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Race in the Americas (HIST30059)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5Not available in 2024
Overview
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The understanding of race in the Americas – from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego – has been a crucial, though shifting, line of division in all American societies since the sixteenth century. To capture that breadth, Race in the Americas begins and ends in the present, but circles back to survey the history of race in the United States and Latin America over four centuries. The history of Afro-descended peoples in the Americas, especially the US and Brazil, and the aftermath of slavery (including the eras of legal segregation, civil rights era and beyond in the US) form a central strand in the subject, both because of its own importance and because the Black experience has often affected how other racial minorities have been understood and treated in the United States and Latin America. We will also study Native American and indigenous history throughout the settler colonial region, from the treaty-making frontier to the era of assimilation and into the present. Similarly, the subject will consider the experiences of people of Asian descent living in the Western Hemisphere. The history of whiteness in a variety of American nations, including the history of the procession of immigrant groups seeking assimilation into the category of “White” as well as more recent turns toward racial extremism, will also be a major theme. The subject concludes with reflections on how changing demographics throughout the region, but particularly in the United States, have been celebrated and criticised in the first decades of the 21st century.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this subject should be able to:
- Have an enhanced understanding of the history of peoples of African, Asian, European, and Indigenous heritage and of the role of race in national life throughout the Americas
- Have demonstrated an ability to undertake guided independent research on a topic in the history of race in North or Latin America
- Have an enhanced understanding of the major interpretive debates about the history of race in North and Latin America
- Have an enhanced understanding of the extent of change and continuity over the long history of race in the Americas
- Have demonstrated an ability to communicate historical arguments in writing and orally.
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Corequisites
Non-allowed subjects
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: 27 April 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
A research essay
| Late in the teaching period | 60% |
A reflective essay
| During the examination period | 40% |
Hurdle requirement: 1. Attendance hurdle requirement: This subject has a minimum requirement of 80% attendance at tutorials, seminars, or workshops. There is an expectation that students attend lectures. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Hurdle requirement: 2. Late Penalty and Assessment hurdle requirement: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at five per cent (5%) of the possible marks available for the assessment task per day or part thereof. All pieces of assessment must be submitted to pass the subject. Each submitted assessment must be complete, constitute a genuine attempt to address the requirements of the task and will not be accepted after 20 University business days from the original assessment due date without written approval. | Throughout the semester | N/A |
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Dates & times
Not available in 2024
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: 27 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Subject readings will be available on line.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name 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: 27 April 2024