the abolition of the slave trade; the imposition of colonial rule; the spread of mission Christianity and of Western education; the growth of trade and investment; and the demands of imperial security. In 1999 our study of these themes will focus upon Africa and Australasia, with some consideration also of India and Fiji.

Proposed assessment: Two essays (of 1500 and 2500 words respectively), tutorial participation, and a final examination.

Preliminary reading

• Porter, B, The Lion’s Share: A Short History of British Imperialism, 1850-1983, Longman, London, 1984 edition

Slavery, Freedom and the Birth of the United States    HIST1016

(6cp)

Second semester
Two one-hour lectures and a one-hour tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped.

Lecturer: To be advised

Syllabus: The United States of America began as a series of isolated, poor, and relatively insignificant colonies scattered down the East Coast of North America. Between 1607 and 1788 these colonies developed into viable and stable societies that incorporated both African-American slavery and an ideology of freedom, autonomy and individual rights. In 1789 the new United States of America faced the world as a beacon of liberty and as a bastion of slavery.

This course examines the birth of the United States from the founding of the colonies to the end of the American Revolution with this contradiction firmly in mind. We will examine the colonies’ creation and development of labour systems and social organisations, with special emphasis upon ideas and institutions that simultaneously strengthened and broadened ideas of white freedom while systematically entrenching black slavery. The course will conclude with an examination of the American Revolution in the light of these ideas. In so doing we can draw parallels and contrasts with other colonial experiences, such as those of Australia and Canada, and explore ideas concerning national identity, anticolonialism, and the process of nation building.

Proposed assessment: The assessment package will include a document exercise, tutorial participation, a longer essay of 2500 words, and a formal examination.

Preliminary reading

• Morgan, E S, American Slavery, American Freedom, New York, 1975

Illuminating the Dark Ages: Western Europe from the Barbarian Invasions to the Crusades     HIST1018

(6 cp)

Second semester
Offered every year
Two lectures and one tutorial a week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturers: Ms Tarbin and Dr Tillotson

Syllabus: This unit studies the emergence of a new society and culture in Western Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire, a period often referred to as “the Dark Ages”. It explores the concepts and prejudices that lie behind this label, with its overtones of barbarism after the civilization of Rome, and its assumptions about the opaqueness of these centuries to historians. We shall use a broad range of types of evidence that includes archaeology and artworks as well as written texts to challenge stereotypes and seek a balanced understanding of early medieval society, during the centuries when the foundations of modern Europe were being laid.

The unit begins with the removal of the last Roman emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, in 476 and concludes in 1100 after the recovery of Jerusalem by the First Crusade. Topics studied in lectures and tutorials will include the character of the kingdoms established by Germanic invaders in the provinces of the Western empire; the careers of expansion and conquest of the Vikings and Normans; monasticism and the Christianizing of Western Europe; the development of the German Empire and the Papacy; interactions between Muslims and Christians; Romanesque architecture; and changing concepts of marriage and the family. Throughout the focus will be on critical evaluation of modern scholarly debates by means of a close examination of primary sources, though in all cases Latin and other-language texts will be studied in modern English translations.

Proposed assessment: (1) an exercise in library research compiling an annotated bibliography, which will then become the basis for an essay of approximately 2,500 words; (2) a formal tutorial presentation and short reflective comments on tutorial topics; and (3) a final examination requiring students to write a synoptic essay on the main themes of the unit.

Preliminary reading

• Collins, R, Early Medieval Europe 300-1000, Macmillan

Note:

1. This unit is also part of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies program.

2. This unit is also part of the Classics Major.

Incompatibility: Students who have completed Medieval Studies I or HIST1022 may not credit HIST1018 towards their degree.

LATER-YEAR UNITS

The prerequisite for later-year units forming a History departmental major is first-year units to the value of twelve credit points offered by the Department of History. For particular later-year units not forming part of a departmental major, other units may serve as prerequisites where specified in programs, or where judged appropriate by the Head of Department.

FULL-YEAR UNITS ¾ 16 CREDIT POINTS

History of the United States, 1776-1980    HIST2125

(16 cp)

Offered each year
Two one-hour lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Deslippe

Prerequisites: Any first-year History units to the value of twelve credit points

Syllabus: This unit considers the history of the United States from the origins of the American Revolution to the recent past. It surveys the political, social, economic, and cultural development of the United States with particular attention to the struggles over who is, and what it means to be, “American”. We will examine the following themes:

• the formation of the republic and the growth of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government;
• the contested meanings of citizenship, especially in the context of demands for gender and racial equality;
• the geographical expansion and foreign policy of the United States and its influence on world history;
• the industrial age and class formation in the 19th and 20th centuries;
• the impact of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam;
• the rise of the liberal state with a focus on the influence of reform and social protest movements;
• the United States’ development as a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society.

Proposed assessment: Two essays, tutorial participation, and a final examination or thematic essay.

Preliminary reading

• Brinkley, A, The Unfinished Nation
• The American Social History Project, Who Built America? (2 volumes)

Incompatibility: This unit is incompatible with HIST2082 The United States: 1765-1980

20th Century Australia    HIST2134

(16 cp)

Annual unit
Offered in 1999
Two lectures and one tutorial a week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Knott

Prerequisite: Any first year History units to the value of twelve credit points, or with the permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: This unit will focus on the processes, ideas and events ¾ external and internal ¾ that have shaped Australia since it achieved nationhood in 1901. The course is organised thematically, rather than chronologically and will emphasise a practical approach to the study of Australian history. Themes and topics to be examined include: Federal-State politics, class struggle and industrial relations; the treatment of Aborigines; ethnic divisions and sectarianism; political protest in rural Australia; crime and corruption; the changing role of women; depression and unemployment; the two world wars; migration and multiculturalism; poverty, affluence and consumerism; sport and national identity; Vietnam, student protest and Aboriginal cultural renaissance.

Proposed assessment: Tutorial participation, essays, and an optional end-of-year essay or examination.

Preliminary reading

• Johnston, G, My Brother Jack, Fontana.
• McCalman, J, Struggletown, Hyland House

Incompatibility: HIST2010, HIST2011 and HIST6010 Modern Australia.

Note: This unit can be taken as part of the Australian Studies program and is a designated unit for the BA (Australian Studies).

FIRST SEMESTER UNITS ¾ 8 CREDIT POINTS

History and Theory    HIST2110

(8 cp)

Offered in first semester each year
One two hour lecture and one hour tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturers: Dr Forth, Dr Matthews, Dr Reynolds

Prerequisites: At least twelve credit points in History (Arts) or Asian History

Students entering History IV must have successfully completed this unit.

Incompatibility: Writing Histories HIST3001

Syllabus: This unit explores long-standing and recent debates over the nature of history, historians, and the past. The unit will consider a wide variety of historical texts, looking at notions of historical truth, history as process, and how historians construct an historical past. In particular, it will focus on the theory and writing of history since the linguistic turn. Topics may include: the Annales School; social history; Marxist theories of history; ‘postcolonial’ critiques of history; Foucault and the new cultural history; feminist histories; and postmodernism and history.

Proposed assessment: Essays and tutorial participation.

Preliminary reading

• Novik, P, That Noble Dream, Cambridge UP, 1998
• Evans, R, In Defence of History, Granta, 1997
• Carr, E H, What is History? Penguin, 1961

The Decline of the Middle Ages: England 1348-1485    HIST2120

(8 cp)

First semester
Offered in 1999 and in alternate years
Two lectures and one tutorial a week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Tillotson

Syllabus: A study of English society, culture and politics from the arrival of bubonic plague in Western Europe to the death of Richard III at Bosworth Field, the traditional date for the end of the English Middle Ages. The unit looks critically at the concept that medieval civilisation declined in these centuries, to the point where the accession of the Tudors can be viewed as marking the transition to a distinctively different period. Topics covered will include the impact of the Black Death on economy and society; towns and trade; the Hundred Years War and the rise of nationalism; political instability and the Wars of the Roses; the emergence of parliament as an important institution of government; heresy and criticism of the Church; the status of women; Robin Hood and the problem of social disorder; and the Gothic art and architecture of the period. Emphasis will be placed on interpretation of primary sources (historical, archaeological, literary and artistic), but no language skills other than English will be required.

Proposed assessment: A combination of essay, short exercises, tutorial participation and optional examination.

Preliminary reading

• Keen, M, England in the Later Middle Ages, Methuen, p’back or
• Myers, A R, England in the Late Middle Ages, Penguin
• Swanson, R N, Church and Society in Late Medieval England, Blackwell

Note: This unit may also be taken as part of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program.

Britain Explored: social and political encounters c1850-1920    HIST2127

(8 cp)

First semester 1999
2 hours of lectures and one tutorial a week

Lecturer: Dr Lloyd

Prerequisite: first-year history units to the value of twelve credit points points or ENGL 2062 Duchesses and Drudges: A Cultural History of Women in Britain, 1750-1850

Syllabus: This unit examines volatile social and cultural relationships in Britain, c1850-1920, with particular emphasis on Empire, commodity capitalism and new forms of social knowledge. We shall draw on recent scholarship to explore the various ways in which women and men understood, experienced and observed family, neighbourhood, community, nation and Empire. What patterns of negotiation, exchange, contestation and “myth” shaped economic and political relationships? What boundaries existed in this society: who crossed them and with what effects? What happened when the Imperial gaze was reversed and Britain was observed by travellers from the colonies? Discussion will cover social exploration, urban sensationalism, class antagonism, Victorian masculinity and femininity, “whiteness”, political participation and campaigns, fears of sexual danger, the spectacle of Empire, urban cultural geography, visions of the countryside, imagined pasts and futures. These issues will be investigated through a range of nineteenth-century written and visual sources including newspaper journalism, autobiography, novels, advertisements and engravings.

Proposed assessment: Tutorial participation and exercises; 3500-word research essay; 1500-word synoptic essay.

Preliminary reading

• Walkowitz, J, City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London, Chicago, 1992

Convicts and Emigrants: Australia, 1770s to 1880s    HIST2128

(8 cp)

First semester 1999 and alternate years thereafter
Two hour-long lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Hyslop

Prerequisites: First-year units in History to the value of twelve credit points, or permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: This unit investigates European settlement in Australia, with particular emphasis on convicts and emigrants, from the decade of Cook’s discovery to the ‘boom’ years of colonial prosperity and the great international exhibitions. Major themes of this unit will include the characteristics of a ‘settler society’, issues of race and gender on the frontier, class formation in colonial communities, and Australia’s role in British colonial policy. We shall explore the following topics, among others: the nature and functioning of the convict system; the vices and virtues of a convict colony; the debate over penal transportation; the successive emigrations of British and Irish peoples; their expectations and experience as settlers in a ‘new’ country; the British encounter with Aboriginal Australia; and the transfer of British ideas, values and institutions. We shall also consider colonial perceptions of the imperial relationship, the colonists’ views of the world and of themselves, and images of Australia, whether as a ‘land of criminals’ or as ‘a new Britannia in another world’.

Proposed assessment: A research essay of 4000 words, tutorial participation and either a synoptic essay of 2000 words or an examination.

Preliminary reading

• Inglis, K, Australian Colonists: an exploration of social history, Melbourne 1993 (2nd edn)

Marginals, Misfits and Miscreants: Western Europe 1500-1700    HIST2132

(8 cp)

First semester 1999
Offered every other year
Two lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Ms Tarbin

Prerequisite: Any first year History units to the value of twelve credit points.

Syllabus: This unit examines the society and culture of early modern Europe by way of the experiences of marginalised, demonised or persecuted groups and individuals. Beginning with the Reformation, we explore the meanings and implications of subsequent attempts at social reform as Western Europeans pursued their visions of the ideal society. Micro-history and local studies provide the lens through which to consider early modern institutions and historical developments. We will pay particular attention to notions of ‘reform’, processes of marginalisation and the history of intolerance in relation to popular and elite culture. Topics will include radical utopianism, changing sexual and social mores, the imaginary ‘Other’ in European thought, witch beliefs, institutions of social discipline, and the social dimensions of poverty.

Proposed assessment: A short reflective paper, choice of research essay or bibliographical project, take-home exam and tutorial participation.

Preliminary reading

• Spierenburg, P, The Broken Spell: A Cultural and Anthropological History of Preindustrial Europe, New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1991.

Incompatibility: None

Note: This unit may be taken as part of the BA European Studies.

U.S. Immigration and Ethnicity    HIST2135

(8 cp)

First semester
Offered in 1999 and alternate years
Two one-hour lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Deslippe

Prerequisite: Any first-year history units to the value of twelve credit points or permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: This unit examines the history of immigration and ethnicity in the United States between 1820 and the present. We will consider the processes, politics, and cultures of “new” Americans settling into the United States. Instead of adopting the traditional view of immigrants embracing the “American Way,” we will focus on how immigrants retained and refashioned their ethnic identities. We will study immigration and ethnicity in terms of its relevance to the law, urbanisation, religion, slavery, mass culture, and the transformation of race, class, and gender relations in the U.S.

In addition, we will compare and contrast U.S. immigration and ethnic history with that of other countries including Australia. By looking at world migration patterns, we will place the history of immigration to the U.S. in a larger, less “exceptional” context.

Proposed assessment: One essay, short weekly writing assignments, tutorial participation, and a final exam or thematic essay.

Preliminary reading

• Takaki, R, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1993.

Duchesses and Drudges: A Cultural History of Women in Britain, 1750-1850    ENGL2062

(8 cp)

Offered in 1999 and in alternate years
First semester
One one-hour lecture and one 2-hour seminar per week

Coordinators: Dr Lloyd, Dr Russell (English Department)

Prerequisite: ENGL1001 plus one other first-year English unit or any first-year History units to the value of twelve credit points or two compulsory units in the Cultural and Critical Studies Program major.

Syllabus : In 1784, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, campaigned for Charles James Fox in a British Parliamentary election. Her controversial intervention into the political domain raises questions about how she and her contemporaries understood this episode. Why was much of the scandal represented in sexual terms and as a reversal of gender order?

This course investigates questions such as these by examining how concepts of ‘public’ and ‘private’ structured eighteenth- and nineteenth-century political and social debate, and how they have been used in modern accounts of the same period. The sexual division of labour and leisure will be of central concern. We will examine critically the notion of a ‘domestic sphere’ and investigate types and uses of space, both material and figurative. Topics covered will include: political scandals, women preachers, actresses, servants and prostitutes, campaigns against slavery and changing constructions of motherhood. The course will be inter-disciplinary, drawing on feminist history, literary criticism and cultural studies. A range of material will be studied, including poems, plays, caricatures, newspapers, novels, pamphlets and diaries.

Proposed assessment: A 1000-word document study ¾ 20%; a 2500-word research essay ¾ 40%; a 1500-word synoptic essay or exam ¾ 25%; seminar participation and presentation ¾ 15%.

Preliminary reading

• Austen, J, Emma
• Davidoff, L & Hall, C, Family Fortunes, Part 1

Note: ENGL2062 can be taken as a designated unit in the Critical and Cultural Studies major and may also be taken as part of a Program major in Women’s Studies.

A History of Western Sexuality    WOMS2018

(8 cp)

First semester
Offered in 1999 and alternate years thereafter
Three hours per week of lecture and tutorial. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Matthews

Prerequisite: If this unit is to be included in a History Departmental major, any first year History units to the value of twelve credit points. Otherwise any first year units to the value of twelve credit points.

Syllabus: This unit will examine the emergence of the new field of the history of sexuality, both as an example of the creation of a new field of knowledge and in terms of the substantive issues it has explored. Specific topics will vary from year to year, but will include three or four of the following: fertility, contraception and abortion; sexually transmitted diseases; prostitution; pornography; homosexual/lesbian and bisexual identities; cross-dressing; sexual panics and moral regulation; race, nationalism, eugenics and sexuality; sexology and sexual knowledges in various periods.

Proposed assessment: Tutorial participation and two essays.

Preliminary reading

• Weeks, J, Sex, Politics and Society, Longman 1981
• Duberman, M B, Vicinus, M, Chauncey, G (eds) Hidden from History, Penguin 1991

Note: This unit may form part of a program major in Women’s Studies; or Cultural and Critical Studies.

SECOND SEMESTER UNITS ¾ 8 CREDIT POINTS

The Black and White Tribes of South Africa: 1867 to the Present    HIST2090

(8 cp)

Second semester
Offered in 1999 and alternate years
Two lectures and one tutorial a week. Lectures will be taped

Prerequisites: Any first-year History units to the value of twelve credit points.

Lecturer: Mr Hancock

Syllabus: A study of South Africa from the mineral revolutions until the 1990s. Particular emphasis will be given to the origins, changing character and political, social and cultural effects of apartheid, to race and class relationships, the emergence of Black and White nationalism, the divergent interests and power struggles within and between the Black and White communities, and to the creation and performance of the New South Africa.

Proposed assessment: a first essay of 2500 words, tutorial participation, and an examination or 3000 word synoptic essay.

Preliminary reading

• Beinart, W, Twentieth-Century South Africa, Oxford 1994
• Lelyveld, J, Move Your Shadow, Michael Joseph, 1986

Country Lives: Australian Rural History    HIST2129

(8 cp)

Second semester 1999 and alternate years thereafter
Two hour-long lectures and one tutorial per week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Hyslop

Prerequisites: First-year units in History to the value of twelve credit points, or permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: This unit examines the history of rural Australia, from the ‘squatting age’ of the 1830s and ‘40s to the era of ‘globalisation’. A number of major themes will be pursued, including patterns of settlement, issues of race and class in the outback, gender roles in rural communities, and the relationship between city and country. Among specific topics for study we shall explore the following: pastoral dominance, ‘unlocking the lands’, sources of rural labour, the rise and fall of country towns, rural politics, race relations in the bush, work practices and technology, farming and the environment, rural social institutions, and the economics of survival in commodity production. We shall also discuss government policy and rural development, the role of the bush in the national psyche, urban perceptions of life on the land, and the view from the country in the late twentieth century.

Proposed assessment: A research essay of 4000 words, tutorial participation and either a synoptic essay of 2000 words or an examination.

Preliminary reading

• Bromby, R, Unlocking the Land: The Saga of Farming in Australia, Lothian, Melbourne, 1989

History on Film    HIST2130

(8 cp)

Second semester
Offered in 1999 and alternate years
One lecture and a tutorial/seminar, plus up to three hours for film viewing

Lecturer: Dr Matthews

Prerequisites: If this unit is to be included in a History Departmental major, any first year History units to the value of twelve credit points. If it is to be included in a Film Studies major, FILM1001. Otherwise, any first year units to the value of twelve credit points.

Syllabus: Throughout the twentieth century, film and television rather than books have been the medium from which many people have gained a knowledge of history and a consciousness of the past. This unit will address the issue of how we can assess and evaluate the contribution of popular film to our sense of the past. How does popular film represent, reconstruct and interpret the past? What can film do that a history book cannot? It will look at any array of film genres: historical feature film, biopic, documentary, docudrama. A number of specific films will be examined (1) as representations or interpretations of history; (2) as forms of evidence for social, cultural and political history; and (3) in the context of the history of the film industry.

Proposed assessment: Tutorial participation and two essays. Details will be finalised in consultation with students.

Preliminary reading

• Rosenstone, R, Visions of the Past, Harvard UP, 1995
• O’Connor, J, Image as Artifact, Krieger, 1990

Note: This unit may form part of a program major in Film Studies.

World History: An Introduction    HIST2131

(8 cp)

Second semester
Offered every year
Two lectures and a tutorial each week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Professor Curthoys

Prerequisites and C-orequisites: Completion of twelve credit points at first year level. There is no requirement to complete first year history before undertaking this unit. (N.B. This is not a first year unit, and does not serve as an entry point to the History departmental major).

Syllabus: This unit surveys the past on the largest possible scale, providing a framework within which it is possible to ask large historical questions. It considers various attempts to understand the human past as a whole, and to define its major phases, periods, or epochs. It also considers different notions of time (such as linear, cyclical, calendrical, historical) involved in these attempts. There is discussion, of the value and limitations of conventional western forms of periodisation, such as ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern. Though designed for students in History, this unit should also be of interest to students in many other disciplines and fields.

The unit focuses on the relationship between humans and their environment in the broadest sense. It begins by placing human history in a larger context by exploring understandings of the origins of the Universe itself, the planet we inhabit, life on earth, and the emergence of our own species. It then considers different modes of human survival and interaction with the environment, from earliest times to the present. It subjects to historical investigation both the mind (belief, knowledge, arts, sciences) and the body (food, drink, sex, health, and disease), and their inter-relation. Themes include: different and changing forms of community, including family, village, farm, city, nation, and diaspora, and changes in the extent and forms of interaction beyond these communities, such as empires, migration, trade, and war.

Proposed assessment: Students will be assessed through tutorial participation, essays and/or tutorial exercises to a total of 4000 words, and either a formal examination or an additional essay.

Preliminary reading

• Bulliet, R W et al, The Earth and its Peoples: A Global History, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1997.
• Calder, N, Timescale: An Atlas of the Fourth Dimension, Chatto and Windus, London, 1983.
• Ponting, C, A Green History of the World, Penguin, 1991.

Race and Racism in Modern Europe    HIST2133

(8 cp)

Second semester
Offered in 1999 and alternate years
One 2-hour lecture and one tutorial per week

Lecturer: Dr Forth

Prerequisites: History first year units to the value of twelve credit points, or permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: This unit introduces students to the roots of modern racism by focusing on the development of European medical and scientific knowledge since the eighteenth century. We will investigate the ways in which the concept of ‘race’ has been constructed in the human sciences and reveal its interconnections with other ways of thinking about human difference, especially gender and class. Much time will be spent exploring the historical role of the body as the bearer of this culturally-defined sense of difference and the range of possible consequences springing from such thinking, including discrimination, segregation, eugenics, and extermination. We will also take stock of the appearance of racialized concepts and imagery in the European cultural tradition by examining literature, poetry, and the graphic arts. Finally, we will consider the historical effects of such concepts with reference to the development of empire, immigration restrictions, and the mass extermination of the Jews during the Holocaust.

Proposed assessment: Essays and tutorial participation.

Preliminary reading

• Gilman,S, Difference and Pathology: Stereotypes of Sexuality, Race, and Madness, Cornell, 1985
• Hannaford, I, Race: The History of an Idea in the West, Johns Hopkins, 1996

World at War, 1939-1945    HIST2136

(8 cp)

Second semester
Offered in 1999 and 2000
One lecture, a 2 hour film or documentary screening, and one tutorial a week. Lectures will be taped

Lecturer: Dr Knott

Prerequisite: Any first year History units to the value of twelve credit points, or with the permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: The Second World War was the greatest conflict in history. An estimated 50 million men, women and children died in a war that engulfed the globe and shaped the world in which we live; it is the defining event in the history of the twentieth century.

This comparative history unit will focus on political, social and cultural aspects of World War Two. It will encompass the war in Europe, and the war in Asia and the Pacific. Topics and themes will include: Hitler and Japan’s war aims; Blitzkrieg in Poland and France; the uses of propaganda; civilian mobilisation and total war; the effects of mass bombing; allied leadership, cooperation and division (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin); civilians under Nazi occupation (collaboration and resistance); racial policies and genocide; wartime espionage; science at war; Japan’s occupation of South East Asia; anti-colonialism and the war in Asia; planning for peace and the liberation of Europe; the decision to drop the atomic bomb.

Proposed assessment: Tutorial participation and essays.

Preliminary reading

• Kitchen, M, World in Flames, Longman;
  or
• Parker, R A C, The Second World War, Oxford University Press

Note: This unit can be taken as part of the European Studies program and is a designated unit for the BA (European Studies).

The Historical Jesus and Christian Origins    HIST2138

(8 cp)

Second semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week

Lecturer: Mr Barnes

Prerequisite: Twelve credit points from any of the following: any first-year History units; any first-year Classics units; any first-year Religious Studies units; or with permission of the Head of Department.

Syllabus: The “quest of the historical Jesus” has been one of the most debated issues in modern historical research, partly because it affects the theological claims made for Jesus by the Christian religion. This unit examines the ancient sources for Jesus’ life, including the New Testament and related literature, and attempts to place Jesus in his Jewish and wider context. It then considers the rise of the Christian religion, with particular attention to ancient social factors. Finally it discusses the various modern quests of the historical Jesus, and examines their motivations.

Preliminary reading

• Sanders, E P, The Historical Figure of Jesus, Penguin
• Prickett, S, and Barnes, R, The Bible, Cambridge University Press

Proposed assessment: based on written work, tutorial participation and a final examination.

Incompatibility: This unit is incompatible with the former unit CLAS2008.

Note: This unit is also part of the Classics and Religious Studies majors.

Researching and Writing History    HIST3006

(8 cp)

Second semester in 1999
Offered each year thereafter
Seminars and excursions, class contact average three hours per week

Lecturers: Professor Curthoys, Dr Forth

Prerequisites: Completion of 28 credit points in History, including History and Theory.

Syllabus: This unit aims to assist students to undertake original research in history through discussion of questions of method and ethics in historical research and writing, and through students undertaking research exercises and a research essay. Each student will be helped to formulate an independent research proposal in a field of history known to both the teacher and the student. Students will be encouraged to conduct research using a variety of traditional and non-traditional historical sources, such as published and archival written documents, oral history, material culture, place and cultural landscape, and visual sources such as photographs and film. Excursions are arranged to various relevant institutions in Canberra (such as the National Library, the War Memorial, National Film and Sound Archive, the Australian Museum repositories, the National Archives of Australia, the Noel Butlin Archives). Staff at each of these institutions supply an introduction to the strength of holdings, relevance to historical research, and methods of access to the collections.

Students will also be encouraged to experiment with historical writing. There will be some discussion of the diverse forms historical writing has taken, and the possibilities for innovation in writing history. Students will have an opportunity to give work-in-progress seminars before submitting the final version of their research essay. Workshops are designed to encourage students to reflect on their work, and offer each other constructive criticism and support.

Proposed assessment: 5,000-word research essay; short exercises interpreting source material; seminar participation.

Preliminary reading

• Burke, P (ed), New Perspectives on Historical Writing, Polity Press, 1991

Incompatibility: HIST 3005 Third Year Honours Seminar

UNITS NOT OFFERED IN 1999

The following units will not be offered in 1999 but may be offered in future years.

Aboriginal Australian History    HIST2022

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in 2000

Australians at Work    HIST2078

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in first semester 2000 and alternate years thereafter.

Healing Powers: Medicine and  Society since 1750    HIST2111

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in second semester 2000 and alternate years thereafter

The Medieval Church 1198-1378    HIST2114

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in 2000 and in alternate years

Popular Culture, Gender and Modernity    HIST2122

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in 2000 and in alternate years.

Histories of the Self in the Modern Age    HIST2124

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999, offered in 2000 and alternate years

Ancient Israel: History, Religion and Archaeology    HIST2137

(8cp)

Not offered in 1999. Will be offered in 2000

National Identity and its Critics: Asia, the British Isles, and Australia    ASHY2261

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in 2000 and alternate years thereafter in second semester

Sexual Politics    WOHY2004

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999. Offered in 2000 and alternate years

Colonial and Contemporary Pacific Islands    HIST2054

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

From Socialism to Thatcherism: the British State and Society 1945-1990    HIST2103

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

American Voices: Aspects of Social Thought in the United States 1900-1990    HIST2107

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

Technology and Society, 1800-2000    HIST2117

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

Urban Australia, 1850-1980    HIST2119

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

Electric Citizens: The rise of modern media in the United States, 1865-2000    HIST2121

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

Britain in War and Peace 1914-1945    HIST2123

(8 cp)

Not offered in 1999

The American Sixties    HIST2126

(8 cp)

Not available in 1999

THE DEGREE WITH HONOURS

Honours School in History

Intending honours students should first read the general statement ‘The Degree with Honours’ in the introductory section of the Faculty of Arts entry.

Students entering the honours year (History 4) need to have completed 76 credit points in units offered or approved by the Department. At least 52 of the 76 credit points must be in units offered by the Department, and students must have completed both History and Theory HIST2110 (8 credit points) and the Third Year Honours Seminar HIST3005 (8 credit points) OR Researching and Writing History HIST3006 (8 credit points).

Of the 76 history credit points required to enter the honours year (History 4), at least twelve must be completed at Distinction level or above and the remainder at Credit level or above. Students may compensate for up to sixteen credit points in history at Pass level with an equal number of points in history at Distinction level or above (that is, in addition to the twelve Distinction credit points which are required as a minimum).

Combined Honours

Students entering a combined honours year will need to have completed 52 credit points in units offered or approved by the Department. At least 36 of the 52 credit points must be in units offered by the Department, and students must have completed both History and Theory HIST2110 (8 credit points) and the Third Year Honours Seminar HIST3005 (8 credit points) OR Researching and Writing History HIST3006 (8 credit points). Students considering a combined honours year should consult the Head of Department as early as possible.

Of the 52 history credit points required to enter a combined honours year, at least six must be at Distinction level or above and the remainder at Credit level or above. Students may compensate for up to sixteen credit points in history at Pass level with an equal number of points in history at Distinction level or above (that is, in addition to the six Distinction credit points which are required as a minimum).

History 4

The fourth year of the honours course will be prescribed from year to year by the Head of Department.

In 1999 it consists of:

History 4A, a research thesis of 15,000 words on an approved topic. The thesis must be submitted on a specified date soon after the end of the first semester; students will give at least one seminar on their topic during the first semester. Students are expected to have sought approval for their topic and made supervision arrangements with a member of staff no later than January.

History 4B, a special subject involving intensive reading, weekly tutorials and the presentation of essays during the second semester.

History 4C, a special subject involving intensive reading, weekly tutorials and the presentation of written essays during the second semester.

Final honours results are determined on the basis of History 4 as a whole.

GRADUATE STUDIES

The Department provides teaching and supervision of research projects in a range of courses within the Graduate School. Courses are available leading to the Graduate Diploma and to the degrees of Master of Letters, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. Normally graduate students in this Department will be enrolled in the History Program of the Graduate School.

Prospective students should consult the Graduate School Handbook. They are advised to contact the Graduate Adviser in the Department of History for advice about admission procedures and the availability of supervision in the field of history they wish to study.