Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  Themes in Australian History

• Unit Code

  HIS1106

• Year

  2016

• Enrolment Period

  1

• Version

  2

• Credit Points

  15

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  On Campus
  Online

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Description

This unit examines key themes in modern Australian history from 1788 including: identity, culture, immigration, sport and leisure, gender, history of politics, working class relationships and the urban-rural dichotomy. It seeks to identify the content and character of Australian identity, problems associated with nationalism and exclusion, engagement with Asia and republicanism. Among other issues, the unit explores the ongoing legacies of colonialism for Aboriginal Australians. All themes are developed over the course of the semester to provide insights into the Australian national story and how historians interpret national history. The themes will be explored through a variety of sources including literature, art, film and material culture.

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded HIS2148, HIS3148, HIS4148

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Analyse and interpret primary sources pertaining to formative issues in Australian society and conduct research on same.
2. Explain how an understanding of major issues of the past is vital for comprehension of their position in the present.
3. Identify and reflect on historical knowledge and skills developed in studying the past.
4. Identify varying and often conflicting interpretations of these issues.
5. Understand important issues which have contributed to the formation of Australian society.

Unit Content

1. Aboriginal Rights: Reclaiming Identity, Culture and Politics.
2. Australia in the 21st century.
3. Australian Cinema and Identity.
4. Convict Australia.
5. Frontier conflict and resistance heroes.
6. Howards Way: Australia in the 1990s.
7. Nationalism and Federation.
8. Postwar immigration
9. Sport and identity.
10. The Dismissal.
11. The Menzies Era.
12. War and national identity.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Formal lectures provide an outline of the course. Selected topics are discussed in tutorials. Audio-visual materials highlight major issues. Written assignments enable students to improve writing and analytical skills.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

Text References

• ^ McGrath, A. (Ed.). (1995). Contested ground. Australian Aborigines under the British Crown. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
• Haebich, A. (1989). For their own good: Aborigines and government in the southwest of Western Australia, 1900-1940. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
• Attwood, B., & Markus, A. (1999). The struggle for Aboriginal rights: A documentary history. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
• Brock, P. (1993). Outback ghettos: A history of Aboriginal institutionalisation and survival. Sydney: Cambridge University Press.
• Reynolds, H. (1981). The other side of the frontier. Ringwood, Vic: Penguin Books.
• Jebb, M. (2002). Blood, sweat and welfare. Perth, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
• Haebich, A. (2000). Broken circles: Fragmenting Indigenous families, 1800-2000. Fremantle, Western Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.
• Goodall, H. (1996). From invasion to embassy. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

Journal References

• Aboriginal History.
• Australian Aboriginal Studies.
• Australian Historical Studies.

^ Mandatory reference

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