Local, Family and Applied History

Introduction

Our family, our community, our locality, our region: we shape our sense of who we are partly by the people and places who surround us and with whom we live. Their stories are part of us, and to understand those stories is to understand ourselves and to imagine and explore the links between past, present and future.

The local, family and applied history awards and units taught at UNE offer a varied and stimulating way to engage with different aspects of these past and present lives. They introduce a range of sources, encourage fieldwork, explore different ways of researching and presenting the past, and establish networks among local, family and applied history enthusiasts around Australia.

The awards and units are available at different levels of study. There is a named undergraduate award for those with no experience of tertiary education, and a named postgraduate diploma for those with a university degree. Units in local family and applied history can also be studied in other undergraduate awards, in Masters by coursework and as the focus of research higher degrees.

Why study Local, Family and Applied History at UNE?

The teaching of local, family and applied history at UNE has a long and distinguished history beginning with the pioneering work of Dr Lionel Gilbert at the Armidale College of Advanced Education in the early 1980s. This was arguably the first time a tertiary education institution in Australia dared to introduce these popular history areas as part of its teaching and research profile.

Over the years, the content of the courses has evolved as the subject area has encountered new issues, new debates and new methodologies. However, the principles laid down by Lionel Gilbert in the early 1980s are still fundamental. These include:

Study is done by distance education.
Students draw on their own communities and family histories for many of their assignments.
Developing skills in oral history, critical reading, good writing, analysing historical sources, interpreting and displaying objects, and understanding buildings, cemeteries and landscapes are of central importance.
Local and family histories are placed in the context of wider Australian history and of historical developments throughout the western world.

Courses

Local, family and applied history units can also be studied in the following awards:
Graduate Certificate in Arts
Graduate Diploma in Humanities
Master of Arts
Master of History

Postgraduate Research

Master of Arts with Honours
Doctor of Philosophy

Units

HIST 150 Colonial Australia
HIST 151 Modern Australia
HIST 318 Victims of Whiggery: The Tolpuddle Martyrs England
HIST 330 Australian Local History
HIST 333 Waking the Dead: Death, Burials and Memorials
HIST 335 Heritage Conservation
HIST 337 History and Museums
HIST 338 Australian Frontiers; Rural and Regional Histories
HIST 339 The Family in Australian History
HIST 351 Convict Australia
HIST 354 Aboriginal History since the Late 18th Century
HIST 361 The Cold War and Popular Culture
HIST 367 Issues in Church History: Australia and America
HIST 368 The Swinging Sixties: The 1960s in America, Britain and Australia
HIST 376 Oral History
HUMS 301 Special Option A
HUMS 303 Special Option C

Careers

UNE local, family and applied history awards are well established and well recognised. They provide skills and qualifications that open doors in the worlds of history and heritage consultancies, local museums, family and local history organizations and activities, local council planning and heritage, teaching history, and much more.

Partnerships, Networks and Industry Links

Australian Garden History Society          www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/
Australian Historical Association www.theaha.org.au/
Federation of Australian Historical Societies www.history.org.au/
History Council of NSW   www.historycouncilnsw.org.au
International Oral History Association http://www.theaha.org.au/
Journal of Australian Colonial History http://www.theaha.org.au/
National Trust of Australia   www.nationaltrust.org.au/
NSW Heritage Office   www.heritage.nsw.gov.au
NSW Migration Heritage Centre             www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/
Oral History Association of Australia www.ohaa.net.au
Royal Australian Historical Society www.rahs.org.au/
Society of Australian Genealogists          http://www.theaha.org.au/
UNE Heritage Futures Research Centre www.une.edu.au/hfrc

Research

Over the years and currently, lecturers in the courses are prominent in the fields in which they teach. They research, publish, provide workshops, initiate community projects, develop exhibitions and websites, give public lectures and talks, contribute to historical associations and much more.

Staff also contribute to the UNE Heritage Futures Research Centre which conducts cross-disciplinary research into the fields of natural and cultural heritage and local/regional identity.

As well, our graduates and postgraduates have published and presented the results of their university work in journals, books, exhibitions and in other media.

Contacts

Enquiries about Local, Family and Applied History at UNE can be made to:

Academic Coordinator, Local, Family and Applied History
Assoc. Professor Janis Wilton OAM
jwilton@une.edu.au
Ph: +61-2-6773 2107

Help for Students

You can find instant answers to many of your questions or contact UNE directly via AskUNE

Future Students may also call 1800 818 865

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