Bachelor of Letters (History) - from 1 January 2021

The Bachelor of Letters (History) is a 108-unit program that must be studied concurrently with another Bachelor degree at an approved Australian higher education institution, for which 72 units of block credit will be awarded on completion of the requirements of the other degree. The Bachelor of Letters (History) is normally studied part-time over four years concurrently with the other Bachelor degree, thus adding one extra year to the overall study program. It is offered by the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

The stream undertaken by the student will be identified on the student’s transcript of academic record and on the parchment presented to the student on completion of the course.

Students who complete 36 units of Flinders topics according to the program of study below but who do not complete the requirements of their other Bachelor degree may be eligible to exit with a Diploma of Letters (History).

• Admission requirements
• Course aims
• Learning outcomes
• Program of study

Admission requirements

To gain entry into the Bachelor of Letters an applicant must be enrolled in a Bachelor degree (AQF level 7) at an approved Australian higher education institution.

Course aims

The course aims to:

• Provide extended knowledge of cultures and societies in a number of temporal and geographical contexts
• Support students to develop perspectives on historical events and agents and gain insight into how these perspectives contribute to historical discourse, both within the discipline of history and more broadly
• Provide students with the skills and abilities to undertake historical research and reporting using the normative ethical standard of the discipline of history
• Support students to develop the capacity to effectively communicate a nuanced understanding of historical events and concepts in a range of written and oral forms
• Produce graduates who are able to work independently and collaboratively and who can articulate the value of life-long learning and the continual renewal of knowledge and skills in light of advances in the graduate's chosen field.

Learning outcomes 

On the completion of the Bachelor of Letters (History), students are expected to be able to demonstrate:

• correctly sequence events, recognise key agents and describe the salient features of those societies selected for study
• discuss changes in the method and models of interpretation employed within the field of history and relate these to their historical context
• articulate the nature of the disciplinary boundaries that mark history as a discrete form of study; discuss attempts at interdisciplinary approaches to history; and apply methodologies and models learnt in other disciplines
• identify and assess sources of historical information; construct a sustained, coherent and reasoned argument based on source material; and synthesise differing viewpoints and account for inconsistencies between various accounts
• communicate research findings and historical argument in written and oral forms using the normative ethical standards governing the discipline of history
• apply methodologies and models for research and reporting to new and unfamiliar fields; construct a reasonable approach to contemporary or previously unstudied events and societies
• demonstrate the need for and embrace the opportunities to update the knowledge and skills accumulated whilst studying

Program of study

To qualify for the Bachelor of Letters (History), a student must complete the required program of study for his/her other bachelor degree, and 36 units at Flinders University, according to the program of study set out below, with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic.

No topic may be counted towards both the Bachelor of Letters and the student’s other bachelor degree, if that degree is studied at Flinders University.

Students are not normally permitted to undertake cross-institutional study or exchange study within the Bachelor of Letters (History).

Not all topics are necessarily available in a given year.

Specialisation - History

36 units comprising:

Year 1 topics

Select 9 units from the following:

 HIST1203  Australians at War  (4.5 units)
 HIST1703  Turning Points in World History  (4.5 units)
 HIST1704  History's Killing Fields  (4.5 units)
 HIST1801  Europe from Napoleon to World War One  (4.5 units)
 HIST1802  Europe from the Russian Revolution to Brexit  (4.5 units)
 HIST1803  'The Lucky Country'? A Brief History of Australia  (4.5 units)

Year 2 topics

Select 13.5 units from the following:

 HIST2009  Nazi Germany: Its Origins and Nature, 1870-1945  (4.5 units)
 HIST2014  War and Society in the Modern World  (4.5 units)
 HIST2015  Maps and Dreams: Indigenous-Settler Relations in Australian History  (4.5 units)
 HIST2018  Film and History  (4.5 units)
 HIST2020  Colonies, Empire and Revolution: North America 1500-1800  (4.5 units)
 HIST2022  Memory and the Politics of Difference: Sex, Race and Belonging  (4.5 units)
 HIST2026  Change and Conflict in Russia, 1860-1930  (4.5 units)
 HIST2030  The Great Powers in the Middle East 1798-2001  (4.5 units)
 HIST2042  Living the Revolution: The History of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991  (4.5 units)
 HIST2043  Terrorism and Society in Modern Europe  (4.5 units)
 HIST2066  Outpost of Empire? South Australian History, 1834 to the Present  (4.5 units)
 HIST2067  Ancient Greece and Rome: History, Art and Archaeology  (4.5 units)
 HIST2075  The Real Games of Thrones: the Early Modern World 1453-1789  (4.5 units)
 HIST2076  The Divided States of America, 1920-2000  (4.5 units)
 HIST2077 Crisis and Catastrophe: Past Experiences, Future Prospects (4.5 units)
 HIST2078 Crusade and Jihad in the Middle Ages (4.5 units)
 WMST2016  Indigenous Women's Voices: Race, Gender and Colonialism  (4.5 units)

Year 3 topics

Select 13.5 units from the following:

 HIST3001  Destination Australia: Migration Since 1900 (4.5 units)
 HIST3003  Romantics and Revolutionaries: European Culture and History, 1789-1918  (4.5 units)
 HIST3004  Britannia's Rise and Fall: Colonial and Postcolonial Experiences  (4.5 units)
 HIST3005  The Holocaust  (4.5 units)
 HIST3006  Empires: Ancient, Medieval and Modern  (4.5 units)
 HIST3007  Crimes of the Flesh: Sex and 'Deviance' in Australian History  (4.5 units)
 HIST3008  Australian Environmental Histories  (4.5 units)
 HIST3009  Civil War Era America  (4.5 units)
 HIST3010  One Nation Under God? Religion in American Public Life  (4.5 units)
 HIST3045  Guns and Butter: The United States in the Long 1960s  (4.5 units)
 HIST3046  The Great War: A Global History  (4.5 units)