Remaking Australia: Change Since 1900

Subject 131-301 (2009)

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

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Semester 2, - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 1.5-hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week
Total Time Commitment: Not available
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

Coordinator

Dr Sean Raymond Scalmer

Contact

Sean Scalmer

sscalmer@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview: 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 ‘White Australia’. 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’s history nourishes a fuller understanding of the problems of the present, and also of the Australia that might come to be.
Objectives: 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.
Assessment: A research essay 2,500 words 60% ,(due mid semester) and a reflective essay 1,500 words,40% (due at end of semester). Hurdle requirement: students must attend a minimum of 75% of tutorials in order to be pass this subject.
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available 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: 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
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Australian Studies
Australian Studies
History
History
History Major

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