History Elective

Course Description

The study of History Elective enables students to investigate the actions, motives and lifestyles of people over time, from individuals and family members, to local communities, expanding to national and world history contexts. It introduces the idea that the past contains many stories and that there is never only one uncontested version. Students develop an understanding that history is all around us and that historical evidence may be drawn from the physical remains of the past as well as written, visual and oral sources. They develop an appreciation of the process and role of archaeology in historical inquiry. Importantly, the History Elective course develops the skills for students to answer the question ‘How do we know?’

What will students learn about?

The History Elective course covers three topic areas.

The topics include:

Topic 1: History, Heritage and Archaeology
Topic 2: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Societies
Topic 3: Thematic Studies

Through the study of these topics, a student will learn about such things as:

Archaeological sites
Biography
Family history
Film as history
Heritage and conservation
Historical fiction
Societies that have existed in the past in different parts of the world.
Themes across civilisations, such as ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘Warfare’, ‘Political Structures’, ‘Women’ and ‘Myths and Legends’.

What will students learn to do?

Students will develop the capacity to identify and examine the various means of collecting sources, displaying the past and reconstructing the past. They will identify and assess the ethical issues arising from ownership of the past and the subsequent construction of history. They will be called upon to locate, select, organise and communicate historical information from a number of sources to address historical areas of inquiry. They will also develop skills to evaluate the value of sources as evidence for a historical inquiry.