This is a shelf course. A shelf course comprises a number of modules related to this broad area of study. Each module is a separate semester of study in this area and is offered in rotation. You can study TWO modules but you cannot study the same module twice.
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Subject Area: History
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: Australian Studies
Module: "Australian History and its Constructions"
This course examines the themes and debates that have shaped perceptions of the past and the evolution of Australian historical literature. We explore the individual works of historians who have been instrumental in both shaping and challenging our understandings of the Australian past, and the controversies their works have sparked. The course pays special attention to the way historiography has developed around themes of race, gender, memory, the nation and postmodernism, and the ways these constructions have influenced representations of the past in politics, the press, cinema, fiction and museums.
Module: "Winners and Losers: Poverty and Welfare in Australia" (Semester 2, 2011)
This course traces the complex ways in which Australian welfare, policy and philanthropy have evolved in a global context. It examines their intersections with the histories of gender, war, race, childhood, religion, medicine and volunteering. As well as analysing attempts to mitigate social inequality we consider how and why the image of egalitarianism has come to shape national identity. Topics covered include gender and philanthropy, the influence of eugenics, contagion and the social order, Indigenous humanitarianism, migrants and welfare and mutual obligation. Students will present a major project based on analysis of primary sources.