Undergraduate - UnitATS3930 - Encounters and empire: Europe and the world

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2012 (Day) Clayton First semester 2012 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Adam Clulow

Synopsis

From the medieval period onwards, expansion brought Europeans increasingly into contact with diverse cultures and civilizations. This unit explores how encounters between Europe and the world were transformed from the tentative and uncertain contacts that characterised earlier periods to the self-confident imperialism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rather than analysing the broad sweep of political history, we are interested in the leading edge of cross-cultural encounters: in travellers, diplomats, and slaves who 'crossed-over' to engage with new cultural worlds, in the tools that made these encounters possible and in the commodities that underpinned global exchange.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

1. gain a broad understanding of the historical timeline of European expansion
2. gain a clear understanding of key historical debates about the rise of the West
3. gain a thorough understanding of how cross-cultural encounters changed over time
4. gain a clear understanding of different theoretical approaches that historians have used to conceptualise Europe's encounters with the world
5. explore the evolution of historical debates over Orientalism
6. be able to recognize and analyse key historical themes in the history of cross-cultural encounters
7. learn how to work with archival sources
8. learn how to use visual sources (such as maps) effectively in research
9. have further developed their oral and written communication skills

Students successfully completing this unit at a Third Year level will have acquired, in addition:

10. independent research skills across a range of historical source areas.

Assessment

Class participation - 10%
Primary source analysis - 10% (500 words)
Submitted by the end of week 4
Image analysis - 20% (1000 words)
Research essay - 40% (1500 words)
Class test - 20%

For ATS3930, students will be given more freedom in designing the topic for their research essay. In addition, students will be expected to demonstrate a higher level of conceptual awareness. Finally, they will be expected to draw on a wider range of primary and secondary sources.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Adam Clulow

Contact hours

One 1-hour lecture per week
One 1-hour tutorial per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

History
International studies

Prerequisites

First year sequence in History, International Studies or Archaeology and Ancient History or permission from the coordinator.

Prohibitions

ATS2930