Faculty of Arts History

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Faculty of Arts

Table of Contents

1. Prerequisites
2. Attendance requirement
3. Requirements for a major
4. Honours entry
5. Honours requirements
    5.1. Pure honours
    5.2. Combined honours
    5.3. Part-time honours study
6. Studying overseas
7. Studying intensively
8. Further study
9. Career opportunities
10. For more information
Subject Lists
    First-year subjects
    Second/third-year subjects
    Third/fourth-year subject
    Fourth-year subjects
    Fourth year/postgraduate subjects

The Department of History is one of the leading history departments in Australia and is internationally recognised for its research strengths in Australian, European, American and Asian history. Students will benefit from the unusual breadth and diversity of the department's undergraduate and interdisciplinary teaching programs.

Talented and internationally recognised academic staff and a variety of on-line teaching initiatives, including subject-based email discussions, web-based resources and teaching modules, enrich the learning experience for students of history. Students are trained in the research and analysis of historical information, and develop excellent comprehension and communication skills. These broad-based skills are an excellent foundation for employment in a diverse range of communications, administration and museum-based careers. The optional fieldwork component emphasises the strong vocational value of history. Students interested in expanding their interests and knowledge in history can also progress to higher degree study options at the University of Melbourne.

History is a means of understanding the relationship between past and present. It is a rich and stimulating discipline, exploring the range of human societies through time and across cultures. The study of history enriches our understanding of ourselves. It provides perspective and generates critical understanding of contemporary society.

1. Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for first-year history subjects.

The prerequisite for a second/third-year history subject is usually the completion of two first-year subjects in history (25 points). Students who believe they have completed suitable alternative first-year subjects are advised to consult with the department for permission to enrol. Exemptions may also be granted where second/third-year subjects are taken as part of an approved interdepartmental program with its own entry requirements.

2. Attendance requirement

A threshold requirement for the acceptance of work for evaluation is satisfactory attendance at tutorials. This constitutes a minimum of 50 per cent attendance, unless a higher attendance has been stipulated by the lecturer in charge.

3. Requirements for a major

A major in history usually consists of nine 12.5-point subjects, totalling 112.5 points. It comprises:

• two first-year subjects in history (25 points); and

• seven second/third-year subjects in history (87.5 points). The completion of 131-019 Varieties of History: Memory and History is highly recommended.

Students wishing to qualify for fourth-year honours in history must complete 131-418 Historical Theory and Research as part of their major.

4. Honours entry

The prerequisites for entry to fourth-year honours in history are:

• completion of all the requirements for the BA; and

• completion of a major in history including 131-418 Historical Theory and Research; and

• an average grade of H2B or higher of the second/third-year subjects within the major.

Entry to honours must be approved by the history honours coordinator and the Faculty of Arts honours course adviser.

5. Honours requirements

Students entering honours at mid year or by lateral entry must complete as part of their honours program 131-418 Historical Theory and Research or alternatively 121-503 Research Methods and Design, an intensive subject available in February 2003. Please consult the honours coordinator for details.

5.1. Pure honours

Students undertaking pure honours in history must complete:

• 131-504 History Thesis or 131-505 History Thesis (MYE) (37.5 points); and

• five honours subjects in history (totalling 62.5 points) which must include:

• • 131-434 Reading Course (12.5 points); and

  • two 'advanced' subjects and two 'theory and method' subjects.

  or

  • three 'advanced' subjects and one 'theory and method' subject.

5.2. Combined honours

Students undertaking combined honours in history and another area of study must complete:

• 131-504 History Thesis or 131-505 History Thesis (MYE) (37.5 points); and

• two honours subjects in history (totalling 25 points) which must include:

  • one 'theory and method' subject; and

  • one 'advanced' subject; and

• three honours subjects in the combined area of study (totalling 37.5 points).

or

• honours thesis in the combined area of study (37.5 points); and

• two honours subjects in the combined area of study (totalling 25 points); and

• three honours subjects in history (totalling 37.5 points) which must include:

  • one 'theory and method' subject; and

  • two 'advanced' subjects.

5.3. Part-time honours study

Students undertaking fourth-year honours part time would usually undertake their coursework subjects in the first year and their thesis in the second year.

6. Studying overseas

The Department of History teaches a number of history subjects in Europe and the United States as one-month intensive fieldwork programs in the Summer Semester or Winter Recess. See individual subject entries for details.

7. Studying intensively

The Department of History usually teaches subjects in intensive mode during the Summer Semester (January/February) or during the Winter Recess (July). See individual subject entries for details of subjects offered in intensive mode.

8. Further study

In addition to the research-based MA and PhD degrees, the Department of History also offers coursework MAs in history, in gender studies, and in gender and development as well as graduate and postgraduate diplomas in history, gender studies, and gender and development. These involve a shorter thesis and seminars. They are ideal for those who wish to pursue study on a broader basis and with the support offered by weekly seminars. Brochures are available from the department.

9. Career opportunities

History graduates use their disciplinary skills in a variety of activities. They teach at all levels; they work in archives, libraries, museums, and as professional consultants in the expanding field of public history. They are also to be found in a growing range of occupations that require information skills. Here their ability to conduct research, to locate and evaluate different forms of evidence, and to express their findings clearly and effectively is at a premium. Virtually all jobs stress the need to study, assess and analyse, to communicate, to write reports and to make presentations. The study of history provides the opportunity to acquire such skills. Thus our graduates find employment in the communications industry (journalism, publishing, public relations, advertising), in administration (public service and corporate agencies, especially planning and policy units) and, more generally, in finance and service industries.

In the modern workforce, education does not end at graduation. It continues with specialist training and the development of skills throughout one's working life. The special value of history is that it lays a foundation for such further study that is broader and more durable than a more narrowly vocational first degree.

10. For more information

History Department
Third Floor, John Medley Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 5963
Email: enquiries@history.unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.history.unimelb.edu.au

First-year subjects

131-103 Age of Revolution A: American Revolution
131-153 Age of Revolution B: French Revolution
131-109 Australian Colonial: Claiming a Land
131-190 Australian Modern: Making Histories
131-125 Great Civilisations A
131-126 Great Civilisations B
131-128 Europeans and Conquest A
131-129 Europeans and Conquest B
131-145 USA Today: Society, Culture, Identity
131-154 The World Since World War Two: 1945-1972
131-155 The World Since World War Two: 1973-2002
131-165 Screen Writing History: History on Film
131-191 Medieval World A
131-119 Medieval World B
131-124 Total War in Europe: World War One
131-127 Total War in Europe: World War Two
131-123 Reason and the State
131-116 Sex, Gender and Power: An Introduction
103-100 Computer Applications
136-175 The Ecological History of Humankind

Second/third-year subjects

131-018 Searching for the American Dream
131-019 Varieties of History: Memory and History
131-021 Great Moments in Australian Sport
131-022 Consuming Sport
131-023 Reformation England 1485-1560
131-024 The Body: History, Sex & Gender
131-025 Empire, Race and Human Rights: 1800-2000
131-026 Picturing Australia
131-027 War & Australian Society Since 1919
131-028 Birth of Industrial Society in Britain
131-030 From the Shtetl to Postmodernity
131-031 The Crisis Zones of Europe
131-033 A History of Sexualities
131-034 Gender, Culture and Identity Politics
131-035 Pirates and their Enemies
131-038 Gender and Development
131-039 The Rise of Modern Japan 1850s-1990s
131-041 The Renaissance in Italy
131-042 Roman History: 500 Years of Oligarchy
131-043 Roman History: Three Centuries of Empire
131-044 Medieval and Renaissance Nuremberg
131-046 Great Empires of Islamic Civilisation
131-047 From Great Exhibition to Great War
131-048 Hitler's Germany
131-049 Monasticism and Late Medieval Politics
131-050 The Russian Revolution 1890-1924
131-051 Aboriginal & Pacific Islander Histories
131-052 The Holocaust & Genocide
131-053 The Irish Abroad: Australia, UK & USA
131-056 King Arthur: History and Legend
131-057 Twentieth-Century Britain
131-058 The Rise & Fall of the German Empire
131-062 Making China Modern
131-066 The Modern Middle East
131-067 Australia and Anzac: Life of the Legend
131-069 God Through History
131-071 Museums, Objects, Spectacles
131-072 South Africa Under Apartheid: 1948-1994
131-073 Human Rights in Australian History
131-075 The Graeco-Roman City in Antiquity
131-076 Asia, the Pacific & the West in History
131-077 City & the Bush: Australian Identities
131-079 Slavery & Freedom in the USA: 1790-1900
131-080 American Modern: USA 1890-1990
131-081 France 1870-1950: Culture and Society
131-082 Age of Stalin 1924 - 1953
131-083 The Decline & Fall of the Soviet Empire
131-085 Witches and Witch Hunting in Europe
131-093 Migrants, Refugees & Australian Society
131-104 The Conquest of Ireland, 1500-1603
131-105 Modern & Contemporary Ireland Since 1790
131-106 Holy War, Piracy or Commerce?
131-111 Crime Law & Punishment-Colonial Victoria
131-114 Japan and the Pacific World 1550s-1990s
131-118 Becoming Italian: Modern Italy 1860-2000
131-115 History in the Field
131-117 German Societies and Culture 1450-1750
131-146 Inventing Asian Traditions
131-210 Total War: Asia & the Pacific 1931-1945
131-211 The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
131-212 Screening the Holocaust
131-213 Disasters in Historical Context
131-220 Rebels and Revolution in Latin America
131-221 Modern Antisemitism: A Cultural History
131-222 Digging for Gold: Cultural Landscapes
131-223 Making News: Making Histories
131-224 Media Freedom: A History
131-225 Terror and Counter-terror in History
131-226 The Struggle for Universal Human Rights
131-232 Elizabeth I: Power and Patriarchy
131-233 Royalists, Regicides and Revolution
131-299 Australia in the World: 1914-2001
920-144 Secular and Sacred in Australia
920-210 The Radical Reformation
100-003 Australia and America
100-210 From Mateship to Mardi Gras
107-009 The Great Archaeologists
110-075 Analysing Indonesia: Concepts and Issues
136-213 Environmental History of Australia
136-035 A History of Nature
166-230 On Country Learning: Indigenous Studies
730-394 Indigenous People and the Law 1788-2000

Third/fourth-year subject

131-418 Historical Theory and Research

Fourth-year subjects

131-504 History Thesis
131-505 History Thesis (MYE)
131-401 History 4A
131-409 Australia goes to War
131-410 Asia in Australian Eyes
131-414 Playing the Game
131-416 Current Themes in American History
131-417 Avant-Garde Culture: Paris 1880-2000
131-421 The 'Condition of England' 1830s & 1840s
131-430 Historians & Autobiography
131-432 The Historian at Work
131-434 Reading Course
131-443 Approaches to Social History
131-440 Religion and Society in Modern England
131-450 Remembering the Holocaust
131-451 Historians and Ritual
131-452 Representations of Gender
131-454 Art, Family & Politics: The Renaissance
131-455 Gender and Colonialism: 1788-1945
131-456 Apartheid Sth Africa: Society & Politics
131-457 Orienteering: Muslim Travel and Writers
131-458 American Nation
131-459 Penal Systems in Historical Perspective
131-460 Fascist Europe
131-461 Recent Controversies in Irish History
131-462 Reading African-American History
131-463 World War Two in Asia and the Pacific
131-464 Secret Life of Things: Material Culture
131-465 Medieval Warfare: Agincourt to Flodden
131-466 Reading Australia
131-468 Oral History and Life Stories
131-469 History and Critical Theories
131-471 Indigenous Politics and History
100-410 Imaging Australian Life: 1900-2000

Fourth year/postgraduate subjects

131-540 Reading Course
131-545 Writing and Making Histories
131-546 Gender, Globalisation and Development

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