ATS4215 - History archives workshop - 2019

Students taking the unit will develop and apply advanced history research skills. The unit coordinator will introduce students to one or several major history archives (online unless the archive is physically available at Monash or another Melbourne site, or at Prato), and to a history subject area for which the archive/s hold a diverse and significant cache of primary source material. Each year a member of History staff will coordinate the unit and select archive/s and subject area/s in which they have a research expertise. Students will learn how to access, search, document and index archive sources, and they will learn to apply digital tools for organising data in electronic formats. They will consider methodological issues and approaches in using and interpreting different kinds of primary sources, such as public records, personal letters, diaries and other manuscripts, visual artefacts or oral history. Students will read and assess secondary literature in the proposed subject area and will devise and undertake a research project using archive material.

Students taking the unit will:

1. develop critical understanding of methodological approaches and issues in using and interpreting different kinds of historical sources;
2. develop a critical understanding of the secondary literature on a selected history subject area;
3. develop skills and understandings to devise and manage a history research project;
4. develop the technical and analytical skills to access, search, document and index archive sources, including application of digital tools for organising data in electronic formats;
5. develop advanced skills in historical writing.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 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.

See also Unit timetable information

History