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Magic, Reason, New Worlds, 1450-1750 (HPSC30034)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Email: gerhardw@unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability | Semester 1 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
The subject follows the intellectual history of early modern Europe in a global political and economic context. It looks at the way European encounters with other parts of the world and the subsequent colonial enterprise produced changes to the intellectual formation of Europe. It will also study how new conceptions of knowledge - about nature, about humans, and about God - were interwoven with social and political developments. In particularly, it will discuss how the rise of modern science in the seventeenth century and the emergence of a world view based on reason related to earlier ideas of natural magic. Topics will include Renaissance humanism and practical science, the Protestant reformations, demonology and witchcraft, the Columbian exchange and colonial trade, slavery, new natural philosophy and the mathematisation of nature, the emergence of the experimental method, science and early modern state formation, Newtonianism and the radical enlightenment, enlightenment science and colonial empires.
Note: This subject is jointly taught by the History and History and Philosophy of Science disciplines and is an elective in both majors.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this subject will:
- demonstrate familiarity with the major intellectual, social and political developments of the period from the fifteenth through to the eighteenth centuries;
- be able to reflect critically on the complexities of periodization in History;
- be able to examine intellectual positions and their historical development;
- understand the complex interaction between different forms of experience that contributed to the emergence of modern science;
- put their own position in an historical perspective;
- have developed effective written communication and presentation skills (written and oral), and the ability to collaborate constructively within the classroom;
- be able to conduct independent research including the appropriate use of primary and secondary sources in mounting an historical argument;
- demonstrate ethical integrity in written work and classroom activities.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
A document analysis
| Mid semester | 40% |
A research essay
| During the examination period | 60% |
Hurdle requirement: Students must attend a minimum of 75% of tutorials in order to pass this subject. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Note: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. After five working days late assessment will not be marked. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Gerhard Wiesenfeldt Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 34.5 hours - 1 x1.5 hours lecture each week and 1 x 1.5 hours tutorial for 11 weeks Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 27 February 2023 to 28 May 2023 Last self-enrol date 10 March 2023 Census date 31 March 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 May 2023 Assessment period ends 23 June 2023 Semester 1 contact information
Email: gerhardw@unimelb.edu.au
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Subject readings will be available online and from the bookshop.
Recommended texts and other resources
- Margaret Osler, Reconfiguring the World: Nature, God, and Human Understanding from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopknis University Press, 2010.
- Lorraine Dason and Katharine Park, Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150-1750. New York: Zone Books, 1998.
- Martin Jay and Sumathi Ramaswamy (eds.), Empires of Vision: a Reader. Durham: Duke University Press, 2014.
- Subject notes
Note: This subject is jointly taught by the History and History and Philosophy of Science disciplines and is an elective in both majors.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Major History and Philosophy of Science Major History - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 19 March 2024