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Unit of study_
HSTY1023: Emerging Giant: The Making of America
2025 unit information
Touching down on the shores of the 'New World', the first European colonists imagined the creation of an earthly paradise. But their mission soon floundered in the face of internal dissenters and alien cultures pursuing their own ideals. Fierce clashes between regions, races, social groups and other nations have marked American history ever since. Exploring the origins and outcomes of these contests from first settlement onward, this unit charts America's emergence onto the world scene in the nineteenth century.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | History |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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HSTY2634 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. At the end of this unit, you should have a firm grasp of the broad development of American history from white colonization through the 1860s. Lectures are designed to give you a basic grounding in the chronology of early American history, as well as a sense of the way historians have interpreted this history over time. The final exam will allow you to consolidate and express what you have learned through lecture attendance.
- LO2. You should have improved your ability to think creatively, independently, and analytically about the process of writing and researching history. The secondary readings for each week focus on how historians come up with new hypothesis by interpreting primary sources. To test and sharpen your understanding of these readings, you will conduct your own analysis of a range of primary sources in each tutorial. In addition, the major research assignment is intended to hone your creative and analytical abilities by having you create an original assignment designed around a source of your own choosing.
- LO3. Facilitate independent learning. Setting a research assignment that requires a creative approach is meant to stimulate your intellectual curiosity and enhance your problem solving abilities. Having to contribute your own interpretation of primary sources in tutorials each week should also improve your analytical skills and allow you to participate in collaborative learning.
- LO4. Cultivate your ability to examine the past from multiple angles and perspectives. Our lectures, tutorial readings and primary sources are all designed to help you understand the complexity of both the past itself and our modes of analyzing the past.
- LO5. Develop your capacity to express what you have learnt in both written and verbal form. Our assignments require the ability to construct a logical, analytically sound, and compelling argument, written in flawless English. They will help improve your use of communications technology, since they require extensive use of online databases. And presenting the idea behind your research assignment to your tutorial group, responding to classmates’ presentations, and participating weekly tute discussions will also improve your communication skills.
Unit availability
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