Civil Rights Histories: Chasing Freedoms
UndergraduateLTU-HIS30012025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Price from
- $2,124
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Civil Rights Histories: Chasing Freedoms
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Critically compare the arguments employed by various historians and assimilate them with other sources to contextualise particular historical problems.
- Examine historical events using effective disciplinary skills.
- Identify and critically assess change and its continuity across different protests.
- Identify and reflect on the use of primary sources at an intermediate level
- Civil Rights in the U.S.
- Race Relations in the U.S.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Major Civil Rights Protests
- African-Americans and Direct Action Protest
- Causes and Consequences of the Civil Rights Movement
- Understanding Direct Action Protest
- Strategies Adopted by Terrorists and Insurgencies
U.S. historian William H. Chafe has called the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s “the most significant social movement in all of American history.” The aim of this subject is to explore in detail the central protests and demonstrations of this important movement. Our chronology will largely concentrate on the period from the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision through to the 1968 Poor Peoples’ Campaign. The subject, however, will also assess major changes in race relations since 1968, especially in the light of ongoing racial divisions in the United States. These divisions have been highlighted by the recent Black Lives Matter protests, which also illustrate the international reach of U.S. civil rights histories. Students will explore how the American civil rights movement was influenced by global events and how it inspired other protest movements, in the U.S. and beyond. They will also examine how a mass movement mobilises successfully, identifying the circumstances under which non-violent direct action is successful. In the process, they will assess the key role of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is a level 3 subject. This subject includes live sessions with the expectation of student attendance and participation.
- Essay (2000 words) 1 x Long comparative essay (50%)
- Essay (1500 words) 1 x Topic specific short essay (40%)
- Essay Plan (500 words equivalent) (10%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
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Entry requirements
Others
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed HIS3ACR (The American Civil Rights Movement), or HIS2ACR (Civil Rights Histories: Chasing Freedoms) are ineligible to enrol in this subject.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
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