Unlearning the Past: Indigenous Australian History

Overview

This unit explores Australia’s shared history, untangling the origins of colonial and postcolonial attitudes and their continued influence on contemporary Australian society. It reconsiders Australia’s post-contact history to unlearn the past and address significant historical gaps and omissions through the perspectives of Indigenous voices, experiences, standpoints and agency. The unit presents a balanced picture of Australian history and a multilayered account of Indigenous Australian experiences within the national story, paying particular attention to the experiences of Victorian Aboriginal peoples over the last two and a half centuries.

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

1. Identify key gaps and omissions in Australian history as it was recorded
2. Recognise the impact of dominant historical discourses on contemporary Australian society
3. Explain how knowledge is created and shaped by dominant discourses
4. Outline the role of imperialism, colonialism, and postcolonialism in Australia, both historically and contemporaneously
5. Examine historical events through a decolonising lens, and identify and explain when colonial logics are at play

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Assessment

Content

• The ‘History Gaps’ - examination of knowledge gaps in recorded Australian history
• Disentangling Australia’s shared history through making visible Indigenous Australian experiences
• The concept of ‘Black Armband History’ in Australia
• The role of colonisation throughout Australian history
• Colonialism, political and economic power and social capital
• Investigating Indigenous modes of historical practice
• Assessing Indigenous resistance and alternative histories
• Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
• Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
• Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Collaboration and negotiation
• Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Teamwork roles and processes
• Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
• Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy