Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
David Christian
Lecturer and Tutor
Shawn Ross
Contact via by email
W6A510
Lecturer and Tutor
Andrew Dunstall
Contact via by email
W6A730
Lecturer and Tutor
David Baker
Contact via email
W6A436
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
MHIS115
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit will explore some of the fundamental problems raised in the transdiciplinary first year course MHIS115 as they play out across multiple disciplines. Is there a universal long-term trend towards rising complexity? Does the notion of Universal Darwinism work outside the biological realm? What new mechanisms of change can be observed with the appearance of our own species, Homo sapiens? What are the main similarities and differences in methods of studying the past as we move from the realms of physics to those of geology and biology and eventually to human history? The course will explore these and many related questions. The choice of topics will be determined in part by discussions in the first week. In a problem-based course, lectures are less valuable than group discussions, so the classes will combine short informal lectures with group discussions and debates. The unit will also explore a flipped classroom model that will deliver some unit content and learning tasks digitally through the iLearn learning management system.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
---|---|---|
Group Project | 10% | Week 4 |
Short Essay | 30% | Week 6 |
Draft Essay | 10% | Week 8 |
Synoptic Essay | 40% | Week 13 |
Participation Grade | 10% | Week 13 |
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 10%
Group Project 1000 words: 10 % Small groups produce a short statement describing a key problem
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 30%
Short Essay 1000 words: 30 % Essay exploring the problem described in the first projec
Due: Week 8
Weighting: 10%
Draft Essay 500 words: 10% essay explaining proposed theme for synoptic essay
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 40%
Synoptic Essay 2500 words: 40 % essay expanding short essay and exploring links between several different problems in big history
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 10%
Participation: Seminar attendance & contribution 10 % + post at least one comment and one comment on other contributions to the discussion for each week
LECTURE/SEMINARS:
The course will be taught in 2 hour lecture/seminars, consisting of introductory lectures followed by discussion. Lecture/Seminar 1 will meet on Mondays from 12-2 pm in W6B 315. Lecture/Seminar 2 will meet on Thursdays from 2-4 pm in W6B 345.
TEXTS:
Basic Text: A summary of the core narrative of big history can be found in David Christian, Cynthia Stokes Brown and Craig Benjamin, Big History: Between Nothing and Everyting, New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014.
Optional texts:
Where to Get Texts: Required and Optional texts will be available for purchase at the Co-Op bookstore on campus. External students can also contact the Co-Op via phone at (02) 8986 4000, fax at (02) 8986 4099 and the internet at http://www.coop-bookshop.com.au and arrange for texts to be sent to them.
In all, you have 3 options for purchasing ‘Big History: Between Nothing & Everything’. Please read the options carefully before choosing which to purchase!
1. PRINTED TEXTBOOK
RRP $87.95 AUD. ISBN 9780073385617. Purchase from the Co-op Bookshop:
2. SMARTBOOK
An adaptive online eBook. SmartBook facilitates the reading process by identifying what you know and don’t know. As you read, the material continuously adapts to ensure you are focused on the content you need most to close specific knowledge gaps. Learn more about SmartBook here:
$47.95 AUD. 1 year access. Purchase from McGraw-Hill Education at:
http://www.mheducation.com.au/9781259324604-aus-smartbook-online-access-for-big-history/
3. EBOOK
A downloadable eBook. Allows you to search, highlight and add notes.
$46 USD. (This transaction will likely be converted back to AUD by your bank and this will be at the currency rate of the day.) Purchase from McGraw-Hill Education at:
https://create.mheducation.com/shop/#/catalog/details/?isbn=9781121743687
*You will need to download the VitalSource bookshelf. Please read separate eBook download instructions before purchasing*
If you have any queries regarding these options, please visit https://www.mheducation.com.au/contact-us to contact McGraw-Hill Education.
SUPPORT: If you need any technical support when buying or using SmartBook or the eBook please take a screenshot of the issue and visit http://mpss.mhhe.com/contact.php to contact McGraw-Hill’s Customer Experience Group.
MHIS215 PROBLEMS IN BIG HISTORY: WEEKLY SEMINAR TOPICS
Week |
Lecture/Seminar Topics |
Assessment & Deadlines |
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Seminar 1: Monday, 12-2 pm, W6B 315 Seminar 2: Thursday, 2-4 pm, W6B 345 |
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1 |
INTRODUCTORY: Defining Big History: its place in modern education & research; a modern origin story? (Week beginning July 27) |
Start thinking about group projects |
2 |
A CONCEPTUAL TOOL KIT (1): Complexity, Thermodynamics & Energy (Week beginning Aug 3) |
Discuss group projects |
3 |
A CONCEPTUAL TOOL KIT (2): Emergence, Thresholds, Goldilocks conditions and drivers of change, such as Universal Darwinism (Week beginning Aug 10) |
Present on group projects |
4 |
EPISTEMOLOGY: Truth, Science & Claim Testers (Week beginning Aug 17) |
Submit group projects |
5 |
INFORMATON, MEANING & ETHICS: What is information? How do you get meaning from a scientific origin story? (Week beginning Aug 24) |
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6 |
LIFE: A new type of complexity? Genes, Reproduction, and ‘learning’ through natural selection (Week beginning Aug 31) |
Discuss synoptic essays |
7 |
HUMANS: Another new type of complexity? Culture, networks and collective learning (Week beginning Sep 7) |
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SESSION 2 RECESS (Sep 14-25) |
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8 |
ENERGY IN HUMAN HISTORY: The Agricultural and Fossil Fuels revolutions (Week beginning Sep 28) |
Submit draft of synoptic essay |
9 |
POWER, INEQUALITY & COMPLEXITY IN HUMAN SOCIETIES: Why does complexity seem to require hierarchy and inequality in human history? (Week beginning Oct 5) |
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10 |
COMPLEXITY REVISITED: What new insights into the nature of complexity are suggested by the course so far? (Week beginning Oct 12) |
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11 |
THE ANTHROPOCENE & THE FUTURE: The challenges of the Anthropocene; the remote future: how can we think rigorously about the future? (Week beginning Oct 19) |
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12 |
TBD (Week beginning `Oct 26) |
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13 |
TBD (Week beginning Nov 2) |
Submit Synoptic Essay |
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Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
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