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11–12Modern History 11–12 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation from 2027
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Content

Year 11

Investigating modern history – Case studies

Students study at least TWO case studies, choosing ONE from List A and ONE from List B. The case studies may incorporate methods and issues involved in investigating the modern past, as relevant.

Teachers may develop their own case studies. These may be designed to provide a context for options selected from the Year 12 course but must not overlap with or duplicate significantly any option attempted in the Year 12 Modern History or History Extension courses. Teacher-developed case studies must follow the geographical division indicated in Lists A and B.

List A: Case studies from Australia, Europe and North America

  • List A: Australia and the rise of communism
  • List A: Making change: The Day of Mourning to the National Apology to the Stolen Generations
  • List A: The changing nature of Anglo–Irish relations
  • List A: The decline and fall of the Romanov dynasty
  • List A: The transatlantic slave trade
  • List A: The American Civil War
  • List A: The rise of the American environmental movement
  • List A: Women’s movements

List B: Case studies from Asia, the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America

  • List B: The Boxer Rebellion in China
  • List B: The British in India and Burma
  • List B: The Meiji Restoration
  • List B: Tibet in the modern world
  • List B: Contact in the Pacific
  • List B: The making of modern South Africa
  • List B: The origins of the Arab–Israeli conflict

Other possible case studies related to List A could include:

  • Pemulwuy
  • Maximilien Robespierre and the Terror
  • Queen Victoria and the Victorian Age
  • Leon Trotsky
  • The American Revolution
  • Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution

Other possible case studies related to List B could include:

  • Empress Dowager Cixi
  • Sun Yat-sen and the end of imperial China
  • India under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi
  • Ho Chi Minh
  • Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge
  • The New Zealand (Māori) Wars
  • The Kingdom of Kongo
  • The Mahdi and the siege of Khartoum
  • Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
  • The dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet

Teacher-developed case studies must include the aspects of study identified in the following framework:

  • the historical context
  • the nature of the features, people, ideas, movements, events and developments selected for study
  • a relevant historical debate or issue.
List A: Making change: The Day of Mourning to the National Apology to the Stolen Generations
The historical context
  • The challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in achieving self-determination

  • The Day of Mourning protest and its impact

The nature and impact of the modern Aboriginal political movement
  • The motivations, role and contribution of at least ONE individual who achieved positive change for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples

  • The motivations, role and contribution of key groups that achieved positive change for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples

  • The relationship between the modern Aboriginal political movement and a range of Australian and international groups

  • The 2008 National Apology to the Stolen Generations and its significance

A relevant historical debate or issue
  • Differing interpretations or representations of a debate or issue related to making change: the Day of Mourning to the National Apology to the Stolen Generations

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