ATS1321: Nations at war: The twentieth century

- Online Moodle Quizzes (Worth 20%)
- Primary Source Analysis (Worth 15%)
- Major Research Essay (Worth 35%)
- Take-home exam (Worth 20%)
- Tutorial Participation (Worth 10%)

Content
ATS1321 picks up where ATS1320 left off, although it requires no previous knowledge, so you won’t be at a disadvantage for not having done ATS1320.

The four main themes of the unit are:
1. Centrality of war
2. Ideological confrontation
3. Old and new empires
4. Beyond the West
And, the overarching theme of the unit is (obviously) the twentieth century.

Each week covers a new area of history, which I’ve outlined below:
1. End of the Nineteenth Century world, and Defining the Twentieth Century
2. Empires, Nations, and the First World War
3. Russian Revolution, and the Aftermath of World War I
4. Italian Fascism
5. Nazism
6. Global War
7. The Cold War
8. 1949 Revolution
9. Dissolution of Empires
10. The Iranian Revolution
11. Collapse of Communism in Europe and the USSR
12. Imperial Struggles, Nation-States, and Modernity in the Twentieth Century

This unit is really fascinating. Each week goes by a bit like rapid-fire, so you don’t really study anything too in-depth, but that is to be expected of a first-year unit. The assessments do allow you to focus on what you enjoy though, so I guess that makes up for it.

Assessments
The assessments are almost identical to those in ATS1320, with the addition of Moodle Quizzes this time around. Tutorial participation is also marked, and a take-home exam is due in the exam period. I’ll briefly comment on, and explain each below:
Online Moodle Quizzes
These are on-going throughout the semester, and are completed on Moodle. Each quiz is comprised of ten multiple-choice questions, and cover Weeks 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, and 10-11. Each quiz is worth 4%, and collectively worth 20%.

The quiz must be completed in 60 minutes, although most people didn’t need that long. The quizzes are based on the readings, and lectures. I’d recommend doing your readings, otherwise you’re going to struggle. While some questions were quite easy, others asked you more specific questions, e.g., “In the discussion of the meaning on fascism, Robert Paxton metions recent research which suggests that the social support for fascism…,” or, “According to Hobsbawm, which two decisions did more than any others to decide the result of World War II…”.

Primary source analysis
You are required to write 1000 words, and critically analyse a primary source from either Week 2, 3, or 4. The instructions were clear, and it’s fairly straightforward.

Major Research Essay
You are given a choice of questions, one for each week. You write on one of them, I chose Nazism. It’s important to read widely, and begin early for this assignment. You need to use both primary, and secondary sources. You need a minimum of three primary sources, and a minimum of seven secondary sources. Like ATS1320, you are given a number of sources, both primary and secondary, to use in this assignment. I used some of these, but to be honest, I didn’t really look at them all that much, I preferred to research my own sources.

Take-home exam
The take-home exam is due in the exam period, but if you have an exam on the same day, you can upload it to Moodle, and submit it earlier.

You’re required to write 1500 words, in response to a question that considers the themes of the unit as a whole. You’re required to engage with at least two of the themes of the unit, and you must discuss at least three of the weekly topics. You also need to use at least three primary sources, and seven secondary sources. Unlike the Major Research Essay, you are not expected to go searching for extra readings. It’s fine to use just the Unit Reader. To quote the Unit Guide:
“Doing so would be a waste of time – you will be much better off reading material on the Moodle site, synthesising it and making an argument in response to the question.”

You also don’t need to submit a bibliography, although you did need footnotes.

Also, unlike ATS1320 which has an unseen take-home exam, the prompt for the ATS1321 take-home exam is actually given to you at the very first lecture. This is way, way less stressful; rather than having to complete it in 48 hours, you can really start whenever.

Dr. Johnny Bell, and various others on occasion.

No.

3.5/5

Yes, with screen capture.

The Unit Reader is all you need. It has each week’s readings, which you’ll need to refer to in assignments, and extensively in tutorials.

1x2 hour lecture, 1x1 hour tutorial

Semester 2, 2017

TBA

15% Annotated Bibliography
40% Major essay
30% Class test
15% Tutorial participation

So in this unit you look at the revolutions and ideologies that guided conflict in the 20th century. This involves examining a broad range of topics such as Communism, Nazism, Franco's Spain, Fascism, the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, etc.

Generally, the topics themselves were quite interesting and I feel like they are important things to comprehend for any student interested in history.
However, this is where I arrive at the core problem with this unit.

Dr. Reto Hofmann

None, but past exams are unnecessary as they give you the possible questions that will appear on the class test.

3/5

Yes, with recorded screen capture.

Just buy the unit reader. No textbook was prescribed.

2 hour lecture
1 hour tutorial

Semester 2, 2015.

78 D.