History Extension (1U)
Board Developed Course (60 hours)
Available in Year 12 only
HSC Course (60 indicative hours) – undertaken in Year 12
Please Note: A preliminary course in Modern or Ancient History is a prerequisite for the HSC History Extension course. An HSC course in Modern or Ancient History is a co-requisite for the HSC History Extension course.
The History Extension course is about the nature of history, and how and why historical interpretations are developed from different perspectives and approaches over time. It offers a higher level of challenge than the Ancient History and Modern History courses with its greater emphasis on historiography.
The History Extension course requires students to examine the way history is constructed and the role of historians. This involves reviewing the types of history that have been produced over time and the contexts in which they were developed. Students explore problems and issues associated with the construction of history through sampling the works of various writers, historians and others involved in the practice of history from ancient times to the present day. Students focus on an area of debate to consider how an historian’s context, methodology and purpose shape their interpretation of a person, group, event or issue. Students apply their understanding and skills of historical inquiry by designing and conducting their own historical investigation.
History Extension requires students to engage with complex historiographical ideas and methodologies and to communicate sophisticated, sustained and coherent historical arguments about the nature and construction of history.
History Extension appeals to students who appreciate the intellectual challenge of grappling with an area of debate, and constructing and defending a position through a reasoned and cohesive argument. It offers students the opportunity to work independently and apply the historiographical understanding developed through the course to an individual project of personal interest.
The History Extension course is designed to enhance the development of critical and reflective thinking skills essential for effective participation in work, higher learning and the broader community. It fosters the ability of students to approach complex tasks flexibly, analyse and synthesise information from a range of sources and situations, explore a range of perspectives, develop considered responses and reflect on the methodologies with which they engage.
These experiences are of particular value to those students intending to undertake tertiary study, by providing an introduction to the issues of how a discipline is structured and practised. The History Extension course lays a foundation for such tertiary study by raising awareness of these issues and facilitating the transfer of higher-order thinking skills from one area of study to another.
Students are required to study Parts I and II of the course:-
Part I: Constructing History - 60% of course time.
Four key questions provide a framework for investigating the construction of history with a focus on historiography. Students engage in the complex and intellectually demanding study of History Extension by applying significant historiographical ideas and methodologies, which have evolved over time, to the investigation of these key questions:
Who are historians?
What are the purposes of history?
How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?
Why have approaches to history changed over time?
Constructing History – Case Studies
Students develop their understanding of significant historiographical ideas and methodologies by exploring ONE case study, with reference to THREE identified areas of debate and the key questions above. The case study provides for an examination of historiography within a specific historical context.
Topic : Appeasement
Part II: History Project - 40% of course time.
Students will undertake an individual investigative project, focusing on an area of changing historical interpretation.
The topic should be developed from one or more of the following areas:
changing interpretations of an historical debate or controversy
a critical analysis of an historian’s or archaeologist’s work
changing analysis of an archaeological site over time
contrasting approaches to an historical personality, issue or event
museums as history
history in the media and different forms of historical communication – for example film, documentary, fiction, docudrama
an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the history of a personality, issue or event
oral history
historical biography
local history
critical analysis of a major historical work
the use and misuse of history in either a specific context or over time