Remaking Australia: Change Since 1900

This subject is not offered in 2011.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Commonwealth of Australia gained a reputation for its then distinctive political and social arrangements: wage arbitration, industry protection, a mass Labor party, the enfranchisement of women, a &amp.amp.lsquo..White Australia&amp.amp.rsquo... One hundred years later, most of these arrangements have been abandoned. those that persist have had unexpected consequences. Why did the Australians of the past support such policies? How and why were they altered? And what have they been replaced with? This course tells the story of the remaking of Australia since 1900. It considers successive transformations wrought by war, immigration, social movements, urbanisation, and economic change. It also examines how such changes have reshaped the everyday lives of Australians (black and white, men and women, rich and poor), their relationships to the past, and their self-conceptions, too. In this way, the study of Australia&amp.amp.rsquo..s history nourishes a fuller understanding of the problems of the present, and also of the Australia that might come to be.

Students who successfully complete this subject should...

• have a detailed knowledge of Australian history since 1900. including an understanding of broad shifts in the political arrangements, social relationships and the cultural norms that structure everyday life
• explain these shifts, and to account for the transformation of Australia over the last century
• understand the views and actions of those who lived in earlier timesand have the ability to use historical knoweldge to illuminate the conflicts and possibilities of the present.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students who successfully complete this subject should

• research through competent use of the library and other information sources, and the definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research
• critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion, and by determining the strength of an argument
• thinking in theoretical terms through lectures, tutorial discussion, essay writing and engagement in the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences
• understanding of social, ethical and cultural context through the contextualisation of judgements