Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts in partnership with the Faculty of Education is assisting teachers to prepare for the new National Curriculum through the introduction of a part-time Masters degree for practising specialist teachers of History, English or Geography. 

The Master of Curriculum Studies is designed to broaden practising teachers' knowledge and skills in curriculum specialisation aligned with the Australian Curriculum. In addition the course provides relevant renewal for current teachers. 

Faculty of Arts units for the Master of Curriculum Studies

History area of specialisation

HIST5501 Communicating History [PG]
This unit provides an education in communicating historical knowledge to others and in reading historical communication produced by others. It involves deep readings of a range of hard copy and electronic historical writings produced by a diverse body of historians, and is delivered in ways both teachers and contemporary students can relate to. This unit is designed to assist teachers of History broaden their historical knowledge, develop their interpretive skills, improve their skills in presenting historical knowledge to their classes while, at the same time, developing their students' interpretation and communication skills. In this unit, students become familiar with the methodological and theoretical imperatives underpinning historical writing, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic resources in historical communication.

HIST5502 Reading and Questioning the Evidence [PG]
This unit introduces students to the most up-to-date ways in which historians 'read' and use historical evidence. It examines ways of reading different types of evidence, including documents, photographs, oral histories, monuments, film, landscapes, maps and cartoons. The unit introduces students to a range of other related issues: the selection of evidence; the interpretative frameworks through which evidence can be read; and ways in which these arguments can most fruitfully be communicated. Students also develop the skills necessary to read evidence in rich, new and exciting ways. The knowledge and skills acquired in this unit will assist teachers of History in developing their students' capacity to undertake historical investigation, as well as developing their passion for the past.

HIST5503 Foundations and Frameworks of Historical Knowledge [PG]
This unit provides an introduction to the foundations and frameworks of historical knowledge. There are three sections: older history which can be collected under the label of 'positivism'; the new social history; and the new cultural history. Students are introduced to these frameworks through recent historiographical writing and examples. They examine the successes and failures of each approach, and look at how these approaches have been taken up in the recent 'History Wars'. An understanding and appreciation of these three approaches to historical knowledge enables teachers of History to broaden their own ways of looking at and teaching the past, a skill which will be of great benefit when teaching the perspective-focused Australian Curriculum—History. 

English area of specialisation

ENGL5501 Australian Textual Cultures [PG]
This unit introduces students to recent developments in Literary and Cultural Studies in Australia and internationally, focusing on the history of the book and readership, book futures, publishing industry history, contemporary electronic publishing of literature, and literature in public culture. The unit might also involve a case study of a contemporary author or recently published literary text (including Westerly). The content and objectives of the unit tie in with the Literature strand of the Australian Curriculum in English and with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority.

ENGL5502 Contemporary Writing [PG]
This unit offers an innovative approach to the writing and reading of literature today. In the wake of the globalised economy and mass migrations of the last fifty years, literature has become a transnational phenomenon. At the same time, postcolonialism has refocused critical attention upon the writings of Indigenous peoples. This unit studies contemporary creative writing in various genres and media drawn from around the world, with particular emphasis on Asian writing, and on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writing. Emphasis is placed on close reading, and assessment will include reflective readers' reports and an optional creative writing folio. The objectives and content of this unit link in with the Language strand of the new Australian Curriculum in English, and with the cross-curriculum priorities in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and Australia's relationship with Asia.

ENGL5503 Critical Paradigms [PG]
This unit refines and deepens students' understanding of critical literacy by studying new developments in literary and cultural theory. Theory is presented as an integrated reflective practice, rather than a collection of discrete approaches to textual understanding. Issues discussed include the relationship between literature and history, race and representation, the relationship between literature and oral and digital cultures, and literature and cultural identities. This unit connects with the Literacy strand of the new Australian Curriculum, and with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority. 

Useful links

• Information in the Handbook about this course

Course enquiries

For more information please contact the Faculty of Education.