ATS1325: Contemporary Worlds 1

Annotated Bibliography (hurdle), 1000 word comparative document analysis worth 20%, 1500 word research essay worth 40%, tutorial participation (engaging in class) worth 10%

Tutor didn't seem to know what was going on as much as really needed. Always ran out of time to go over classwork. Assessments weren't given any explanation and they just sort of expected you to know how it worked straight out.

Alastair Thompson, very engaging lecturer.

None that I could see

2 out of 5

Caulfield audio only

International History of the 20th Century and Beyond, costs $65, half the readings are from here. The other half come from the Unit Reader ($19) which is necessary. The textbook can be found and copied from in the library.

One 2.5 hour lecture followed by one 1 hour tutorial. Expected that you read the textbook and reader pages at home before attending the lecture.

Offered first semester at Caulfield and Clayton

1. Assignment 1 1000 words20%

2. Assignment 2 1500 words 30%

3. Final Examination 2 hours30%

4. Tutorial Participation 10%

5. Online quizzes 10%

The first assignment was based on two topics. The first topic was looking at the Russian occupation of East Germany and the second topic was looking at the partition of India. The second assignment had about 8-10 options based on the topics covered from weeks 1-10. The exam was split into two sections. Part A had 10 dot points. Each dot point was based upon one major factor/person/philosophy covered in each week. You had to choose 3 out of the 10 options and write ~250 words on them, talking about how the major factor/person/ideology shaped the modern world as well as defining it. Part B was an essay, you had two options and both of these options were given to you in week 12. This means you have 2 weeks to write/memorise your essay!

I really enjoyed this subject. I've never studied politics (formally) before and I really regret it. They cover a wide array of topics covering post-1945/WWII, with a focus on Eastern vs Western ideology (Capitalism vs Communism) as well as revolutions/oil etc. There is only 1 lecture per week and the lecturers are quite good and interesting. The lectures are full on, they only go for 90 minutes but you cover quite a lot of content. The tutors (from what I hear) are all great fun and really know their stuff. The whole faculty is quite structured so you definitely know what to study as they are direct with their instructions.

You should only do this unit if you're an active reader/writer. I saw a lot of international students struggle with this unit as it is wordy and difficult, so if you are an international student, only do this subject if you're very fluent with reading/writing. In terms of difficulty, the subject can be hard at times. When writing the first essay, I had no idea how to reference and actually write a university style essay (which reflected in my result). However, you do get better with time =)
As for the exam, it's not too hard. I read over the main concepts/topics and then memorised responses ~2 days before the exam. As long as you are good at memorising facts/dates, the exam will be a breeze. I crammed 2 days prior to the exam and still managed to get 94%.

Various

Yes.

4 of 5

Yes, with screen capture

I bought the textbook and it helped a little bit, but I don't recommend purchasing the textbook. The only thing you should really purchase is the unit reader, that is a definite 'must have'.

one 90 minute lecture
one 1-hour tutorial per week

2013, S1

Enough to make me aroused. lolwat?

1. Assignment 1 500 words10%

2. Assignment 2 500 words 10%

3. Assignment 3 1500 words 30%

4. Final Examination 2 hours40%

5. Tutorial Participation 10%

Assignments 1-3 are based off the topics in the lectures (Eg. Communism in China). There is always a list of topics you can have your pick from. Similar with the exam, you can pick from a list on what you will write on.

Good subject. They cover a wide variety of topics in post 1945/WW2 history (the importance of oil, the revolution in Iran, rise of 'communism' in china, the cold war, etc). Only one weekly lecture is devoted to each topic. In my opinion, whilst there is a great breadth and variety of topics, there isn't much depth or time to explore each topic. Huge topics like oil or communism in China only had one 90 minute lecture devoted to them. For the time, they managed to squeeze in a lot but sometimes it came off as very shallow (in the case of North Korea for example). Overall, good unit. Some topics were more interesting to me than others personally and i found this to be true of a lot of people in the course.

Various

Yes.

3.5 of 5

Yes, with screen capture

I didn't have the textbook and i survived. It could help though. I also didn't buy the reader but that was a mistake. That you probably should buy.

one 90 minute lecture
one 1-hour tutorial per week

2012, S1