• Offered by School of History
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Course subject History
  • Areas of interest History

This course examines the role of history and historical research in the public sphere. It is concerned with the way audiences remember, imagine and in other ways engage with the past, whether it be as tourists at a theme park, visitors to a museum or war memorial, or as media consumers, broadly defined. The history student of today might soon be contributing to documentary making, to museum curatorship, to oral history, or to the burgeoning industry around heritage management. The course is relevant to students considering such vocations, or to anyone interested in how narratives about the past are communicated publicly. The course will involve analysis of films, broadcasts and critical literature, and include site visits to major cultural institutions in Canberra. Students will have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate practical skills in interviewing or other forms of historical communication such as audio-visual presentation or curatorial design.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. understand and explain how public spaces, institutions and media (broadly defined) function as sites for the dissemination of historical narratives.

2. analyse how historical narratives are used in the public realm.

3. demonstrate in their writing an ability to interpret or read non-written historical evidence that might include audio and visual sources and objects in collections.

4. understand how digitisation affects the craft of the historian.

5. demonstrate research skills that can be used in developing historical narratives in media other than conventional writing.

Indicative Assessment

A research project, of 15 minutes duration, that uses non-print media to communicate a historical narrative, 40 %  or a written treatment/design for a documentary, exhibition, memorial or other historical narrative in non-print media (1200-1500 words) (LOs 1-5)

A research essay of 3000 words, 50% (LOs 1-5)

Class participation/presentations, 10% (LOs 1, 2 and 4)

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

130 hours over the semester including 11 ninety minute lectures; 11 ninety minute tutorials; 2 three-hour excursions within Canberra.

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have completed 36 units of ANU courses towards a degree, or with the permission of the convenor.

Prescribed Texts

Ken Burns (director), The Civil War (1990) (TV documentary); Brett Morgen (director), Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace (2007) (documentary film); Martin Thomas (writer/producer), This is Jimmie Barker (2000) (radio documentary).

Assumed Knowledge

An interest in, or formal study within, the following fields would be useful background for this course: digital humanities; media studies or history; architecture and design; practical experience in filmmaking, sound recording and radio; heritage studies; art theory; memory studies; and theories of performance.

Majors

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Students continuing in their current program of study will have their tuition fees indexed annually from the year in which you commenced your program. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
1
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee Description
1994-2003 $1470
2014 $2484
2013 $2478
2012 $2358
2011 $2310
2010 $2250
2009 $2178
2008 $2178
2007 $2178
2006 $2178
2005 $2178
2004 $1836
International fee paying students
Year Fee
1994-2003 $2574
2014 $3252
2013 $3240
2012 $3240
2011 $3240
2010 $3240
2009 $3240
2008 $3240
2007 $3132
2006 $3132
2005 $3132
2004 $2916
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
4307 15 Feb 2016 26 Feb 2016 31 Mar 2016 27 May 2016 In Person N/A

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