Everything has a history. From a national constitution to modern consumer culture, from the rise of empires to environmental crises, from the human species to your family, history teaches you about the forces that have made the world in which you live. It helps you to understand the present by understanding its past.
The ANU is a national leader in History and offers a wide range of courses covering Australia, America, Asia and Europe. Courses trace themes such as empire, terrorism, revolution, war, gender, race, technology and the environment. Some focus on philosophies that underlie historical analysis or techniques of historical research. History is a core discipline in the humanities and social sciences. It gives students knowledge and skills that are valued in any professional context. Our students successfully pursue careers in journalism, management, politics, policy, museums, diplomacy, teaching, academia and many other fields.
Learning Outcomes
- demonstrate understanding of multiple periods or cultures of the past;
- demonstrate understanding of key conceptual approaches to interpreting the past;
- examine historical issues by undertaking research according to the methodological and ethical conventions of the discipline;
- analyse historical evidence, scholarship and changing representations of the past;
- construct an evidence-based argument or narrative in audio, digital, oral, visual or written form; and
- identify and reflect critically on the knowledge and skills developed in their study of History and their relationship to the contemporary world.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
This major requires the completion of 48 units which include:
12 units from the completion of the following course(s):
HIST2110 - Environment and History from 1945 (6 units)
HIST3007 - Making History (6 units)
A maximum of 12 units from the completion of the following list:
ECHI1006 - The Australian Economy: Past and Present (6 units)
EURO1004 - Europe in the Modern Era (6 units)
HIST1209 - Terror to Terrorism: A History (6 units)
HIST1210 - The Great Acceleration: People and Planet Since 1945 (6 units)
HIST1214 - Empires in Global History: 1200 to the Present (6 units)
A maximum of 36 units from the completion of the following:
HIST2022 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History (6 units)
HIST2112 - Plagues, Pandemics and Public Health in History (6 units)
HIST2126 - American Sixties (6 units)
HIST2128 - Convicts and Settlers: Australia 1770s to 1870s (6 units)
HIST2133 - Race and Racism in Western Culture, c. 1450-1950 (6 units)
HIST2136 - World at War, 1939-1945 (6 units)
HIST2141 - The Cold War: 1945-1989 (6 units)
HIST2142 - Indigenous Memory and History: On Page, Stage and Screen (6 units)
HIST2143 - Celebrity: An Unauthorised History (6 units)
HIST2144 - Australia in the World: An International History (6 units)
HIST2172 - Remembering Anzac: A Study Tour of Commemorative Landscapes, Museums and Memorials across Australia (12 units)
HIST2205 - Europe and the Atlantic World, c.1492-1776 (6 units)
HIST2206 - The Anzac Battlefields and Beyond: A Study Tour of Gallipoli, London, Paris and the Western Front (12 units)
HIST2214 - The Great War, 1914-1918 (6 units)
HIST2219 - Tudor-Stuart England, c.1485-1714: Politics, Society and Culture (6 units)
HIST2220 - Western Europe in the Later Middle Ages, c.1348-1500 (6 units)
HIST2221 - The Birth of Modernity: Britain 1688-1848 (6 units)
HIST2223 - The French Revolution and Napoleon (6 units)
HIST2226 - Nazi Germany (6 units)
HIST2227 - Australian Political History (6 units)
HIST2228 - The Enlightenment: Europe and the World 1660-1800 (6 units)
HIST2230 - Latin America: Conquest and Colonisation (6 units)
HIST2231 - Exploration: From Captain Cook to the Astronauts (6 units)
HIST2232 - Crime and Justice: Historical Dilemmas (6 units)
HIST2233 - How the Camera Changed History: A Century of Photography and Cinema (6 units)
HIST2238 - Human Rights in History (6 units)
HIST2239 - Rock, Sex and War: Australia's 1960s - 1970s (6 units)
HIST2240 - Democracy and Dissent: Europe Since 1945 (6 units)
HIST2242 - The Soviet Union: From the Russian Revolution to the Collapse of Communism (6 units)
HIST2243 - Vikings, Crusades, Mongols: Shaping Medieval Europe, c. 850-1300 (6 units)
HIST2315 - Africans and Afro-descendants (6 units)
A maximum of 12 units from the completion of the following list:
ANCH2015 - Travellers and Geographers in Antiquity (6 units)
ANCH2017 - Emperors and Madmen: The Early Roman Empire (6 units)
ANCH2022 - The Rise of the Roman Empire (6 units)
ANCH3503 - Bad Neighbours: Law and Life in Ancient Athens (6 units)
ANTH2025 - Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective (6 units)
ARCH2004 - Australian Archaeology (6 units)
ARCH2037 - From Empire to Invasions: the Archaeology of Europe from the Romans to the Vikings (6 units)
ARCH2055 - Archaeological Fieldschools and Fieldwork Practice (6 units)
ARCH2058 - European Prehistory from Cultivation to the Celts (6 units)
ARTH2080 - Art and Visual Culture of the Long Eighteenth Century, 1660-1815 (6 units)
ARTH2081 - Art of the European Courts, 1500-1815 (12 units)
ARTH2082 - Art, War and Conflict (6 units)
ARTH2097 - Art of the Long Nineteenth Century (6 units)
ASIA2009 - The Making of Modern Japan: From Samurai to Economic Superpower and Beyond (6 units)
ASIA2016 - The Mongol Empire in World History (6 units)
ASIA2037 - History of Modern China (6 units)
ASIA2040 - The Making of Modern Korea (6 units)
ASIA2044 - Chinese History: The Imperial Period (221 BC - 1800) (6 units)
ASIA2045 - Lies, Conspiracy and Propaganda (6 units)
ASIA2072 - Taiwan: History and Culture (6 units)
ASIA2270 - India Past and Present: The Impact of Pre-colonial History on India Today (6 units)
ASIA2307 - History of Empire in Asia (6 units)
ASIA3011 - Samurai Society and Social Control in Japan (6 units)
ASIA3272 - Truth and Falsity in Indian History and Politics (6 units)
ENGL2074 - Jane Austen History and Fiction (6 units)
MEAS2000 - Iranian History and Culture (6 units)
MEAS2003 - Modern Turkey: History, Politics and Culture (6 units)
MEAS2006 - Gallipoli: A Transnational History (6 units)
MEAS3006 - Turkish History: Ottoman State to Modern Turkey (6 units)
PASI2002 - Australia in Oceania in the 19th and 20th Centuries (6 units)
POLS2100 - Genocide in the Modern World (6 units)
SCRN2003 - Film and History: Hollywood and Beyond (6 units)
SOCY2053 - Imagining the Future: A Sociology of Utopias (6 units)
WARS2001 - Theories of War: An historical and global perspective (6 units)
WARS2002 - The Vietnam Wars: 1941-1989 (6 units)
WARS2003 - The Korean War (6 units)
WARS2004 - War in the Islands: The Second World War in the Pacific (6 units)
A maximum of 12 units may come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| EURO1004 | Europe in the Modern Era | 6 |
| HIST 1015: Ends of Empire | ||
| HIST 1206: Three American Revolutions | ||
| HIST 1207: 20th Century Australia | ||
| HIST 1208: Australian History | ||
| HIST1209 | Terror to Terrorism: A History | 6 |
| HIST 1212: Globalisation in World History | ||
| HIST 1213: Australia and the World |
12 units from completion of the following course(s):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| HIST2110 | Approaches to History | 6 |
| HIST3007 | Making History | 6 |
A minimum of 12 units must come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| HIST2022 | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History | 6 |
| HIST 2107: American Voices | ||
| HIST 2117: Technology and Society | ||
| HIST 2121: Electric Citizens | ||
| HIST 2126: American Sixties | ||
| HIST2128 | Convicts and Settlers: Australia 1770s to 1870s | 6 |
| HIST2133 | Race and Racism in Western Culture, c.1450–1950 | 6 |
| HIST2136 | World at War, 1939-1945 | 6 |
| HIST 2140: Europe in the 20th Century | ||
| HIST2141 | The Cold War: 1945-1989 | 6 |
| HIST2205 | Europe and the Atlantic World, c.1492–1776. | 6 |
| HIST 2213: Real Men | ||
| HIST2214 | The Great War, 1914-1918 | 6 |
| HIST2219 | Tudor-Stuart England, c.1485-1714: Politics, Society and Culture | 6 |
| HIST2220 | Western Europe in the Later Middle Ages, c. 1348-1500 | 6 |
| HIST2221 | The Birth of Modernity: Britain 1688-1848 | 6 |
| HIST 2223: French Revolution & Napoleon | ||
| HIST 2224: Colonialism, Sex, Race, Gender | ||
| HIST 2225: Environmental History | ||
| HIST2226 | Nazi Germany | 6 |
| HIST2227 | Australian Political History | 6 |
| HIST2228 | The Enlightenment: Europe and the World 1660-1800 | 6 |
| HIST 2229: Sexuality in Aust Hist | ||
| HIST2230 | Latin America: Conquest and Colonisation | 6 |
A maximum of 12 units may come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANCH 2014: Homer and the Trojan War | ||
| ANCH2015 | Travellers and Geographers in Antiquity | 6 |
| ANCH 2016: Law and life in ancient Athens | ||
| ANCH2017 | The Roman Empire | 6 |
| ANCH 2019: Greek and Roman warfare | ||
| ANCH 2022: The Rise of the Roman Empire | ||
| ASIA2009 | The Making of Modern Japan: From Samurai to Economic Superpower and Beyond | 6 |
| ASIA2016 | The Mongol Empire in World History | 6 |
| ASIA2037 | History of Modern China | 6 |
| ASIA2040 | The Making of Modern Korea | 6 |
| ASIA2041 | Mainland Southeast Asia: Colonial and Postcolonial Predicaments | 6 |
| ASIA2044 | Chinese History: The Imperial Period (221 BC - 1800) | 6 |
| ASIA2072 | Taiwan: History and Culture | 6 |
| ASIA 2085: Southeast Asian History | ||
| ASIA 2163: Rels & Pols: South Asia | ||
| ASIA2270 | India Past and Present: The impact of pre-colonial history on India today | 6 |
| ASIA 2413: Vietnam: Hist & Soc | ||
| ASIA2516 | Indonesia: Politics, Society and Development | 6 |
| ENGL 2074: Jane Austen Hist & Fict | ||
| GEND 2021: Trauma, Memory & Culture | ||
| MEAS2000 | Iranian History and Culture | 6 |
| MEAS 2002: Turkish History | ||
| MEAS2003 | Modern Turkey: History, Society and Culture | 6 |
| MEAS 2108: Gallipoli | ||
| PASI2002 | Australia in Oceania in the 19th and 20th centuries | 6 |
| POLS 2092: Fascism and Antifascism | ||
| POLS2100 | Genocide in the Modern World | 6 |
| POLS 2115: Revolution! | ||
| SOCY2053 | Imagining the Future: A Sociology of Utopias | 6 |