The War Studies major at the ANU explores in depth the causes, conduct and consequences of warfare. Beyond traditional military history, it considers war’s complexity as a political, military, social and cultural phenomenon with profound and diverse influences and effects. Founded on the study of history, the War Studies Major allows students to explore war and warfare in a multidisciplinary context and embraces the insights offered by other fields including: political science, international relations, cultural and gender studies and law. Students who complete the major will be equipped with a broad base of theoretical and empirical knowledge allowing them to analyse war and warfare, as well as critique other interpretations of such. Furthermore, the completion of the major will contribute to students’ abilities to conduct research, assess evidence, and persuasively argue in written and oral forms.
Learning Outcomes
Understand and evaluate the key theories, ideas, concepts and approaches to the study of war
Identify and critique the causes, conduct, consequences, and ethics of war on states, societies and cultures
Analyse the political, military, social, cultural, and ethical impacts of war in their regional and global contexts
Understand the processes and disciplinary approaches through which current knowledge about the causes, conduct, and consequences of warfare has developed.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
This major requires the completion of 48 units from the following courses:
18 units from the completion of the following compulsory courses:
HIST3007 - Making History (6 units)
WARS1001 - War in the Modern World, 1789 to today (6 units)
WARS2001 - Theories of War: An Historical and Global Perspective (6 units)
A minimum of 18 units must come from the completion of the following courses:
HIST2136 - World at War, 1939-1945 (6 units)
HIST2141 - The Cold War: 1945-1989 (6 units)
HIST2214 - The Great War, 1914-1918 (6 units)
WARS2004 - War in the Islands: The Second World War in the Pacific (6 units)
WARS2003 - The Korean War (6 units)
WARS2002 - The Vietnam Wars: 1941-1989 (6 units)
A minimum of 6 units must come from the completion of the following contextual course list:
ANTH2130 - Violence and Terror (6 units)
ASIA3029 - Reconciliation and the Memory of Conflict in Asia (6 units)
HIST1209 - Terror to Terrorism: A History (6 units)
HIST2206 - The Anzac Battlefields and Beyond: A Study Tour of Gallipoli, London, Paris and the Western Front (12 units)
HIST2226 - Nazi Germany (6 units)
HIST2172- Remembering Anzac: A Study Tour of Commemorative Landscapes, Museums and Memorials across Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (12 units)
POLS3033 - Environment, Human Security and Conflict (6 units)
WARS1003 - War and Society in Modern History (6 units)
WARS3001 - Study Tour: Walking the Ground - War Studies in the Field (6 units)
Back to the top
