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HIST333 Waking the Dead: Death, Burials and Memorials

Updated: 24 October 2012
Credit Points 6
Offering Not offered in 2013
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is no UNE Supervised Examination.
Pre-requisites 12cp in ANCH or ARPA or ASST or ECON (units with a 4 or 5 as second digit [denoting ECON HIST] only) or HIST or candidature BArchH(Hons) or BUrbRegPlan or in a postgraduate award
Co-requisites None
Restrictions LOCH223 or HIST233
Notes None
Combined Units None
Coordinator(s) Andrew Piper (andrew.piper@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

Monuments and cemeteries are a particularly valuable source of historical evidence. They both commemorate and perpetuate memory, and fix meaning on the landscape - meaning that changes over time. This changing meaning and the changing treatment of death and public memory will be explored using Australian and international examples. Of particular interest to local and family historians will be study of the theory and method for research and interpretation of cemeteries. Students enrolling in this unit must have access to a general cemetery and/or a public monument/memorial. Field work is necessary.
Materials Textbook information will be displayed approximately 8 weeks prior to the commencement of the teaching period. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment Assessment information will be published prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. appreciate the historical importance of monuments and cemeteries as physical evidence in our built environment;and be able to research and interpret monuments and cemeteries as primary sources;
  2. be aware of the range of subjects that can be encountered in death studies;
  3. understand different views about death and the hereafter;
  4. conduct surveys of cemeteries and appreciation of the diversity of grave-maker styles and explain symbolism and epitaphs derived from the memorialisation of death over time;
  5. demonstrate the relationship between monumental design (including grave form, epitaph and symbolism), and ideology; and
  6. explain that changes in the meaning of monuments reflect larger social changes.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
Knowledge of the history discipline will be taught with lecture notes and through online discussions (student centred). It will be assessed through written assessments. 		True True
2 Communication Skills
Students will be taught communication skills through written feedback on the essays. Students studying off campus will learn valuable communication skills through participation in online discussions. Students will be assessed on the style of writing, clarity of writing, expression and development of ideas, and referencing. Students will practise their communication skills through completing the assessment tasks. 		True True True
3 Global Perspectives
The unit will, at every point, set Australian developments in local history in a global context via the application of relevant theories and methodologies. Although the unit deals mainly with Australian material, it considers local and family history as international phenomena; for example, the changing treatment of death and public memory explored using Australian and international examples. Moreover, the unit seeks to introduce students to ideas and techniques that they would be able to apply in non-Australian local history contexts. The complex historical relationships between the local, the national and the global are at the forefront of the unit. 		True True True
4 Information Literacy
Students will be directed to relevant literature and taught how to assess its validity. Students will be assessed on their ability to identify and critically analyse the relevant literature. 		True True
5 Life-Long Learning
This unit will promote life-long learning through its emphasis on competencies in research, analysis and writing, skills that students will ideally continue to develop beyond the duration of their course. This unit will also encourage students to better understand their local environments in historical terms. 		True
6 Problem Solving
Students are taught how historians research, analyse and interpret the past. Problem solving lies at the heart of online participation sessions and essay writing. The skills is both practised and assessed in essays. 		True True True
7 Social Responsibility
Through its emphasis on the value and importance of primary sources, this unit will raise students' awareness of the need for vigilance if this often fragile part of our heritage is to be preserved. This objective is most important at a time when many archives are under threat due to funding cuts and ignorance about their function and importance. Moreover, raising students' awareness of their local environment will, more generally, enhance their capacity for socially responsible and ethical participation in their communities. 		True True True
8 Team Work
Students will practise their teamwork skills through participating in online discussion postings. They will be required to discuss the weekly topics with their fellow students in a thoughtful and respectful manner. 		True
   

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