Making News: Making Histories

This subject is not offered in 2008.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

The media in their news-making role invoke histories continually. The subject will introduce students to a more critical approach to the way in which history is presented in the media and will help them to identify some of the simplifications popularly circulated. But it will also aim to provide some tools for the researching of other forms of contemporary history. It will do this by examining some of the major news stories of the day and the way history is invoked in them, and asking what other forms of historical representation are available or possible. The circulation of counter or alternative histories will also be examined, in a range of media. The subject engages with the way in which the media has presented a number of historical cases and will examine the historical understandings which inform media coverage of current issues such as the Middle East, Aboriginal land claims, and the war on terrorism.

Information Not Available

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• demonstrate research skills through competent use of the library and other information sources;

• show critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion, and by determining the strength of an argument;

• demonstrate understanding of social, ethical and cultural context through the contextualisation of judgements, developing a critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and possibilities and by constructing an argument.