Welcome:  The History of Australia and New Zealand  is fascinating and has many parallels, but also many differences, to the History of the United States.  The most cherished ideas, myths, symbols, and attitudes of Australian and New Zealand cultures are formed by their rich and varied history that reaches back some 60,000 years to the first appearance of Aboriginal Peoples in Australia and some 900 years to the arrival of The Maori in New Zealand.  This course surveys the development of Australia and New Zealand from the beginning of human habitation 60,000+  and 900+ years ago, through the exploration and colonization by Europeans, to the establishment of a Federation in Australia and a national government in New Zealand, and the emergence of a truly multicultural society in Australia and a bicultural Society in New Zealand at the end of the 20^th Century.

This class provides an opportunity for you to develop the following skills:

1.  Understand the historical development of Australia and New Zealand.

2.  Identify and provide examples of a uniquely Australian and New Zealand culture.

3.  Critically and aesthetically evaluate Australian and New Zealand culture within the context of their unique histories.

4.  Place specific Australian and New Zealand events within the historical context of the development of  uniquely Australian and New Zealand civilizations, and the context of world events.

To get started in this class click on Week 1 below.  Then for each succeeding week click on the unit below for that unit's assignments.

Please call me, see me in class, or email me at bhaulman@greenriver.edu if you have any questions or concerns.

© Bruce E. Haulman 2009