Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Ian Plant
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
Herodotus and Thucydides are seen as the founding fathers of the discipline of history. Their work has had a profound influence on later historians. This unit examines their different approaches to writing history as well as examining a range of modern historiographical approaches to the reading of these two influential historians. This unit will give students a thorough understanding of the major works by Herodotus and Thucydides, along with a comprehensive overview of the history of the study of these authors. At the same time, it will introduce some of the major historiographical techniques used in the study of these authors, and give the students the opportunity to analyse a range of critical responses to the writing of history. It will teach students to read these authors within their historical and historiographical context, to understand the characteristics of their particular type or genre and to evaluate the historical information gathered from them.
All enrolment queries should be directed to Open Universities Australia (OUA): see www.open.edu.au
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.open.edu.au/student-admin-and-support/key-dates/
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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First seminar Paper | 12% | No | Friday 5.00 p.m. week 6 |
Second seminar paper | 13% | No | Friday 5.00 p.m. week 10 |
Major Essay | 50% | No | 5pm Friday week 13. |
Discussion in class and online | 25% | No | 5pm Sunday each week |
Due: Friday 5.00 p.m. week 6
Weighting: 12%
Choose one of the seminar topics ( not week 1) and address the final question for the topic in no more than 1000 words. Make sure that you refer to relevant ancient evidence in your answer. Address at least two of the works of modern scholarship listed for that topic.
You must include a bibliography of works cited.
This seminar paper is not meant to be a research essay and is designed to guide your reading of the evidence for the topic, introduce the research questions posed by that evidence and ask you to apply the historiographical issues of that topic to texts relevant to your own field of interest.
The topic chosen may not be the same as that addressed in your essay.
Your paper should be based firmly upon the ancient evidence, and should show an appreciation of differences in interpretation offered by modern scholarship.
Obviously, there is only so much you can say in 1000 words. You should consider this an exercise in expressing yourself succinctly. When citing the ancient evidence upon which you are basing any observation, you may choose to cite it in parentheses (brackets) or you may choose to use footnotes. Any material in footnotes is not considered to be part of your word-length.
How to submit your assessment? – upload your first paper to Turnitin as Assessment 1.
Due: Friday 5.00 p.m. week 10
Weighting: 13%
Choose one of the seminar topics ( not week 1) and address the final question for the topic in no more than 1000 words. Make sure that you refer to relevant ancient evidence in your answer. Address at least two of the works of modern scholarship listed for that topic.
You must include a bibliography of works cited.
This seminar paper is not meant to be a research essay and is designed to guide your reading of the evidence for the topic, introduce the research questions posed by that evidence and ask you to apply the historiographical issues of that topic to texts relevant to your own field of interest.
The topic chosen may not be the same as that addressed in your essay.
Your paper should be based firmly upon the ancient evidence, and should show an appreciation of differences in interpretation offered by modern scholarship.
Obviously, there is only so much you can say in 1000 words. You should consider this an exercise in expressing yourself succinctly. When citing the ancient evidence upon which you are basing any observation, you may choose to cite it in parentheses (brackets) or you may choose to use footnotes. Any material in footnotes is not considered to be part of your word-length.
How to submit your assessment? – Submit your second paper as Assessment 2 in Turnitin.
Due: 5pm Friday week 13.
Weighting: 50%
Choose a topic introduced in the seminars and formulate an appropriate question. You should choose this question in consultation with the unit convenor. You may not write your essay on the same topic you choose for your seminar papers. You must include a bibliography of works cited. Your essay should be 3000 words in length (no more), based firmly upon the ancient evidence, and should show an understanding of historiography: the critical analysis of historical writing.
In your essay you should draw upon the approaches to Herodotus and Thucydides discussed in the unit, and offer critical response to those approaches. The ancient evidence you discuss may be sources other than Herodotus and Thucydides.
The Major Essay should be formatted as carefully as possible, as though it were to be submitted to a journal for consideration. Producing well proofed, grammatical, and error free copy is an essential skill for postgraduate work, academic publication, and valued in the workplace. 10% of the total available marks for the essay will be devoted to the style, grammar, referencing, structure, and presentation of the bibliography. At this level of study, work should be sufficiently polished that it could be submitted to a journal in the field.
An Essay Rubric with a breakdown of the essay marks is available under assessment resources. Please familiarise yourself with the rubric and the supplementary materials given there on theoretical engagement, the analysis of evidence, and the difference between narrative description and argument.
Due: 5pm Sunday each week
Weighting: 25%
Each week you should work through the relevant passages from Herodotus or Thucydides and discuss them in class and online. You may discuss other texts that illustrate similar issues. Your discussion should focus on how the material addresses the questions in the study notes for that topic. You may discuss the modern readings too. You may choose to address one or more of the modern readings, looking at what their perspective brings to the topics we are addressing. I do not expect you to address all of the modern scholarship listed for a topic each week but you should frame your understanding of the ancient source by reference to the modern scholarship. You should respond to postings by other students each week too. The time limit for postings each week must be observed. We will be moving on each week to a new topic and postings in previous weeks will not be read. The marks for this component of your grade will be given for the quality of your weekly contribution, postings, your responses to other postings and your overall contribution.
To complete the unit successfully, you will need to achieve an overall mark of 50% or above.
Extensions
Extensions for assignments can only be granted for medical reasons or on compassionate grounds. Requests for an extension must be made through Ask.Mq: https://ask.mq.edu.au
Faculty Late Submission Penalty
“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.”
The unit will include reading of Herodotus and Thucydides each week. There are electronic copies of these texts readily available eg. at perseus.tufts.edu. You may choose to use any edition of Herodotus or Thucydides. If you are buying a copy, I recommend you obtain one of the two editions of each text listed below.
Herodotus:R. B. Strassler (ed. 2007) The Landmark Herodotus, New York.
Thucydides: R. B. Strassler (ed. 1996, 1998) The Landmark Thucydides, New York, Simon and Schuster; Touchstone Paperback.
There will be one 2-hour seminar each week. All students are required to participate online each week by contributing to the seminar discussion.
There will be a unit iLearn site, on which readings and resources will be placed.
PC and Internet access, basic computer skills (e.g. internet browsing) and skills in word processing are required to complete the unit.
Weekly schedule:
Week 1 Introduction to historiography
Week 2 The historian and sources
Week 3 Thematic approach to reading an historian: Women in Herodotus
Week 4 Causation in history
Week 5 Politics and the historian
Week 6 History as literature
Week 7 Unitary vs Analyst: the composition question
Week 8 Speeches and citation in ancient history
Week 9 Past or present? Model history
Week 10 Narratology: reader and text
Week 11 Structure and intertextuality
Week 12 History and historiography
Week 13 No seminar: prepare essay for submission
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.
The University recognises that students may experience events or conditions that adversely affect their academic performance. If you experience serious and unavoidable difficulties at exam time or when assessment tasks are due, you can consider applying for Special Consideration.
You need to show that the circumstances:
If you feel that your studies have been impacted submit an application as follows:
Outcome
Once your submission is assessed, an appropriate outcome will be organised.
You can withdraw from your subjects prior to the census date (last day to withdraw). If you successfully withdraw before the census date, you won’t need to apply for Special Circumstances. If you find yourself unable to withdraw from your subjects before the census date - you might be able to apply for Special Circumstances. If you’re eligible, we can refund your fees and overturn your fail grade.
If you’re studying Single Subjects using FEE-HELP or paying up front, you can apply online.
If you’re studying a degree using HECS-HELP, you’ll need to apply directly to Macquarie University.
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:
Undergraduate 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).
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 shown in iLearn, 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.
Note carefully that any marks given for assessment tasks during the unit should be considered provisional and are subject to moderation.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
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Revisions to course and assessment content