Students

MHIX3030 – Screening the Past: History on Film and Television

2020 – Session 2, Fully online/virtual

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Michelle Arrow
Faculty of Arts Level 2 25 Wally's Walk Building B
email for consultations or appointments
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above OR (20cp in HIST or MHIS or POL or POIR or MHIX or POIX units at 2000 level)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Recent surveys of popular historical awareness have demonstrated that most people find out about the past from film and television, yet visual histories are often criticised for the ways they present the past. This unit will consider the limitations and possibilities of history on screen. Do filmic histories represent a more 'authentic' engagement with the past, or do they peddle false versions of history to a gullible public? How might we read historical films and television programs carefully and critically to understand diverse historical interpretations? This unit will develop student's understandings of the critical study of history on film, examining the ways that all historical texts (including films) make arguments about the past. The unit will examine cinematic and televisual representations of Australian, American and British histories.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Locate historical films and television programs within the context of their production.
  • ULO2: Demonstrate understanding of the ways that films and television programs produce interpretations of the past.
  • ULO3: Conceptualise and create an original research project by presenting a coherent historical argument that is situated in the relevant historiography.
  • ULO4: Successfully undertake independent primary and secondary historical research.
  • ULO5: Develop and apply a critical vocabulary for the analysis of film and televisual materials as primary sources.

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

Note: written assessment tasks are always due by midnight on the specified date.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Research Project Proposal 20% No 6/11/20
Weekly reading journal 20% No complete weekly, due 10/11/20
Active class participation 10% No Across semester
Research essay 50% No 6/11/20

Research Project Proposal

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 23 hours
Due: 6/11/20
Weighting: 20%

 

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. You will respond to a series of questions to prepare the proposal.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Locate historical films and television programs within the context of their production.
  • Demonstrate understanding of the ways that films and television programs produce interpretations of the past.
  • Conceptualise and create an original research project by presenting a coherent historical argument that is situated in the relevant historiography.
  • Successfully undertake independent primary and secondary historical research.
  • Develop and apply a critical vocabulary for the analysis of film and televisual materials as primary sources.

Weekly reading journal

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 5 hours
Due: complete weekly, due 10/11/20
Weighting: 20%

 

This task evaluates your understanding of the weekly film and the essential readings. Each week, students will complete a short (approx 250-300 words) outlining the core argument of the essential readings and analysing the way the set screen text represents history. The reading journal must be completed for 11 of the 13 weeks of the unit.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Locate historical films and television programs within the context of their production.
  • Demonstrate understanding of the ways that films and television programs produce interpretations of the past.
  • Develop and apply a critical vocabulary for the analysis of film and televisual materials as primary sources.

Active class participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: hours
Due: Across semester
Weighting: 10%

 

students will be assessed on their engaged and active contributions to class discussions and activities, either in iLearn discussion forums or in zoom video conference tutorial sessions. Students will be assessed on the quality of their contributions and their willingness to productively engage with the views and ideas of others.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Locate historical films and television programs within the context of their production.
  • Demonstrate understanding of the ways that films and television programs produce interpretations of the past.
  • Develop and apply a critical vocabulary for the analysis of film and televisual materials as primary sources.

Research essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: 6/11/20
Weighting: 50%

 

This assessment task evaluates student’s ability to construct an argument in response to a self-devised research question, based on primary and secondary sources. This task is the culmination of the assessment tasks in this unit; all previous assessments provide "scaffolding" for this final task.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Locate historical films and television programs within the context of their production.
  • Demonstrate understanding of the ways that films and television programs produce interpretations of the past.
  • Conceptualise and create an original research project by presenting a coherent historical argument that is situated in the relevant historiography.
  • Successfully undertake independent primary and secondary historical research.
  • Develop and apply a critical vocabulary for the analysis of film and televisual materials as primary sources.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Delivery:

this unit is taught through a combination of a lecture, a film screening and asynchronous, online tutorial discussions - the lecture and film screening will be available online, and you must listen to the lecture  and watch the film before you before you participate in the online discussions.

Resources:

All the required readings for MHIS303 are available via the MHIS303 iLearn site or directly through the University Library. You do not require any textbooks.

The library holds most of the required films for this unit, as well as a large number of other films you will find useful or relevant. You can also access many films through your online rental or streaming services. You may have to purchase access to one or two of the film texts we study in the unit.

Unit Schedule

  1. Introduction
  2. Genre, Humour and the Holocaust: Life is Beautiful 
  3. Fabrications, Inventions and historical 'truth': JFK 
  4. Slavery and Abolition I: Amazing Grace
  5. Slavery and Abolition II: Django Unchained
  6. Early Modern Political Biography I: Elizabeth 
  7. Early Modern Political Biography II: Elizabeth R 
  8. Australia at War I: Paradise Road
  9. Australia at War II: Gallipoli
  10. WWII I: Saving Private Ryan 
  11. WWII II: Dunkirk
  12. Women's Liberation and the Sixties I: Mad Men
  13. Women's Liberation and the Sixties II: Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.