ObjectivesStudents who complete the postgraduate diploma should:
* demonstrate a sound understanding of the main developments in past and contemporary historical theory;
* understand the issues involved in debates about historical knowledge;
* become acquainted with the contemporary debates about the relationship of historical theory to other areas of social enquiry.
Academic titlePostgraduate Diploma in Arts (History)
Total 100 points - subjects are 12.5 points each, unless indicated otherwise.
Thesis subject
Subject Semester Credit Points
131-505 History Thesis
An approved thesis topic selected in consultation with the fourth-year coordinator. Semester 1, Semester 2 37.50
Elective subjects
Subject Semester Credit Points
131-405 History, Memory and Violence in Asia
The history wars between Japan and China over Japan´s war time roles periodically cause diplomatic fall outs between these two countries. Within the borders of Indonesia, India and Cambodia memories of violence are equally co... Semester 2 12.50
131-411 Major Issues in Roman History
This research seminar involves collective discussions of selected source material on major issues in Roman social, cultural, political and religious history, with subjects ranging from the social stratification of Roman society to the daily life of t... Semester 1 12.50
131-412 Jews and Money: Myth and Historiography
Jewish historiography generally tends to highlight religious, cultural and political aspects of the Jewish past more intensively than its economic features. This tendency is all the more striking given the centrality of economics to Jewish life and t... Semester 2 12.50
131-413 Memory and Violence in Ireland
Ireland has had a very violent history since 1600. Yet, while some of these violent episodes have been remembered and commemorated, others have been ignored and forgotten. Drawing upon the work of theorists of the construction of memory, sites of mem... Semester 1 12.50
131-422 Asia in Paradigms of World History
This subject explores changing paradigms in world history with particular reference to Asia. Hegel supposed that China and India lay outside the domain of world history, waiting to be drawn into it by a youthful and vigorous Europe, whose rise marked... Semester 2 12.50
131-423 Medieval Manuscripts & Early Print
This interdisciplinary advanced seminar will explore some of the key features and themes of manuscript and print cultures in Central and Western Europe from the 13th to 17th centuries, a time of radical change in communication technology and of major... Semester 2 12.50
131-460 Fascist Europe
This subject is a comparative study of European fascisms from the end of World War I through 1945. The primary focus will be on the fascist movements and regimes in Italy, Spain and Germany, but attention will also be given to the fascist movements i... Semester 2 12.50
131-463 World War Two in Asia and the Pacific
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
131-471 Postcolonial and Indigenous Histories
This seminar critically examines the scholarly phenomenon of postcolonialism in relation to the recovery and writing of Indigenous and colonised histories, and the related political struggles of Indigenous peoples around the world. The seminar will b... Semester 2 12.50
131-474 New Histories of Australian Politics
The subject will examine the ways in which historians, commentators, political scientists and sociologists treat Australian politics, and how their work has shaped the writing of Australian history. It will engage students in different theoretical ap... Semester 2 12.50
131-551 Gender: Representations and Histories
What is gender and why does it matter? In this seminar we will explore how this concept emerged and the multiple meanings it has taken on in academic inquiry and everyday life. Representations of gender will be examined in both theoretical and histor... Semester 1 12.50
131-553 International Relations from 1945
This subject combines historical and theoretical analysis of topics in international relations from the end of World War II to the "war on terror". Topics examined may include how policymakers apply the "lessons" of history; the c... Semester 2 12.50
102-497 A Century of Australian Social Policy
This subject explores the history of Australian social policy, interweaving five themes: the rise and fall of state-regulated wages, the ways that income support was shaped by this arbitration system, the gendering and de-gendering of the welfare sys... Semester 2 12.50
102-511 Imaging Australian Spaces
This subject allows students to examine the ways in which Australian space has been represented in a variety of cultural forms. The subject explores how these spaces - conceived in a visual, literary and physical sense - have developed, and how these... Semester 2 12.50
102-512 Australian Cosmopolitanisms
"Australian Cosmopolitanisms: Beyond Multiculturalism" explores a range of effects resulting from the traffic across national boundaries of culture, capital, people and ideas. Unlike some programmes t... Semester 1 12.50
131-704 The Medieval and Renaissance Body
This seminar explores the ways in which medieval and Renaissance people gave meaning to the idea of the body. We will explore such topics as fragmented bodies and the cult of saints; the gendering of the body; medieval and Renaissance perceptions of ... Semester 1 12.50
131-705 American Publics
The theme of this seminar is the history of public and civic life in the USA from the Revolution to the present. Particular attention will be given to the changing forms of public life and to the hopes and fears held about the impact of successive ne... Semester 1 12.50
131-703 The Writing of Australian History
This seminar explores the ways in which Australian history has been written. It will consider the principal forms of the literature and the chief schools of interpretation, from the establishment of Australian history as an academic discipline to the... Semester 1 12.50
131-702 History Practice: Materials and Methods
This seminar extends students' academic skills in researching and communicating history. The subject focuses upon the effective communication of historical knowledge across academic disciplines and beyond the academy. It reflects upon the intera... Semester 2 12.50
131-406 Aspects of Stalinism
This advanced seminar examines key aspects of the nature of the Soviet political system under Stalin, especially as we now understand them in the light of new archival materials. It also considers the way in which these problems have been viewed by h... Semester 1 12.50
131-415 Middle Eastern Wars: Jihad & Resistance
The basic meaning of the word Jihad is 'effort,' one to achieve a positive goal. The effort can be personal and spiritual, to achieve piety and moral integrity, or collective and physical participation in warfare to protect or advance a mor... Semester 2 12.50
131-418 Historical Theory and Research
This subject explores a range of social theories and methodologies which have influenced the writing of history since the Enlightenment, including empiricism, Marxism, cultural history, postcolonialism, feminism and poststructuralism. The subject als... Semester 2 12.50
131-419 The Troubles in Northern Ireland 1968-98
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
131-454 Art, Family & Politics: The Renaissance
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50