Semester 1, 2023 Toowoomba On-campus | |
Units : | 1 |
School or Department : | School of Humanities & Communication |
Grading basis : | Graded |
Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Course Coordinator:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: HIS1004 or HIS1005 or ISE1001 or ISE1003 or ANT3000 and one other History or Indigenous Studies or First Nations Australia or Anthropology course
Overview
Racism has been a central component in the foundations of Australian society since the time the British invaded and conquered unceded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands. This course offers advanced critical and theoretical knowledge and skills, essential for engaging with the historical development of racial and discriminatory beliefs and structures from the late-eighteenth century to today. Students engage with racial inequality and the episodic nature of racially-motivated outbursts in Australia’s history by applying several theoretical frameworks, which resonate with other settler societies and our current world. By investigating the treatment of First Nations Australians, forced indentured labourers and ethnic-migrant communities, students explore the construction of ‘race’ and the diversity of Australia’s cultural, political and social heritage throughout history. The course facilitates an appreciation of how contemporary Australia functions for skills in professional and public engagement which is highly relevant to students in the History major or minor, and in the Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED), and contributes to the study of other disciplines.
In this course you will explore how the historical development of racial ideas and structures has affected numerous peoples over Australia's history and impacted Australia's reputation internationally. By researching Indigenous-European relations and case studies on indentured South-Sea Islander, Melanesian, Irish, Chinese, German, Italian and post-war migrant communities, we unpack the historical layers of individual and institutional racism from the late-eighteenth to the twentieth-first centuries. You will engage with episodes of frontier violence, `responsible government' in the post-1856 era, dispossession, institutionalised racism, the White Australia policy, gender/race coercion and exploitation, and social crises and scapegoating, and empowerment. Can an overarching pattern be discerned? The course provides a theoretical lens to assist in answering this question through the overt and covert impact of racial beliefs on and the resilience of First Nations Australians, Pacific Islanders and migrants.
Course learning outcomes
On successfully completing this course students should be able to:
- define and apply key terms within the context of Australia’s history in an informed manner;
- apply theories of race and racism to identifying how constructs of race marginalise groups and are entangled with power relations across specific eras;
- articulate an understanding of the historical conditions under which racism has been either manufactured or discouraged;
- demonstrate competent research skills, critical and creative thinking, primary-source analysis, oral and written arguments, and documentation in line with History-discipline standards;
- work independently and collaboratively and communicate the results with professional integrity and inclusivity.
Topics
Description | Weighting(%) | |
---|---|---|
1. | Theories of race and racism | 10.00 |
2. | Sovereignty and the pattern of invasion and occupation from 1788 | 35.00 |
3. | Equality and the maintenance of Anglo-ascendancy | 25.00 |
4. | Weakening of the White Australia policy | 15.00 |
5. | Patterns of racism and theoretical underpinnings | 15.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Case Study | No | 15 | 1,2,3 |
Presentation (ind, grp, mltmd) | No | 25 | 1,2,3 |
Essay | No | 30 | 1,2,5 |
Time limited online examinatn | No | 30 | 1,2,3,4 |