The past is over, but history is replayed and remade every day. This unit explores how the past is re-presented and contested in contemporary societies. It examines the use and significance of the past through critical examination of current literature, Australian and international case studies and fieldwork excursions to 'public history' sites in Melbourne. Case studies will include social history museums, heritage and the built environment, family photographs and memory, war memory and national identity in Australian and overseas, Holocaust memory in Melbourne's Jewish community, and reconciliation and remembering in post-conflict contexts such as South Africa after apartheid. -- Course Website
Instructor: Ruth Morgan
Prerequisites: A first-year sequence in History or permission