Late Penalty for Assignments

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 2 marks out of a total of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

Weekly Quiz

Due: Assessed Each Week Weighting: 25%

You will find a quiz in the iLearn block for each week of this unit, consisting of two short-answer questions (you only need to write a maximum of 2-3 sentences for each answer). The quiz is timed - you will have 10 minutes to write your responses. One question will assess your understanding of one of week's lectures, the other will assess your understanding of the readings. You will do twelve quizzes over the semester (plus one practice test in week one, which is not graded); the best ten will count towards your grade. The quiz will be graded out of 4 (2 possible marks per question). You will receive feedback in the form of model answers for each question.

NOTE: You will need to complete your quiz before midnight on Sunday of each week.  Unless you are ill or have an unavoidable absence, and can provide documentation, you will not be able to make up any quizzes after the week in which they are given. 

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Locate, read, and analyse different kinds of historical evidence (primary sources), including visual and textual sources
• Devise and answer research questions drawing on primary and secondary evidence
• Identify key arguments in secondary source materials and apply them in your own historical arguments
• Be able to identify and analyse key developments in the history of popular culture since 1945
• Explain how the social and political movements of this period were shaped by, and reflected in, contemporary popular culture

Primary Source Analysis

Due: Wed 18th March, midnight Weighting: 10%

Our online seminar in Week 3 will focus on analysing primary sources and how to use them in a research essay. We will be working online with a primary source that relates to this week's topic area. 

You will then be supplied (via iLearn) with an additional primary source that also relates to this week's topic area. Using the skills developed in the online workshop, you have one week to write a 500-word analysis of the supplied primary source, due by midnight, Wednesday 18th March.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Locate, read, and analyse different kinds of historical evidence (primary sources), including visual and textual sources
• Communicate thoughtfully in classroom discussions, and in a range of written forms
• Analyse selected examples of popular culture produced since 1945 in their historical contexts, and to describe the ways these examples, relate to, and reflect, broader, social, cultural, and political trends

Research Project Proposal

Due: Friday 10th April (midnight) Weighting: 25%

This task will assess your ability to develop a research question and approach, as well as your ability to locate and analyse primary and secondary sources. It is the first step towards developing your research essay. The proposals will be returned in time for you to work on your research essay after the mid-semester break. 

You must choose a topic that relates to the unit in some way and you must demonstrate that you will be using primary sources – that is, sources which were themselves part of the historical situation you are discussing.

You should proceed as follows:

Thinking about a topic: It is best to start this process as early as possible. Look at the weekly lecture and tutorial schedule. What themes in this course do you find most interesting? What questions are you interested in exploring? Do you want to write about Australia, the United States, or both? 

Try to think about popular culture historically - that is, think carefully about how we can use popular culture as evidence of past attitudes, representations, ideologies, and points of view. You are aiming to relate popular culture to broader social, cultural, and political events and ideas, and to relate popular culture to the broader society that produced it. 

Developing a question: Your question needs to be direct and focused, because you will be assessed on how you answer it - for example, "How did x reveal ideas about y in 1950s America?". You can focus on media debate about a particular pop culture text or group of texts, or examine responses of a particular kind of pop culture consumer to an item of pop culture. You can trace the ways responses to a particular event, new technology (for example, television) or social movement (for example, feminism, the Iraq War) played out in popular culture, or explore how certain popular culture texts represent gender or race or sexuality in particular historical contexts and reflect - or contest - dominant representations. 

Be sure to find both a question and a set of sources that will help you answer it. Your question might be quite narrow, ie. What was Playboy magazine’s attitude towards women in the 1950s? This gives you the opportunity to go into the question in depth.

While you need to find primary sources to research your essay, you need to read those sources and ask your question in light of your knowledge of the historical context, and of historiographical debate. This knowledge is mostly gained from scholarly secondary sources (books, journal articles, book chapters). Don’t forget that reference books and tools can be useful too. But be cautious about internet sources. See the Modern History essay writing guide for further information on sources.

Online workshop: Our seminar in Week 6 will focus on developing and refining your research question. You will give and receive feedback on your draft research proposals. This is also the best opportunity to ask Michelle about how best to shape and refine your question and proposal. 

For this workshop, you will to upload a draft of your research proposal for workshopping and feedback by Monday 30th March. This draft proposal should include your ideas for what your research question will be, the primary sources you are thinking of working with, and the initial secondary texts you will be using to kickstart your research. You must provide feedback to a set number of your peers by Friday 3rd April, 5pm. More details on the logistics of the workshop will be available on iLearn.

Submitting your proposal: After giving and receiving peer feedback, you will then be required to take the feedback and ideas from the workshop and refine your proposal for submission. The proposal is due Friday 12th April via turnitin on iLearn. 

Your proposal should be 1500 words and must include the following:

1. Your research question, clearly framed as an essay question, rather than simply as an idea.
2. Your approach to the question. This section should be around 800 words. In outlining your approach, consider the following questions:
   • What is your topic about? What time and place are you focusing on?
   • What might your main primary sources be? Are they accessible? Why are they useful? List at least three and explain how at least one of your sources relates to your research area and question, explain its key themes, and explain how you might use it as evidence - what components of the source are most useful to you?
   • How does the genre or form of your primary sources shape their meaning?
   • What do you need to know about the historical background/context of your topic? (For example, if you are writing about film and the Gulf War, then you need to include works on the Gulf War as well as its cinematic representations.)
   • What other themes or issues do you need to understand in order to explore this topic properly? (For example, do you need to find out more about changing gender roles, or how propaganda works?)
   • Are there questions about evidence or methodology you need to consider?
3. An annotated bibliography, which must have five 150 word entries. The works in your annotated bibliography should be the most relevant secondary sources for researching your project (you will no doubt need more research to write the essay!). You may use the questions in the ‘approach’ section above as a guide to thinking about the kinds of readings you need to cover in your annotated bibliography. 
4. The proposal enables you to start thinking about your research essay at an early stage and understand where your work will fit within the relevant field of study. If you are unsure what an annotated bibliography looks like, see the following websites: 
   • https://student.unsw.edu.au/annotated-bibliography 
   • http://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography
   • http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/annotatedbibliography.jsp

Grading Criteria: You will be assessed on the following criteria - 

• Understanding and focus on the task of presenting a detailed, relevant research project proposal
• Knowledge of both the historical and historiographical context of the proposed area of research
• Communication: clarity of prose, use of correct grammar and spelling
• Referencing and annotated bibliography: appropriate use of source material and academic honesty/relevant annotations in the bibliography
• Presentation: presence of page numbers and bibliography, double-spacing of text, justification of margins, completion of the entire assessment task

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Locate, read, and analyse different kinds of historical evidence (primary sources), including visual and textual sources
• Devise and answer research questions drawing on primary and secondary evidence
• Identify key arguments in secondary source materials and apply them in your own historical arguments
• Communicate thoughtfully in classroom discussions, and in a range of written forms
• Be able to identify and analyse key developments in the history of popular culture since 1945
• Analyse selected examples of popular culture produced since 1945 in their historical contexts, and to describe the ways these examples, relate to, and reflect, broader, social, cultural, and political trends
• Explain how the social and political movements of this period were shaped by, and reflected in, contemporary popular culture

Research Project

Due: Friday 5th June (midnight) Weighting: 40%

This assessment task evaluates your ability to construct an argument in response to your own self-devised research question, based on primary and secondary sources. This task is the culmination of your assessment tasks in this unit; all your previous assessments are "scaffolding" this final task. You need to observe the conventions of writing and referencing as outlined in the essay writing guide on iLearn.

Your final essay should be 3000 words, not including referencing. 

This assessment is to submitted via turnitin on iLearn. Remember to submit the essay self-assessment (available on iLearn) sheet with your essay. You must also include a short statement, about one paragraph, on how you have utilised the feedback you received on your research proposal in completing your final research project. 

There is a rubric for this assessment task included as a PDF download in the "Assessments" section on iLearn. 

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Locate, read, and analyse different kinds of historical evidence (primary sources), including visual and textual sources
• Devise and answer research questions drawing on primary and secondary evidence
• Identify key arguments in secondary source materials and apply them in your own historical arguments
• Communicate thoughtfully in classroom discussions, and in a range of written forms
• Be able to identify and analyse key developments in the history of popular culture since 1945
• Analyse selected examples of popular culture produced since 1945 in their historical contexts, and to describe the ways these examples, relate to, and reflect, broader, social, cultural, and political trends
• Explain how the social and political movements of this period were shaped by, and reflected in, contemporary popular culture

Delivery and Resources

Unit webpage and technology used and required:

Online units can be accessed at: http://ilearn.mq.edu.au

PC and Internet access are required. Basic computer skills (eg internet browsing) and skills in word processing are also a requirement.

Required reading:

Students will need to have access to the following required text: Michelle Arrow, Friday on Our Minds: Popular Culture since 1945 (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2009). This is available for purchase from the university Co-Op bookshop or online, and is also available from the university library to borrow or to access as an ebook. 

The iLearn site for this unit lists the required weekly readings alongside Friday on Our Minds. These readings are available on Leganto, via the Macquarie University library.

Classes and timetables:

Students are required to prepare for class by listening to the weekly lectures, which are available on iLearn, and reading the required readings each week. Students will attend a seminar seminar per week - the seminar will run between 1.5 and 2 hours each week, depending on the content to be covered. See www.timetables.mq.edu.au for the most up-to-date information about class times and locations.

Learning and Teaching Strategy:

This unit has been 'flipped' - that is, we have moved to pre-recorded lectures in order to make more space in the timetable for discussion in seminars. Each week, you will need to prepare for class discussion through active listening of the lectures (taking notes is a valuable skill that you should practice whilst at University (see this article from The Conversation on the best ways to take notes: https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-most-effective-way-to-take-notes-41961).

You also need to prepare for class (remember, quizzes on this material consist of 25% of your grade) by reading the required readings. This doesn't mean skimming them - you should be printing out your readings, annotating them and highlighting the parts you think are most meaningful, and noting the parts you don't understand.

You may also be required to watch film or music clips before you come to class.

Seminars are important for students because they represent a space for students to discuss the readings and issues raised by the lectures, to ask questions, and solve problems together. Students learn in seminars through a combination of small and whole group discussions, working closely through the set readings, and analysing primary sources, both in small and large groups.

Student & Staff - Rights and Responsibilities: in order to learn best in this unit, students and staff have rights and responsibilities in relation to their learning. 

Staff have responsibilities to:

• be prepared for classes 
• treat students respectfully
• mark student work fairly and according to transparent marking rubrics
• return student's written work promptly
• respond to student email queries within 48 hours

In turn, students have responsibilities to:

• be prepared for classes (with reading and other tasks completed)
• not be on social media during class
• participate and contribute to group discussions and other activities
• treat staff respectfully
• follow guidelines for assessment and submit work on time
• manage their time effectively in order to fulfill these responsibilities

You will find the unit schedule, with lecture and tutorial topics, in the MHIS365 iLearn site. The schedule of assessment is located below - it will be useful to help you map out your assessment commitments in this unit.