Faculty of Arts
1. Time commitment to study
2. Prerequisites
3. Diploma in Arts (History)
4. Attendance requirement
5. Requirements for a major
6. Honours entry
7. Honours requirements
7.1. Pure honours
7.2. Combined honours
7.3. Part-time honours study
8. Studying overseas
9. Studying intensively
10. Further study
11. Career opportunities
12. For more information
Subject Lists
First-year subjects
Second/third-year subjects
Third/fourth-year subjects
Fourth-year subjects
Fourth year/postgraduate subjects
The history program, within the School of Historical Studies is one of the leading history programs 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 program'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.
As well as scheduled contact hours for lectures, tutorial and seminars a considerable additional time commitment is needed to complete the academic requirements of each subject.
A subject-specific time commitment to study will be provided by your lecturer or tutor at the beginning of semester to help you schedule your workload and successfully manage your time during the semester. In addition, general estimates of the total time commitment required to study a 12.5-point single semester subject in the Faculty of Arts can be found on Time commitment to study.
There are no prerequisites for first-year history subjects.
The prerequisite for a second/third-year history subject is usually the completion of one first-year subject in history (12.5 points). Students who believe they have completed suitable alternative first-year subjects are advised to consult with the School for permission to enrol. Exemptions may also be granted where second/third-year subjects are taken as part of an approved interdisciplinary program with its own entry requirements.
The Diploma in Arts (History) is only available to students who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree course at the University of Melbourne. It consists of a three-year sequence of study, and adds one year to the duration of your degree.
Students must complete 25 points of first-year history subjects and 75 points of second/third-year history subjects. Alternatively, students who have completed appropriate background studies at first year may complete 100 points of second/third-year history subjects.
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.
A major in history usually consists of eight 12.5-point subjects, totalling 100 points. It comprises:
one first-year subject in history (12.5 points); and
seven second/third-year subjects in history (87.5 points).
The prerequisites for entry to fourth-year honours in history are:
completion of all the requirements for the BA; and
a history major, with an average grade of H2B or higher in the second/third-year subjects within the major.
For information on how to apply see Applying for Honours.
Students undertaking pure honours in history must complete:
131-505 History Thesis (37.5 points); and
five honours subjects in history (totalling 62.5 points).
Students undertaking combined honours in history and another program must complete:
131-505 History Thesis (37.5 points); and
two honours subjects in history (totalling 25 points); and
three honours subjects in the combining discipline (totalling 37.5 points).
or
honours thesis in the combining discipline (37.5 points); and
two honours subjects in the combining discipline (totalling 25 points); and
three honours subjects in history (totalling 37.5 points).
Students undertaking fourth-year honours part time would usually undertake their coursework subjects in the first year and their thesis in the second year.
The School of Historical Studies 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.
Subjects taught intensively have strict enrolment deadlines. Any enrolment in, or withdrawal from the subjects listed below must be made in line with HECS/course fee census dates.
See individual subject entries for full subject details.
| Subjects taught overseas | ||
|---|---|---|
| 131-018 Searching for the American Dream | 25 | |
| 131-044 Renaissance Nuremberg & Central Europe (not offered in 2007) | 25 | |
| 131-075 The Graeco-Roman City in Antiquity | 25 | |
| 131-278 Gallipoli | 25 | |
The School of History often teaches subjects in intensive mode during the Summer Semester (January/February) or during the Winter Recess (June/July).
Subjects taught intensively have strict enrolment deadlines. Any enrolment in, or withdrawal from the subjects listed below must be made in line with HECS/course fee census dates.
See individual subject entries for full subject details.
| Subjects taught intensively | ||
|---|---|---|
| 131-076 Asia, the Pacific & the West in History (subject offered intensively in Semester 2) | 2 | |
In addition to the research-based MA and PhD degrees, the School of Historical Studies 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 School.
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.
School of Historical Studies
Third Floor, John Medley Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 5963
Email: history-enquiries@unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.history.unimelb.edu.au
131-102 Australia in the World from 1914
131-103 Age of Revolution: American Revolution
131-153 Age of Revolution: French Revolution
131-110 Medieval Europe: Plague, War & Heresy
131-111 Renaissance and Reformation Europe
131-126 Great Civilisations: Athens and Rome
131-145 USA Today: Society, Culture, Identity
131-154 The Modern World 1: The Nuclear Shadow
131-155 The Modern World 2: People Power
131-191 Medieval Europe: Heroes and Barbarians
131-119 Love and War in Medieval Europe
131-124 Total War in Europe: World War One
131-127 Total War in Europe: World War Two
131-123 Europe: Ideas and Nations 1600-2000
131-116 Sex, Gender and Power: An Introduction
107-102 Pyramids and Princes: Egypt and the East
107-103 Ancient Rome: Myth and Empire
107-104 Ancient Greece: Myth, Art and Text
131-018 Searching for the American Dream
131-021 Great Moments in Australian Sport
131-024 The Body: History, Sex & Gender
131-025 Empire, Race and Human Rights: 1800-2000
131-028 Industry & Revolution? Britain 1780-1850
131-031 The Crisis Zones of Europe
131-033 A History of Sexualities
131-034 Gender, Culture and Identity
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 Renaissance Nuremberg & Central Europe
131-046 Great Empires of Islamic Civilisation
131-048 Hitler's Germany
131-050 The Russian Revolution 1890-1924
131-051 Aboriginal & Pacific Islander Histories
131-052 The Holocaust & Genocide
131-058 The Rise & Fall of the German Empire
131-062 Making China Modern
131-066 The Modern Middle East
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
131-079 Slavery & Freedom: US History 1790-1900
131-080 American Modern: USA 1890-1990
131-081 The Century of Two Napoleons
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
131-210 Total War: Asia & the Pacific 1931-1952
131-211 The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
131-217 Modern Southeast Asia
131-219 Modern & Contemporary Ireland Since 1790
131-220 Rebels and Revolution in Latin America
131-222 Digging for Gold: Cultural Landscapes
131-223 Making News: Making Histories
131-225 Terrorism in Modern Conflict
131-226 The Struggle for Universal Human Rights
131-227 History in the Field
131-228 Inventing Asian Traditions
131-230 Resisting Colonialism: Australia-Pacific
131-232 Elizabeth I: Power and Patriarchy
131-233 Civil War and Revolution in Britain
131-236 The USA & the World:Democracy and Empire
131-237 The Crusades
131-238 Early Medieval Europe: Cultures of Power
131-239 The Century of War: France 1914-2005
131-240 Controversies in Australian History
131-241 Medieval Ireland: Conflict and Conquest
131-242 Marvellous Melbourne: A Cultural History
131-251 Medieval Chivalry
131-252 Building Little Britain, 1851-2001
131-253 China and the World, 1368-2001
131-271 Europe of the Dictators: Hitler & Stalin
131-272 Venice and Cultures of Consumption
131-273 'La Serenissima': The Myth of Venice
131-278 Gallipoli
102-003 Australia and America
102-005 Exploring Central Australia
102-211 Migrant Nation: Culture and Identity
107-009 The Great Archaeologists
107-222 Classical Athens
107-229 Augustan Rome
107-237 From Cyrus to Alexander the Great
110-075 Analysing Indonesia: Concepts and Issues
136-035 A History of Nature
136-213 Environmental History of Australia
166-230 On Country Learning: Indigenous Studies
730-394 Indigenous People, History and the Law
131-418 Historical Theory and Research
107-467 Renaissance and Baroque Rome 1450-1750
131-505 History Thesis
131-401 History 4A
131-402 Crime Law & Punishment:Colonial Victoria
131-405 History, Memory and Violence in Asia
131-406 Aspects of Stalinism
131-407 Life and Death in Britain 1500-1800
131-408 The Medieval Body
131-415 Middle Eastern Wars: Jihad & Resistance
131-416 Current Themes in American History
131-417 Avant-Garde Culture: Paris 1880-2000
131-419 The Troubles in Northern Ireland 1968-98
131-420 Saints & Pagans: Celts & Saxons 400-800
131-434 Reading Course
131-440 Religion and Society in Modern England
131-443 Social and Cultural History
131-450 Remembering the Holocaust
131-451 Historians and Ritual
131-454 Art, Family & Politics: The Renaissance
131-455 Gender and Colonialism
131-456 South Africa Repression & Reconciliation
131-458 American Nation
131-460 Fascist Europe
131-462 Reading African-American History
131-463 World War Two in Asia and the Pacific
131-464 Secret Life of Things: Material Culture
131-468 Oral History and Life Stories
131-471 Postcolonial and Indigenous Histories
131-472 Forbidden Pleasures: Europe 1450-1550
131-473 Critical Race Theory
131-474 New Histories of Australian Politics
131-475 Celtic Ritual and Culture
131-422 Asia in Paradigms of World History
131-432 Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
131-540 Reading Course
131-544 Applications in Public History
131-545 Writing and Making Histories
131-546 Gender, Globalisation and Development
131-547 Rethinking Rights and Global Development
131-548 Heritage Workshop: Chinese in Australia
131-549 History and Place
131-550 Memory and History
131-551 Representations of Gender
102-511 Imaging Australian Spaces
102-512 From Cosmopolitanism to Transnationalism
136-506 Pacific History, Environment & Science
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