HIST19038 - 20th Century: Crucible of the Modern World

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides you with a broad survey of world history in the twentieth century. There is no doubt that the modern world has been profoundly shaped by this often bloody century, sometimes called the age of extremes. In this unit, you will examine the decline of European influence, the devastation of the world wars, the collapse of colonial structures and the emergence of independent states in Asia and Africa, and the rise (and fall) of two super powers, the USA and the USSR. You will be asked to consider the emergence of conflicting ideologies: communism, fascism, Zionism, pan-Arabism and political Islam. This unit is designed to equip you with a comprehensive understanding of the forces that have shaped the modern world order.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Prerequisite: Minimum of 18 credit points

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. Online Quiz(zes) 10%
2. Group Discussion 10%
3. Essay 40%
4. Presentation 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 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 85.71% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 35% 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: Emails, satisfaction survey.
Feedback:
 Students responded positively to weekly stimulus questions.

Recommendation:
 Students responded positively to the peer assessment task where they were asked to respond to at least two stimulus questions and also to respond to two comments posted by other students. This year, this assessment was only for the first half of the term but will be expanded to cover the whole term.

Action Taken:
 The peer assessment task was maintained and a update unit proposal has been created to extend it starting in 2024.
Source: Moodle, email, in class comments
Feedback:
 Extend Group Discussion

Recommendation:
 Students have responded positively to the peer assessed Group Discussion which ran for the first half of Term. Replace the end of term presentation with an extended Group Discussion that runs through the whole Term.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

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

  1. Develop a broad knowledge of the history of international relations in the 20th Century
  2. Foster unprejudiced knowledge of the history of international relations in the 20th Century and acceptance of the informed opinions of others
  3. Identify some of the key problems in the history of international relations in the 20th Century and their elucidation by evidence-based research
  4. Develop historical skills including the ability to locate and analyse historical evidence and the ability to critique historical interpretations and their applications to contemporary global issues.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) •
2 - Group Discussion •
3 - Essay • • • •
4 - Presentation • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
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