Making the Global World: 1750-2001

Subject 131-118 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 1 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2009.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week
Total Time Commitment: Total of 8 hours per week.
Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

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

Subject Overview: This subject examines the global system that emerged between 1750 and 2001, from the encounters and struggles as Europe expanded into Africa, Asia and the Pacific; today's so-called ��������clash of civilizations.�������� The subject begins with the ��������Enlightenment,�������� the revolutionary period and the rise of the national idea in the 18th and 19th centuries, and ends with the global anxieties, international and multinational systems, and ��������rogue states�������� of the 21st century. It seeks to understand how today��������s global world developed, and how Europe became ��������the West.�������� The subject looks at the struggle between faith and reason, the rise of capitalism and the spread of European imperialism, and the opposition to these processes: resistance to capitalism and to imperial rule, revolutions and wars of national liberation. It examines closely the development of a globalised international system after World War II, paying particular attention to the interaction between "the West" and other cultures in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. It looks at the ways these issues played out in the 20th century, in world wars, fascism, communism, the cold war, decolonisation, and neo-imperialism, finishing with the transformation of global politics by the events of September 11, 2001.
Objectives:
  • understand basic ideas and debates around the nation and nationalism, and be able to set these ideas against other developments in the modern world, in particular the phenomenon of globalisation;
  • be able to identify the major ideological currents of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and recognise and explain the impacts of these currents on global history;
  • develop an ability to look at history in a critical and plural way, using both primary and secondary materials, and appreciate the existence of different approaches and perspectives.
Assessment: A short exercise of 500 words, 10% (due early semester), a research essay of 2000 words, 40% (due mid-semester), a reflective essay 1500 words, 40% (due in the examination period) and class participation, including compulsory class presentation, 10%
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available from the Bookroom at the beginning of semester
Breadth Options:

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

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.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • 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 contexts through the contextualisation of judgements, developing a critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and possibilities and by constructing an argument.
Related Course(s): Bachelor of Arts(Media and Communications)
Diploma in Arts (History)
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: History
History
History Major

Download PDF version.