Unit rationale, description and aim
In this unit, students will explore key themes in western history, including European interactions with other cultures and traditions, and scholarly debates concerning the concepts of 'the west' and 'western civilisation'. Against this historical backdrop students will also engage with a range of modern thinkers whose work demonstrates the essential value of a liberal arts education within the western tradition. They will practice and reflect upon the skills of textual analysis and rational argumentation that operate within this tradition and come to appreciate how an education in the liberal arts fosters democratic citizenship, emphasises human dignity, and promotes the notion of the public good in challenging times.
The aim of this unit is to develop students' understanding of the history and historiography of western civilisation and of the liberal arts tradition, and to build students' skills in analysis, critical reading and communication.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Describe key themes, developments and debates in w...
Learning Outcome 01
Identify major contemporary theories of the libera...
Learning Outcome 02
Communicate ideas and arguments clearly in written...
Learning Outcome 03
Use and appropriately reference a variety of prima...
Learning Outcome 04
Apply critical reading skills to the understanding...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- An overview of the major currents and epochs of western history
- Key themes in western history and their relation to traditions in philosophy, art and literature in the creation of western identity
- Historical interactions between western and non-western cultures and traditions
- Major debates concerning the concept of the west and western civilisation
- Interpretations of the meaning and significance of liberal arts education
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessment tasks are linked in a developmentally progressive sequence with the later assessment tasks given more weighting than the earlier ones since students’ knowledge and understanding of the unit should increase over time and thus, they should be better able to do well on the set task. The reading-related task/s will be a relatively lightly-weighted assessment task to assess students’ ability to identify and discuss ideas and content related to specific readings. It is designed to be diagnostic (since this is an introductory unit) and formative. It will begin in the first half of the semester with initial feedback made available to students by, at the latest, the end of week 6. The Research Task requires students to identify relevant and suitable historical resources in response to a set question, and to apply analysis and discussion skills developed in the first assessment to construct an evidence-based historical argument or narrative. The Summative Task requires students to demonstrate knowledge of the unit as a whole, their ability to synthesise and apply that knowledge, and the acquisition of level-appropriate written communication and analysis skills
The assessment tasks for this unit have been designed to contribute to high quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning), and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These have been designed so that they use a variety of tasks to measure the different learning outcomes at a level suitable for first year studies of Western Civilisation.
Overview of assessments
Reading-Related Task This task gives students th...
Reading-Related Task
This task gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify key knowledge and historical debates within set scholarly historical readings and communicate their findings.
20%
Research Task This task allows students to demons...
Research Task
This task allows students to demonstrate their ability to identify key resources related to a set topic and apply critical reading skills to construct an historical argument or narrative.
40%
Summative Task This task enables students to dem...
Summative Task
This task enables students to demonstrate the skills, understanding and knowledge they have acquired and/or developed over the course of the unit.
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
In line with the agreement between ACU and the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, classes are run in attendance mode for seminar/ tutorial groups of ten students. Students are expected to have read the texts prior to attending class and, on that basis, there will be a strong focus on shared analysis.
These seminars will be driven by a broadly ‘Socratic’ approach to thinking and discussion, by which texts are examined through a guided process of question and response informed by close readings of the texts. Such discussions include implications for contemporary thought. In this way, high level skills in textual analysis, conceptual evaluation, and clear verbal and written expression will be taught, skills that are of great demand in the professional workplace.
This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.