AIH240 - Using and Abusing the Past

Year:

2023 unit information

Enrolment modes: Trimester 2: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online
Credit point(s): 1
EFTSL value: 0.125
Prerequisite:

Nil

Corequisite:

Nil

Incompatible with:

Nil

Study commitment

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

Scheduled learning activities - campus

1 x 1-hour class, 1 x 1-hour seminar per week

Scheduled learning activities - online

1 x 1-hour class (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week

Content

Why is there such heated dispute about the past these days? Why are statues being defaced, apologies being made for past deeds and school curricula revised? Is history just the sum of past events, or does it have uses in the present that we should understand and interrogate? Whose story matters? In this unit students will examine the integral relationship between the study of history and understanding the contemporary world. By examining changes in the thought and practice of history, students will become familiar with the proliferation of different kinds of histories that underpin current conflicts over the past around the world. Themes in the unit include the professionalisation of history in the nineteenth century, the emergence and outcomes of new forms of history in the twentieth century and the breaking down of certainty in how we interpret the events of the past.

Unit Fee Information

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