Level 3 History
13HIS Course DescriptionTeacher in Charge: Dr M. Davison.
Recommended Prior LearningThere are a number of skills that will help you be successful in history. First, being curious about the past. Second, being able to connect the past with yourself and the world today. Third, showing that you can grasp that history often involves debates and that you can both empathise with historical characters and come to well thought out judgements. Lastly, rather like a detective, to be able to do your own research through critically using evidence. Each of these skills is enhanced if you are a keen reader and writer.
In History you will unlock the stories of the past, helping you to go out into the world and make meaning from what you see. You can think of History as providing you with four keys. First, the key to exploring how past events can be argued about, specifically focusing on the debate about whether strategic bombing or the use of the atomic bomb was justified in the Second World War. Second, the key to exploring key ideas such as environmentalism and deterrence that are vital to understanding the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland’s harbour in 1985. Third, the key to doing your own historical research on a topic that interests you. And, the last key to critically engage with evidence and with the lives of historical characters so that you are enriched as a reader, writer and citizen.
Course Overview
Term 1
Unit 1: Strategic bombing or the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Exploring the big idea that events in the past can be debated and argued about. You will be explaining different views (perspectives) on strategic bombing during the Second World War or the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6th August 1945. This will involve using lots of different types of evidence and weighing up whether or not bombing cities can ever be justified.
Term 2
Unit 2: The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. Investigating the big idea that events in the past are shaped by concepts, in this case by environmentalism and nuclear deterrence. You will be exploring the birth of the environmental movement in the early 1960s, the nuclear arms and space race and how in 1985 New Zealand became the centre of the world’s attention. This will involve you writing about concepts with plenty of supporting evidence.
Term 3
Unit 3: Carrying out your own research. Doing your own research as a young historian is an exciting part of this course. You will select an event to research and then using the tools of an historian complete a piece of independent research. You will learn how best use these tools such as expertly handling evidence and questioning what you have found out.
Term 4
Unit 4: the prohibition of alcohol in the USA 1920-1933: Finding out about the causes and consequences of a ground-breaking event that changed America. You will focus on what causes radical changes in our lives and what are the consequences of these changes. In particular you will learn about the lives of men and women who made a difference and how unintended consequences and how good intentions can often go wrong.
Career Pathways
Barrister, Legal Executive, Solicitor, Counsellor, Trainer, Primary School Teacher, Kaiwhakaako Māori, Private Teacher/Tutor, Secondary School Teacher, Teacher Aide, Archivist, Historian, Curator, Librarian, Library Assistant, Tertiary Lecturer