Slide 1
Modern History
- The century that built the one you’re standing in
- AIA Strathfield · Stage 6 · Years 11–12
- Units
- 2 units for each of the Preliminary and HSC courses (Board Developed)
- Exclusions
- Nil
- Pre-requisites
- A, B or C in Stage 5 Australian History, and A, B or C in English
- Group
- Humanities elective — Choose from this group
Syllabus in use · New syllabus (2024) — first taught 2027
The new Modern History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) is to be implemented from 2027, replacing the Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus (2017). The Year 11 2027 cohort will be the first to study this new syllabus; the first HSC examination under the new syllabus will be held in 2028.
Course description
Modern History engages students in an investigation of the forces that have shaped the modern world, based on the analysis and interpretation of historical sources. Students investigate the motivations and actions of individuals and groups, and develop transferable skills of historical inquiry, including interpreting and weighing evidence and constructing reasoned, evidence-based arguments.
Course structure
Year 11 Preliminary · 2027
- The Nature of Modern History
- Case studies, including one from Europe, North America or Australia, and one from Asia, the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East or Central/South America
- A historical investigation
- Shaping of the Modern World
Year 12 HSC · 2028
- Core study: Democracy and Dictatorship, 1919–1939
- A national study
- A peace and conflict study
- A change in the modern world study
Students who should consider this course
This course suits students with a strong interest in world affairs and evidence-based argument, and is useful preparation for further study in history, politics, international relations, law or journalism.
School-based assessment components
| Component | Weighting % |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding of course content | 40 |
| Historical inquiry and research | 20 |
| Analysis and use of sources | 20 |
| Communication of historical understanding in appropriate forms | 20 |
HSC examination
Under the outgoing 2017 syllabus, the HSC examination is a written paper worth 100 marks. The examination structure for the new Modern History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) will be confirmed by NESA ahead of the first examination in 2028.
Subject presentation
Slide 1 of 9Use ← → keys, or click a slide
Modern History — AIA Strathfield subject-selection slide deck (History Department).
Text transcript of the slides (9 slides)
Slide 2
Every dictatorship, every revolution, every war on your newsfeed had a first draft — and it was written in the last 150 years.
- Modern History is the study of the events, ideas and power struggles of the last 150 years — the ones still shaping politics, conflict and society today.
- You’ll work with real evidence, weigh competing interpretations, and build an argument the way historians, lawyers and journalists do.
- 8 units across Years 11–12 · 4+ countries and empires studied · 150 years of history covered · 5 assessment types, not just exams.
Slide 3
Year 11 — Preliminary
- Term 1 · Construction of Modern Histories — Manly Q Station: how do historians rebuild the past from a single site? Archives, archaeology and oral history in action.
- Terms 1–2 · Case study — Decline and Fall of the Romanov Dynasty: autocracy, war and revolution; how 300 years of Tsarist rule collapsed in a matter of months.
- Term 2 · Case study — Origins of Vietnamese Nationalism, 1888–1945: colonial rule, resistance and Ho Chi Minh; the roots of a movement that would outlast an empire.
- Term 3 · Making of the Modern World — World War I: total war and industrialised killing; the conflict that redrew the map of the 20th century.
Slide 4
Year 12 — HSC
- Term 4 / Term 1 · National study — Russia and the USSR, 1917–1941: from October coup to Stalinist terror; ideology, power struggles and life under totalitarian rule.
- Term 1 · Core study — Democracy and Dictatorship, 1919–1939: why did democracies fail and dictators rise? Weimar Germany and the wider interwar crisis.
- Term 2 · Peace and conflict — Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 1954–1976: guerrilla war and superpower rivalry; the conflict that turned a generation against its own government.
- Terms 2–3 · Change in the modern world — Civil Rights, 1945–1972: segregation, resistance and the long fight for equality, from Brown v Board to the Black Power movement.
Slide 5
Why choose it — history isn’t a subject you memorise, it’s a subject you argue
- It explains the world you’ve inherited — nearly every headline you scroll past (war, protest, propaganda, populism) has its roots in this century.
- You’re not just memorising, you’re arguing — every task asks you to weigh evidence and defend a position, not recite a timeline.
- Real assessment variety — essays, an independent Historical Investigation, and a Video Essay in Year 12, not just exams.
- Pairs naturally with other subjects — Legal Studies and English especially, plus any subject built on evaluative writing and argument.
Slide 6
Skills you build — and where it leads
- Source analysis · evidence-based argument · independent research · extended writing · critical thinking.
- Where it leads: law · journalism · politics and policy · international relations · diplomacy · teaching · business strategy.
Slide 7
How you’re assessed
- Not just exams — you’re marked on research, writing and argument all the way through.
- Year 11 (Preliminary): in-class essays 20%; Historical Investigation 30%; half-yearly exam 20%; yearly examination 30%.
- Year 12 (HSC): in-class essays 20%; half-yearly exam 20%; Video Essay 30%; Trial Examination 30%.
Slide 8
Is this for you?
- A taste of the argument you’ll be building: “To what extent was the collapse of the Romanov dynasty caused by the First World War, rather than by long-term weaknesses in Tsarist rule?”
- You actually want to know why things happened, not just what happened.
- You like a good argument — and backing it up with evidence.
- You’re curious about revolutions, wars, protest movements and propaganda.
- You want a subject that sharpens your writing for whatever comes next.
Slide 9
Got questions?
- Come find me at the History table — I teach Modern History here at Strathfield, and I’m happy to talk you through what a lesson actually looks like.