ATS3865 Making history: Research and writing
Faculty of Arts
ATS3865 Making history: Research and writing is a level 3, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Arts, offered in 2025 in Semester 1 and Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Semester 1, Semester 2
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 4 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ATS3865
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After ATS3865
No unit lists ATS3865 as a prerequisite in the 2025 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Prerequisite: Twelve credit points of second-year Arts units.
Overview
What do historians do and how do they do it? In this unit you will explore these key questions: (1) by examining the historiographical debates and theoretical preoccupations that have shaped the discipline in recent decades; (2) through the design and execution of an original research project. You will examine various (sub)fields and concepts crucial to the historian’s craft, as well as critically review traditional practices and how they are being reshaped by processes such as digitisation, globalisation, and new media. Examining audiences will also play an important role, with the growing recognition that history speaks to different people in different ways. The student-designed research project can cover any historical period or place of the student’s choosing, limited only by the availability of primary and secondary materials. You will have the option to submit your research in a non-traditional form (e.g., podcast).
Offerings in 2025
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | Clayton | On campus |
| Second semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Quiz/TestQuiz / Test10%
- Research proposalWritten20%
- Research projectWritten50%
- Presentation20%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Critically analyse major historiographical trends and theoretical frameworks that have influenced the research and writing of history in the last half-century;
- 2
Craft and conduct research on a historical topic of your choosing;
- 3
Write effectively, using primary and secondary evidence in service of an original argument;
- 4
Make effective oral arguments;
- 5
Work collaboratively with peers.
Workload and teaching
- Tutorials24 hours
- Lectures12 hours
- Teaching approachCase-based teaching
- Teaching approachEnquiry-based learning
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachResearch activities
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
This unit includes case-based teaching, where you apply your knowledge and engage in analytical and reflective thinking to solve complex contextual scenarios. Activities are often designed so that there is not one clear answer, but you need to work together to examine, analyse and make decisions to resolve the situation.
This unit engages you in enquiry-based learning, where you will be encouraged to use your own knowledge to develop and engage in a process of enquiry, study and research to identify areas to be investigated and an approach to doing so.
This unit engages you in actively applying your knowledge, skills and attributes in interactive, collaborative and reflective activities.
This advanced BA unit is based on the thoughtful and critical exchange of ideas in class, which in turn assumes familiarity with the readings and the (pre-recorded) lectures. From an early stage in this unit you will develop your own research interests from a preliminary proposal to a fully-fledged paper.
This unit allows you to develop your research skills by engaging in structured inquiry using a systematic approach and discipline-specific methodologies.
Learning resources
Technology resources
Bring your own device.
This unit requires access to a laptop that meets minimum specifications (https://www.monash.edu/esolutions/students/bring-your-own-device-byod). Free specialist software is available via MoVE (https://www.monash.edu/learning-teaching/innovation/learning-technologies/move).
Where it fits
ATS3865 is part of 2 areas of study in the 2025 handbook.
Contacts
- Unit Coordinators
- Professor Gordon Pentland
- Associate Professor Timothy Verhoeven
- Chief Examiners
- Professor Gordon Pentland
- Associate Professor Timothy Verhoeven
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ATS3865?
ATS3865 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is ATS3865 offered?
In 2025, ATS3865 runs in Semester 1 and Semester 2 at Clayton.
How much work is ATS3865?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ATS3865 have an exam?
No. ATS3865 has 4 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ATS3865?
ATS3865 is part of History.