History of Ideas
Overview
This unit examines the relationship between scientific ideas and society. Science will be investigated historically as a cultural phenomenon, as a sub-culture within the broader culture of society, interacting with and influencing the development of societies and their politics.
Requisites
Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Understand the difference between documentary historical evidence (primary sources), and works of theoretical explanation or interpretation (secondary sources)
- Draw upon primary and secondary sources to understand ideas underlying social, political and intellectual movements studied, and their implications for the periods studied
- Understand and correctly use appropriate terms for the eras, movements, ideologies and philosophies studied
- Describe important ways in which evolutionary theorising in either the environmental, social, psychological, health or life sciences has transformed conceptions of nature and humanity
- Understand implications of ideas and theories studied for 21st century conceptions of nature, humanity, society, health, and the future
- Research and write, a clear, scholarly, well-structured, well-argued, correctly referenced, historical essay, and be able to reflectively explain and evaluate the process of inquiry undertaken
- Plan and deliver a spoken presentation on a History of Ideas topic to initiate and guide class discussion by means of thought-provoking questions
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Lecture | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Tutorial | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Specified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Various | 10.00 | 6 weeks | 60 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Independent Learning | 4.50 | 12 weeks | 54 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Individual | 45% | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Journal | Individual | 35% | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Tutorial Presentation | Individual | 20% | 1,2,3,4,5,7 |
Content
- Historical emergence, development and interrelation of scientific ideas of nature, evolution, humanity, health, and ecological interdependence
- The rise of modern science and its permeation of modern culture
- Contemporary world-views as products of those developments
- How culture and societies have been transformed by ideologies of progress
- How current socio-political debates concerning environment, ecological change, and health, are part of an historical trajectory which can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.
