Scotch College

HISTORY Year 9 — 2012

Crime & Punishment

Rationale 

Laws are a basic feature of human history. They provide great insight into the civic values of the societies that make them. This course is a study of how and why laws have been made, enforced, and broken through history. 

Students will examine changing ideas about what constitutes justice, a fair trial, fitting punishment and reform. 

Students are encouraged to follow their own research interests. For example they choose and research one of the great trials of the 1600s including those of the Spanish Inquisition. They also examine outlaws, such as Robin Hood, and the advert of modern organized crime. 

Student Outcomes

• investigate historical views about lawmaking and enforcement 
• learn to use the apparatus of humanities research, notably footnotes and bibliography 
• conduct research on historical trials using reputable internet sites 
• synthesize the results of their research 

Course Content

• Justice in History:  Changing views of how those accused of lawbreaking should be treated, including trial by ordeal, torture, vigilante justice, trial by jury and capital punishment. 

• Great Trials:   For example, witch trials and Church trials. 

• Politics and Crime:  including terrorism, assassination, genocide and revolutionary agitation.

• Outlaws:   An examination, through case studies, of the sometimes uncertain concepts of ‘outlaws’, ‘bandits’, ‘bushrangers’ and ‘pirates’.  These include men like Robin Hood, Ben Hall, Henry Morgan and Jesse James. 

• Fair Punishment:   Conclusions on developments and reforms over time.

• Major Research Assignment:  Students will undertake a major research assignment on one of the great trials of history and another on a famous criminal or criminal gang.

Assessment 

Examination

Research Assignment

Essays and Unit Tests 

History:  Australians at War (Research Unit)

Rationale 

Australians are fascinated by their military history, including the tragic loss of life, the stories of compassionate individuals like Simpson or Weary Dunlop, the heroics of Victoria Cross winners, the tragedy of Gallipoli, the horror of the Kokoda Track or the controversy of Vietnam and Breaker Morant. In this elective semester course boys can explore the details of military history topics that interest them, while also developing skills that should be useful in any area of life that involves research and analysis. They will undertake research in libraries, on the Internet and museums. Students who undertake this course need to be willing to work independently and to do a good deal of writing.

Student Outcomes

• learn to conduct historical research in libraries and on the Internet; 
• investigate the experience of Australian soldiers; 
• learn to use the apparatus of humanities research, notably footnotes and bibliography; 
• learn to conduct interviews; 
• conduct research using reputable internet sites: for example, the Australian War Memorial site; Department of Veterans’ Affairs World War II Nominal Roll site; and Commonwealth War Graves Site 
• synthesize the results of their research; 

Course Content

• Explaining the Second World War:  Australian involvement in;

• The Middle East and Europe – Tobruk, El Alamein, the bombing campaign
• Asia and the Pacific – Singapore, Kokoda and New Guinea, Borneo, HMAS Sydney 

• Researching the Second World War: 

• Scotch Collegians killed in the Second World War 
• the organization and equipment of Australians at war 
• bravery in war – Victoria Cross winners, Scotch Collegians decorated for bravery 
• reading assignment on Australians at War 

• The Vietnam War:

• Australians in the Vietnam War 
• Scotch Collegians in Vietnam 
• comparing the Second World War and the Vietnam War 

Assessment 

Examination 

Class Research Assignments 

Major Research Assignment

History:  Social History (Sport in Modern History)

Rationale 

This course examines modern society’s obsession with sport. It is designed to build upon students’ interest and expose them to a greater awareness of some of the more important issues and events of recent times. As a knowledge pathway, a thematic history of society and culture is an invaluable base for all humanities subjects as well as the ‘issues’ components of VCE English. An emphasis will be placed upon individual research skills and an oral history documentary production, presented using new media. As an elective unit, this combination of engaging and popular subject matter, academic research skills and electronic presentation provides a valuable skill pathway.

Student Outcomes

Development of: 

• an understanding of the historic origins of current sports 
• a contextual understanding of some of the most significant sporting moments 
• an understanding of the importance of particular sports at different times in our history 
• hands-on historical research skills, including interviewing and film-making 
• an awareness of alternative approaches to the study of our society’s past 

Course Content

• Sport 1850 to the present: 

• origins, development and expansion of Victorian England’s sports Industrialization, urbanization, class 
• values, amateurism, professionalism and empire 
• Football, soccer, rugby league and union, American and Australian Rules 
• Cricket - history of empire and the Ashes e.g. Bodyline 
• Boxing – entrepreneurs, stadiums, the media and racism 
• 1930s depression heroes – including Bradman, Babe Ruth and Phar Lap 
• The Champions – Ranking the 20th Century’s greatest; a study of opinion, criteria, bias 
• The Fans and Supporters – Identity, tribalism, hooliganism, nationalism, religious affiliation 

• Politics in Sport - The state, propaganda and competing ideologies: 

• Fascism, Nazism, Communism and Terrorism at the modern Olympics 
• Apartheid in South Africa – Boycotts and Rebel Tours 

• Economics, the Media and Corruption in Sport: 

• Privatization and Corporatism - United States, Italian Football, AC Milan 
• Formula 1 Car racing, Montreal 1976 and the Olympics 
• sportsmen/sportswomen - earnings, sponsorships, endorsements 
• newspapers, radio, television and the Internet 
• drugs in sport, sports betting and corruption 

• Sport and Equality - Gender and Race:

• sport and race/racism 
• gender equality - opportunity, facilities, payment and exposure 
• ability - theories, Separation and exclusion 
• 19th century Aboriginal Cricket Tours, Indigenous Heroes ATSIC Hall of Fame 

Assessment 

Examination 

Oral History Presentation

ICT Presentations

Research Essay

Topic Review Tests