Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

The appropriate content of Australian history courses is openly debated. Even the nation called Australia is problematic as competing identities, discourses, conceptualisations and nations-within-the-nation claim space in the academic, community and personal fabric. There are now competing ideologies and contexts shaping, dominating and influencing the way we think historically about Australia.Lectures and tutorials interrogate how histories of the past have been presented. Essay questions, student seminars and lectures are based around the ideas presented in Australia's history. This unit presents a past in Australia that is constructed, invented, contested and open to interpretation.

Aims

To acquire an appreciation that academic, public and political influences can determine historians' portrayal of historical events.

Objectives

At the end of this unit you will be able to:

1. Identify major themes and patterns in the Australian historical experience


2. Apply historical knowledge and methodologies to a specific issue


3. Identify current theories and debates in historiography


4. Gather evidence, analyse, synthesise, argue logically and express ideas coherently

Content

The subject matter is presented in three related activities; a lecture program which will focus on the contested historical narrative and then on historiography or the ways that Australia's past is presented in the public domain; a student seminar program that offers a chance to debate the approaches of historians who assert particular views on key themes and debates in Australian history, a research project or essay that involves analysis of an historical problem or issue and a final examination that offers an opportunity to argue holistically about the discipline and to express personal opinions and interpretations.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit is offered as a series of thirteen weeks of lectures, tutorials and student presentations. To achieve the objectives students will undertake a sequenced program that incorporates debates in historiography, methodology and research, film, documentaries, newspapers and archival evidence. The program will involve shared-learning as well as independent study and teacher-learner interaction.

Assessment

The General Assessment for this unit is both formative and summative. Tasks include a tutorial presentation, weelky quizzes and a written examination.Tutorial: The lecturer or tutor will offer suggestions and directions concerning the content and arrangement of the tutorial presentation.
Exam: Sample exam questions will be available.

Assessment name: Presentation
Description: Oral presentation to class on a specified topics utilising visual material.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2 & 4.
Weight: 25%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Group
Due date: TBA

Assessment name: Weekly Quiz
Description: Short answer questions about the content covered in the lectures and tutorials.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2 & 3.
Weight: 25%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: In Tutorials

Assessment name: Examination (Theory)
Description: Set questions - Written responses.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3 & 4.
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: TBA

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

References:

Deborah Gare and David Ritter, eds, Making Australian History - Perspectives on the Past since 1788, (Sth Melb., Vic.: Thomson 2008). (Prescribed)
Paul Barry, The Rise and Fall of Alan Bond, (Moorebank N.S.W.: Bantam Books, 1991).
Nick Bleszyuski, Shoot Straight You Bastards, (Milsons Point, N.S.W.: Random House, 2003).
John Bryson, Evil Angels, (Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin, 1988).
Ann Curthoys, Freedom Ride: A Freedom Rider Remembers, (Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen and Unwin, 2002).
Stephen Dando-Collins, Captain Bligh's other Mutiny, (Nth Sydney, N.S.W.: Random House, 2007).
Ian Hancock, John Gorton, He Did it His Way,(Sydney: Hodder Headline, 2002).
Paul Kelly, November 1975 - The Inside Story of Australia's Greatest Political Crisis, (St Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen and Unwin, 1995).
Jill Jolliffe, Cover-Up - The Inside story of the Balibo Five, (Melbourne: Scribe, 2001).
Robert Manne, The Petrov Affair, (Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W.: Pergamon, 1987).
Andrew Moore, The Secret Army and the Premier: Conservative Paramilitary Organisations in New South Wales 1930-32, (Kensington, NSW, University of New South Wales Press, 1989).
Alan Parkinson, Maralinga: Australia's Nuclear Waste cover-up, (Sydney: ABC Books, 2007).
Roland Perry, Monash: the outsider who won a war: a biography of Australia's greatest military commander, (Milsons Point, N.S.W.: Random House, 2004).

Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit. Workplace health and safety protocols in relation to computer use apply.

Disclaimer: Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these unit outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 10-Jan-2013