Undergraduate - UnitATS3616 - Race and rights in twentieth-century America

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	History
Offered	Caulfield Second semester 2015 (Day) Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Taylor Spence

Synopsis

After providing a general overview of the history of the United States in the twentieth century, this unit examines two key themes. 'Race' traces struggles over the meaning of racial difference in America, with a particular emphasis on the civil rights and black protest movements. 'Rights' examines the contest over civil, social and human rights in the United States between 1900 and 2000 and the meaning of 'freedom' for women, cultural minorities and the poor.

Outcomes

Students will be expected to demonstrate a comprehensive historical understanding of key themes in the history of the United States after 1900, such as the expression of and challenges to racial oppression and the ongoing debate about the nature and extent of the rights of American citizens. In addition, they will be expected to demonstrate a good critical understanding of the contested interpretations that inform the history of the twentieth-century United States, skills in the critical and analytical reading of a variety of written and visual texts, and skills in the critical use of historical data and documentary evidence available on the web. Students will be expected to demonstrate an enhanced critical understanding of a wide range of interpretations informing the history of the twentieth-century United States.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Taylor Spence

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

History

Prohibitions

ATS2616