HIST 3057 - Nations and Nationalism

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2019

Despite globalisation, nationalism is on the rise in the contemporary world. This leads to conflicts both within and between states. Understanding the nationalism is central to understanding the world in which we live. In this course we explore how nations and nationalisms are based on narratives of the past. We investigate how conflicts arise when the narrative of one nation differs from that of another, or when there are disagreements within a national community, about what the 'proper' national narrative should be. Case studies of 'hot spots' in contemporary politics include: the Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese occupation of Korea, the partition of India/Pakistan and of Israel/Palestine, Stalinism, Fascism, World War II and the Holocaust in Europe, and the debate about slavery and the Confederacy in the USA. The course starts with a discussion of the origins of nationalism in the nineteenth century and its evolution in the twentieth. Our main focus, however, is on the politics of nationalist narratives in the present. This is not a traditional undergraduate course. It is a collaborative research project in which students participate as active researchers. Each student chooses a particular country or region to research. The student feeds the results of her/his research into a collective pool of information which is shared by the whole class. On the basis of the information gathered by the students themselves, we shall address wider, theoretical questions about the role of history, narrative and identity in the modern world.

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Course Details

Course Code	HIST 3057
Course	Nations and Nationalism
Coordinating Unit	Historical and Classical Studies
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	At least 6 units of Level II undergraduate study
Assessment	Team wiki-page (Regional overview) 10%, Individual wiki-page (Opinion piece) 20%, Research essay 50%, Reflective document 20%

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Gareth Pritchard

Room: Napier 508
Telephone: 8313 4529

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Please see the course planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1	Demonstrate a broad knowledge of ‘memory wars’ and their role in contemporary global conflict.
2	Demonstrate an understanding of a range of relevant theories of nationalism and collective memory.
3	Evaluate the usefulness of these theories by applying them to the case studies that we cover in the course.
4	Gather relevant data from a wide range of sources, including databases, newspapers and web sites, and evaluate its significance both with regard to specific ‘memory wars’ and to theories of nationalism and collective memory.
5	Develop independent analytical positions with regard to ‘memory wars’ and their role in political conflicts in the contemporary world.
6	Work effectively as part of a research team nested in a larger collaborative research project.
7	Communicate findings and ideas in a range of formats.
8	Demonstrate a sensitivity to the impact of differing understandings of the past on the world view of people of different social, cultural and political traditions
9	Reflect critically on their participation in the project and on their own learning strategies.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 2, 9
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	2, 3, 4, 6, 9
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	5, 9
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	6, 9
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	7, 8, 9
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	8, 9

Learning Resources

Required Resources

There is no textbook or course reader for this course.

Recommended Resources

Much of the course will involve searching news websites for stories that deal with the politics of history. To this end, students will use a variety of news databases such as Google News, Factiva and Press Display. Other useful websites include:

Aljazeera (Europe) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/
BBC New (Europe) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/europe/
BBC Radio 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
Spiegel Online http://www.spiegel.de/international/
The Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news

Online Learning

The project will be fully supported on Canvas. Students will be provided with a range of supporting materials, including: course guide, bibliography, links to relevant web sites (especially news webs sites), TURNITIN, interactive quizzes.

As the project develops, students will themselves be developing and extending the learning resources that are available. Teams of students will be given collaborative tasks which produce learning aids that will be of benefit to the cohort as a whole.

In the context of this course, the internet itself becomes an important focus of study (e.g. how different factions in ‘memory wars’ use the internet to get their message across, and what the comments on relevant websites (including YouTube and Wikipedia) tell us about conceptual structures and discursive strategies.

The students will be using electronic platforms to store and share the data that they find. They will for example create a Wiki on memory wars that will be shared by the whole class. In their research teams they will be working in internet groups, talking to each other with IM, and collaborating on shared Google Docs (or similar online work spaces).
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

Each week there will be a two-hour workshop. This is the hub around which the whole course revolves and it is compulsory.

There will also be a one-hour interactive lecture each week. Students can listen to this on-line, though it is better if they can attend in person.

Alongside the workshop and interactive lecture, there will be a range of voluntary sessions which students can attend if they choose, e.g. writing workshops, debates, discussions, reading groups.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

WORKLOAD TOTAL HOURS

3 hours preparation for workshops per week = 36 hours per semester
4 hours independent reading/research per week = 48 hours per semester
3 hours assignment preparation per week =36 hours per semester

TOTAL = 156 hours per semester

Learning Activities Summary

Each student chooses a country on which s/he will become a specialist. Students are then grouped into regional research teams, e.g. South-East Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Europe, Russia etc.

In the interactive lectures, we shall cover basic conceptual and theoretical issues that are relevant to the study of memory wars in contemporary global conflicts. These include theories of nationalism, theories of collective memory, and debates about the role of historians and history teachers in the shaping of collective memory.

During the workshops, students sit in their research teams. The workshops will be used to train the research teams in the use of databases and internet research strategies. The most important activities in the workshops will consist of students reporting on their findings in a scaffolded structure, and then discussing the implications of their findings with the class as a whole. Some of the most important issues that we shall explore in the workshops are:

+ Memory Wars on the internet.
+ Memory Wars in school curricula, textbooks and museums.
+ Memory Wars in public architecture, statues and street names.
+ Memory Wars in academia.
+ Memory Wars in international relations.

In the final two weeks of the project, we shall return to the key theoretical questions about the nature of nationalism, memory and collective identity and we seek to answer them in the light of the empirical data that we have collected.

Specific Course Requirements

There are no specific course requirements.

However, students who can read languages other than English may, if they so desire, work in teams with other students who can speak/read the same language. For example, students who can read French may choose to work in a research team with other Francophone students, looking at French-language sources.

Small Group Discovery Experience

SGDE is fundamental to this project. The student research teams will consist of up to 10 students. The research teams and their activities will be the focus of students’ experience. Students will sit in their research teams during the workshops. They will have to organise tasks within the teams. They will elect a team ambassador who will liaise both with staff and with other team ambassadors. The first assignment is a team assignment. The second assignment is a wiki-page produced by the team as a whole, but divided into sections that are written by designated individuals and assessed individually. Students can, however, choose in the second assignment to work with other students and be assessed collectively.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Team wikipage	Formative and summative	Week 4	10%	4, 6, 7
Individual wikipage	Formative and summative	Week 6	20%	4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Research essay	Formative and summative	Week 11	50%	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8
Reflective document	Summative	Week 13	20%	9

Assessment Related Requirements

N/A

Assessment Detail

Team wikipage: Each research team will be required to create a wikipage in Canvas which gives an overview of nationalism in their chosen country or region. The overview will give important contextual information about the country/region, an overview of the history of nationalism in the country/region, and a discussion of the memory politics of the country/region in the present day. Weighting: 10%.

Individual wikipage: Each individual within the team will write an individual wikipage in the style of an article in The Conversation. The article will discuss some aspect of the memory politics of the country/region. It will be up to each team to makes sure that the individual articles complement each other and do not overlap. Weighting: 20%.

Research essay: The synoptic assessment is a research essay. This is an individual assignment. In the research essay, students will address a general question about memory wars and contemporary global conflict. In answering this question, the student will have to draw not just on the case study on which s/he is now an expert, but on a range of case studies. The course wiki will provide an invaluable research tool. Weighting: 50%.

Reflective document: Alongside the research essay, the student submits a short reflective document. Students provide information on their attendance and participation in the team activities, and reflect on what they think they did well and on what they could do to improve their performance. Weighting: 20%.

Submission

All assignments (apart from the wiki-page) are submitted via Turnitin in Canvas.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
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