D & E: Darwin, European discoveries and Exploration

A bit of catching up (last week's topics) and a look back at Australia before European colonisation.

1. 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! ;-) ]


2. Demographics (ethnic groups)

3. 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: Citizens of Australia. Customs. Cars. Cinema.

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.
















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

C: Convicts (and crocs)

This week we are going to be talking about:

- convicts: historical background (have a look at the TIMELINE), settlement, life conditions, pardons and famous prisoners

- convicts in popular culture: songs, stories, art

- the impact of convict past on Aussie mentality and national pride (concentrate on "social psychology" and "why?" in this article; we'll also touch upon the concept of "mateship")





















(the Fremantle Prison flogging post)


CLICK BELOW to read more:

Fremantle Prison educational resources
(downloadable PDFs)


and...
- crocodiles











(click on the picture)

*

Captain Cook and Industrial Revolution

You can catch up on what we covered last time by watching these two videos:

Part of the fantastic series "World History" by Crash Course




And the video we watched in class:

B: Botany Bay

As you all remember this week we're going to explore the letter "B".

Being the cruel and wicked person I am, I thought it'd be more interesting if I didn't give you a list of topics but just some hints on what you may expect on Wednesday ;-)

So here they go:

1. Watch and listen to this clip. If you want to check the lyrics just follow the link. You'll find some information about the artists here.

2. Click on the picture to find out more.

















3. Solve the picture puzzle.
You need two words ( _ _ _ _ _ _ ) ( _ _ _ ). When you read them aloud you should guess the third topic.

(Hint 1: these two puzzle words begin with consecutive letters of the alphabet. Hint 2: the word you are looking for has a well known 3-letter abbreviation)





















Good luck!

Trivia time: Wombat Day.

Australians have a lot of funny and unofficial holidays. One of them is the Wombat Day, celebrated on October 22 by eating lots and lots of chocolate cakes and chocolates.  Click on the picture to read more.



















If you want to make your own origami wombat to celebrate the day, here are the instructions:

A: ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA

Welcome to the course :)

In the coming weeks we will be trying to make sense of Australia - what country it is now, and how it came to be this way.

But first we need to understand the complex interconnections between Aboriginal Australians, Convicts and Free Settlers. As you remember from our first class, societies that developed in isolation were usually disadvantaged when finally the confrontation with foreigners happened. Do you remember why?

Watch the video below to revise the topic:

What kind of people were the Aborigines? We didn't use this particular presentation in class, but it's very useful. Read the first half (Australians).



This presentation was originally written by IJO graduates Magdalena Waligóra and Marcin Piechnik, I just updated some content. The copyright belongs to them and the owners of visuals used in this presentation. All sources have been cited.

Follow up watching.

This is a long documentary but you do not need to watch all of it. 

Extra reading: AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE 

Rottnest Island prison