HSY2325

Becoming Australians: Nineteenth Century Subjects

(ART)

Marian Quartly

6 points + 2 hours per week + First semester + Clayton

Synopsis: What did it mean to be an Australian before the birth of the Australian state? What did it mean to be a British subject in Australia? This unit looks at Australia before federation. It asks how different groups in colonial society defined themselves, and were defined by colonial and imperial institutions. And it asks how the idea of the nation grew (and sometimes faltered) within the imperial frame. Particular objects of study include convicts, dispossessed Aboriginal communities, the colonial middleclass, colonial democracy, the Irish and Chinese communities, unionists, rural communities, the 'urban poor', suburbanites, liberal democrats, and republicans and other nationalists.

Assessment: Class participation: 15% + Book review: 20% + Research essay (3000 words): 40% + Examination (1 hour): 25%