HIST19030 - The USA in Contemporary World History

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This course examines the emergence of the United States of America as a superpower nation in the context of contemporary world history. It focuses on post-Civil War America, though the American Revolution, Constitution and Civil War in American history are covered before concentrating on the growth of America as an industrial giant in the 19th century and as a world power in the 20th century.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level Not Applicable
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Examination 30%
2. Written Assessment 30%
3. Written Assessment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2013 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 93.75% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 42.11% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Course being discontinued.
Feedback:
 Course being discontinued.

Recommendation:
 Course being discontinued.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the rise of the former British colonies in North America to nationhood and the rise of the United States of America to the status of the world's sole superpower.
  2. Discuss the major themes of American political, military, social, economic, and cultural history and the academic debates in the History discipline, citing unbiased historical evidence to substantiate your views.
  3. Demonstrate the following generic skills: 1. The ability to explain the significance of historical events and processes in American history. 2. The ability to critique historical interpretations and their applications to contemporary American historical issues. 3. The ability to understand and use the principle that ethical action and social responsibility are inherent in the study of history and its interpretations. 4. The ability to find, retrieve, sort, test and deploy evidence, data and information from both primary and secondary sources. 5. The ability to communicate cogent historical argument and/or research results in appropriate formats such as essays, reports, oral presentation, class discussion (as appropriate). 6. The ability to be self-directed and self-disciplined, and to show initiative.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Examination • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Examination • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •