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Britain's Empire: Power and Resistance (HIST20089)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

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Semester 2
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By 1900 the British Empire was an empire on which ‘the sun never set’, the largest the world had ever seen. Yet, in the late 1700s, the Empire had teetered on the brink of collapse, undermined by the humiliating loss of the ‘thirteen colonies’ in America; the bankruptcy, corruption and nepotism of British ventures in India; and growing hostility to the slavery that sustained West Indian sugar plantations. Exploring this dramatic transformation, ‘Britain’s Empire: Power and Resistance’ considers British imperialism from the perspectives of colonizers and colonized. It examines how debates about race, civilization, government, gender, freedom, economics, and religion both shaped the growth and rule of empire and were themselves shaped by the empire’s existence. Students will study the impact on the Empire of the American War of Independence; the rise and fall of the East India Company state; the transition from slavery to indentured and ‘free’ labour in the Caribbean; the growth of settler societies in Canada, southern Africa and Australasia; and the British exploration, exploitation and partition of Africa. Indigenous responses to, and rejections of, colonialism are explored via regional case studies including India, New Zealand, the West Indies and Africa.

Weekly lectures will provide an overview of particular topics, highlight the connections between different regions of Britain’s empire, and demonstrate how the empire was made and remade over the course of the nineteenth century. The critical use of primary sources will be emphasized: what questions should historians ask of sources produced by colonizers? How can historians locate, foreground and critique accounts that provide the perspective of those who were colonized? Weekly tutorials will give students further opportunities to engage with, and contextualize, primary source material include official testimony, government reports and memoranda, private letters, speeches, fiction, maps, cartoons, paintings and architecture.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • Identify the range of imperial formations that constituted Britain's empire in the period, c. 1763-1900 and describe how they changed over time.
  • Analyse the dynamics of imperial expansion and control.
  • Analyse the interactions between colonised and colonising peoples in Britain's empire.
  • Locate and analyse primary and secondary sources to construct and evaluate historical arguments.
  • Demonstrate skills of critical thinking and clear communication through class discussions and the preparation of written work for assessment.

Generic skills

Students who successfully complete this subject should be able to:

  • Display critical and analytical skills
  • Be open to new ideas and perspectives
  • Communicate effectively
  • Manage their time well.

Last updated: 11 April 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: 11 April 2024

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

Primary Source Analysis

  • 1500 words
Mid semester40%

Research Essay

  • 2500 words
During the examination period60%
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 periodN/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 semesterN/A

Last updated: 11 April 2024

Dates & times

  • Semester 2
    Principal coordinatorZoe Laidlaw
    Mode of deliveryOn Campus (Parkville)
    Contact hours29 hours: 1x 1.5 hour lecture every week for 12 weeks and 1 x 1-hr tutorial every week from week 2 -week 12.
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Teaching period22 July 2024 to 20 October 2024
    Last self-enrol date 2 August 2024
    Census date 2 September 2024
    Last date to withdraw without fail20 September 2024
    Assessment period ends15 November 2024

    Semester 2 contact information

    Email: zoe.laidlaw@unimelb.edu.au

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: 11 April 2024

Further information

Last updated: 11 April 2024