Historians seek to understand societies by studying change and continuity over time. Everything has a history. From a national constitution to modern consumer culture, from the rise of empires to environmental crises, from the human species to your family, studying history teaches you about the forces that have made the world in which you live. It helps you to understand the present by understanding its past.
The ANU is a national leader in History and offers a wide range of courses covering Australia, Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from ancient times to the recent past. Courses trace themes such as empire, war, terrorism, politics, economics, culture, ideas, identity, crime, health and the environment. Some focus on particular nations or regions, while others focus on global and transnational processes. Some courses focus on concepts and philosophies that underlie historical analysis or techniques of historical research. All our courses develop student skills in historical theory and method.
History is a core discipline in the humanities and social sciences. It gives students knowledge and skills that are valued in any professional context. Our students successfully pursue careers in academia, museums, government, diplomacy, NGOs, journalism, management, teaching and many other fields.
Learning Outcomes
- demonstrate understanding of multiple periods or cultures of the past;
- demonstrate critical understanding of key theoretical and conceptual issues in historical thinking and scholarship;
- examine historical issues by undertaking research, and analysing evidence, according to the methodological and ethical conventions of the discipline;
- construct an evidence-based argument or narrative in audio, digital, oral, visual or written form; and
- identify and reflect critically on the knowledge and skills developed in their study of History and their relationship to the contemporary world.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
This major requires the completion of 48 units, of which:
A maximum of 12 units may come from the completion of 1000-level courses, and
A minimum of 18 units must come from the completion of 3000-level courses.
The 48 units must include:
12 units from the completion of the following compulsory courses:
HIST2110/HIST3110 Approaches to History (6 units)
HIST3007 Making History (6 units)
A maximum of 12 units from the completion of the following list:
ECHI1006 The Australian Economy: Past and Present (6 units)
HIST1209 Terror to Terrorism: A History (6 units)
HIST1214 Empires in Global History (6 units)
A maximum of 36 units from the completion of the following:
HIST2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History (6 units)
HIST2070 Emperors, Pilgrims and Crusaders: The World of Byzantium (6 units)
HIST2136 World at War, 1939-1945 (6 units)
HIST2141 The Cold War: 1945-1989 (6 units)
HIST2196 From the Romans to the Anglo-Saxons: Early Medieval Europe c. 400-1000 CE (6 units)
HIST2205 Europe and the Atlantic World, c.1492—1776. (6 units)
HIST2206 The Great War’s Battlefields: A Study Tour of Gallipoli, the Western Front and Paris (12 units)
HIST2211 Global Environmental History Since 1945
HIST2214 The Great War. The Conflict that Changed the World (6 units)
HIST2221 Britain in the Age of Revolutions and Empires 1688-1848 (6 units)
HIST2226 Nazi Germany (6 units)
HIST2227 Australian Political History (6 units)
HIST2231 Exploration: From Captain Cook to the Astronauts (6 units)
HIST2240 Democracy and Dissent: Europe Since 1945 (6 units)
HIST2242 The Soviet Union: From the Russian Revolution to the Collapse of Communism (6 units)
HIST2252 Twentieth Century America: Building a Global Hegemon (6 units)
HIST3012 Topics in History (6 units)
HIST3142 Indigenous History, Memory and Politics (6 units)
A maximum of 12 units from the completion of the following list:
ANTH2025 Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective (6 units)
ARCH2004 Australian Archaeology (6 units)
ARCH2037 From Empire to Invasions: the Archaeology of Europe from the Romans to the Vikings (6 units)
ARCH2055 Archaeological Field Schools and Fieldwork Practice (6 units)
ARCH2058 European Prehistory from Cultivation to the Celts (6 units)
ASIA2009 The Making of Modern Japan: From Samurai to Economic Superpower and Beyond (6 units)
ASIA2016 The Mongol Empire in World History (6 units)
ASIA2037 History of Modern China (6 units)
ASIA2040 The Making of Modern Korea (6 units)
ASIA2044 Chinese History: The Imperial Period (221 BC - 1800) (6 units)
ASIA2072 Taiwan: History and Culture (6 units)
ASIA2270 India Past and Present: The Impact of Pre-colonial History on India Today (6 units)
ASIA2307 History of Empire in Asia (6 units)
ASIA3011 Samurai Society and Social Control in Japan (6 units)
ASIA3030 History of the State System in Southeast Asia (6 units)
ASIA3272 Truth and Falsity in Indian History and Politics (6 units)
CLAS2014 Democrats, Tyrants, and Emperors: The Art of Government in the Ancient Mediterranean (6 units)
CLAS2015 Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World: An Age of Transformation and Discovery (6 units)
CLAS3001 Rome: The Eternal City from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages (6 units)
CLAS3003 Faith and Belief in the Ancient Mediterranean (6 units)
ENGL2022 Jane Austen History and Fiction (6 units)
MEAS2000 Iranian History and Culture (6 units)
MEAS2003 Modern Turkey: History, Society and Culture (6 units)
MEAS2006 Gallipoli: A Transnational History (6 units)
MUSI2234 Music, History, and Culture (6 units)
PASI2002 Australia in Oceania in the 19th and 20th Centuries (6 units)
PASI2007 War in the Islands: The Second World War in the Pacific (6 units)
POLS2100 Genocide in the Modern World (6 units)
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