G: Gold Rush

We're back to Australian history.

Gold Rush of 1850s was a series of events that had some serious consequences for Austrailan society. We'll be talking about:
- migration and ethnic minorities
- representation and Eureka Stockade (also, see the CLIP)
- White Australia Policy
and
- the concept of "diggers"

Click on the picture below to read more about the era of Australian gold rush.

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GROUP PROJECT

Now, here's my chance to check who is reading these posts before the class ;)

Next week your groups will be giving presentations on the topics below.

You can choose between:

1. General geography of Australia - Bondi Girls (19 points so far)
2. General climate of Australia - White Aborigines (25 points so far)
3. Great Dividing Range - Kangaroos (9 points so far)
4. Great Barrier Reef - Koala Bears (8 points so far)

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

If you're one of the first people reading this post, you can grab the best/easiest topic for your group. Use the comments below this post to let me know what you have chosen - name of your group (e.g. Bondi Girls) + the topic.

Some useful links:

http://alldownunder.com/australian-facts/overview-geography.htm
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcaustralia.htm
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-weather-and-the-seasons
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/great-barrier-reef

http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/early-explorers-surveying

F: Floods & Fires, Federation

Please read/watch the materials below.

1. Floods and Fires

Australian weather has never been easy on the settlers. Southern regions suffer from severe fires, while the North often faces tropical cyclones and floods.

Watch a heartbreaking account of Black Saturday - the 2009 Victorian Bushfires.



Watch the clip  below to learn more about the 2009 Queensland Flood.



And finally listen to this story of a survivor. Turia suffered her burns in a bush fire in Kimberly just two weeks after I was in the region, so this makes the story particularly emotional for me.





2. Federation

"At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve 1900, as the clock ticked into 1901 and the 20th century, whistles, gongs, church bells, rattles, pots, pans, accordions and all manner of noise-makers joined the sirens of boats on Sydney Harbour.
It was to be a special day"

Do you know what special day it was? No? Then go here to find out :-)

"Just after that midnight, a storm broke and winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour swept into Sydney. Forty points of rain drenched the harbour city.
But the New Year’s Day morning of 1901 broke clear and fine, and an eight-kilometre procession headed out to Centennial Park, just beyond Paddington, where the federation rites, uniting the erstwhile separate British colonies into one federal Commonwealth, finally took place."

D & E: Dance, Darwin, Demographics, Discoveries, European Exploration and Excavation

History so far:
- Britain loses American colonies
- Industrial Revolution re-shapes British society
- 1770 Captain Cook lands in Botany Bay
- 1788 First Fleet brings british convicts to Australia
- early 19 century marks the arrival of free settlers ("bounty migrants" and "maiden boats")

It seems like Australia was destined to be an English-speaking country, right?

Well, not quite. It may well have been colonised by completely different nations. This week we'll learn by whom and why. We'll be also talking about a much earlier history in an attempt to explain its flora and fauna.

But before we delve into these topics heare are some materials for you that can be useful if you want to do well in another of our "pub quizzes" ;)

1. Dancing



Just watch the video above ;)

2. Darwin


















Click on the picture to watch a clip showing Darwin from the point of view of an insider.

And then read the inevitable bit of historical trivia. [But please do not memorise the names of ships or numbers of casulties, I'm not going to quiz you on that! ;-) ]


3. Demographics (ethnic groups)

The topics below we'll cover in class together but please do the reading/watching:

4. Exploration

















A. Let's start with European discovery and colonisation. We have already talked about James Cook and the First Fleet, but this time please concentrate on non English explorers. Click the map to get some information (focus on nationalities only). Go here to see the chronology of landings, and here to see a cute animation.


B. Our second topic is a little tricky - excavation. But we will not be talking about gold - not just yet! ;-)

In fact what we are going to discuss is Australia's fossil past. Click on the picture to read some fascinating facts.














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C (continuation): Creating Colony, Citizens od Australia, Cars, Cinema, Canberra

As you remember our course is about BOTH Australian history and its culture.

This week we are going to step aside from the chronological path for a moment in order to delve deeper into the Aussie soul.

We'll be talking about following topics:

1. customs

Two very interesting (if somewhat ridiculous) videos here:
Video 1
Video 2

Drinking etiquette as described on my favourite website. Read about the "shout" (somewhere in the middle of the article) and have a look at the quotes at the end.
















Click on the picture to see a really thought-provoking social commentary on The Australian Citizenship Test.


2. car fetishism

Aussies LOVE their cars. Watch the clips and try to work out which two cars have cult status in Australia.

car 1:
Road Warrior (1981)
Love the Beast (2009)

car 2:
Two Hands (1999)
[it's a very vague clue, pay attention to the first shot]


If you are still confused go here, type the title(s) in the search box, and then read "plot" and "trivia" sections.


***For movie buffs only***

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) - a film from Peter Weir, the same director who later shot the cult classic Picnic at Hanging Rock, and such films as Dead Poets Society and recently Master and Commander.


3. cinema (industry and film festivals)

Australian Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. Visit their official site, browse around, and find out some information about the rules and the venue. You can also watch some competition films. They are all under 7 minutes long, so it won't take you too long ;-)

The ones which I would recommend are: The Story of Bubble Boy and An Imaginary Life.


4. Canberra

Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup Day is Australia’s best known horse racing event held on the first Tuesday of November every year. It is an annual public holiday in the state of Victoria. This event is popularly dubbed as “the race that stops the nation”.

Read more at Timeanddate

As you can see young Australians attending the race are often up to no good. Read more what it was like today on news.com.au