Making histories
Not offered in 1997
Bain Attwood and others
8 points
* Two lectures per week for the first seven weeks and one
2-hour seminar per week throughout the semester
* First semester
*
Clayton
* Prohibitions: HSY3020
Objectives Students will be expected to attain an understanding of the uses of history and the nature of historical knowledge.
Synopsis Is history useful, and, if so, what for? How do historians and others shape their accounts of the past? What are the basic steps involved in conducting a piece of historical research? This subject approaches the `making of histories' in three stages. Stage one, `using histories,' looks at how history is used (or abused); for example by the heritage industry, politicians and the state. Stage two, `understanding history,' examines ways in which historical narratives are shaped by values, themes and literary conventions. And stage three, `writing history,' focuses directly on writing narratives. As well as `deconstructing' what others, including former history honours graduates, have written, students doing HSY3010 will have the opportunity to develop their own historical project, thereby putting the knowledge and skills they have acquired in the subject to practical use. (Please note that this subject will be repeated in second semester as HSY3020.)
Assessment Analysis (1500 words): 25%
* Essay (2500 words): 40%
* Research proposal (2000 words): 25%
* Class participation: 10%
Preliminary reading
Jenkins K Re-thinking history Routledge, 1991
Recommended texts
Lowenthal D The past is a foreign country CUP, 1985
Samuel R Theatres of memory Verso, 1994
Tosh J The pursuit of history: Aims, methods and new directions in the study of modern history Longmans 1984
White H The content of the form Johns Hopkins U P, 1987
| Published by Monash University, Clayton, Victoria
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