HTA HSC Study Day

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
Just wanting to ask: who's going to the HTA Study Day?

Really curious who's gonna go and for those who are going, what lectures are you attending?

[NowYouTseMe]

Just got reminded about it in class today haha
I think my teacher's making us to go to Core Exam Skills, then Speer, then Germany 1918-33, then Germany 1933-39 on the Saturday

[Mada438]

Wait what?? There's a HTA Study day?
Where do i find out more??

[sudodds]

I will ban anyone here who is going and does not see Bruce Dennett's World War I presentation!

Just had a proper look over who is lecturing - very similar to the layout from my year. From my experience attending these two years ago, these are my thoughts (purely my own opinion don't sue me HTA).

- Anything Bruce Dennett presents for Modern fantastic, if he is lecturing your other options PLEASE go to them. He wrote the syllabus for World War I (and I think Germany) and wrote what I believe is the best textbook - 'Key Features of Modern History'. I trust him with my modern history life).

- Jonathan Dalimore's Russia lecture for Modern is good, though its better for people who are struggling to understand the content. If you understand everything, you can probably skip this one

- Anything Ken Webb - This is my opinion, and many people disagree with me, but I'm not a fan of his modern history stuff at all (don't mind his stuff for Ancient as much, wouldn't touch his extension stuff with a ten foot pole). I know people who have been to his lecture and left confused or stressed, as he likes to include a lot of unnecessary information that though interesting, is not on the syllabus (and he doesn't disclose this). I know a lot of people love him, and if you think its worth it then go for it, but in my view you could do better.

- Exam overview (Ancient or Modern) - POINTLESS. DO NOT ATTEND THIS ONE. It's literally just going through what the exam looks like, and the rules for the HSC. You could answer all these questions with a google search. An absolute waste of time. With that in mind, I would ignore Anne Gripton's lectures overall. I went to two of them and was very underwhelmed (she also said some weird stuff about Trotsky which my teacher told us afterwards is bullshit but anyways...)

- YES YES YES to James Hartnett's Julius Caesar lecture for Ancient. Now I didn't study Julius Caesar for Ancient, but James Hartnett was one of my teachers! He is absolutely incredible, and I am sure will deliver a stellar lecture (he was actual Hugh Jackman's Ancient history teacher fun fact). If you see him pls tell him Susie say's hi (call him 'Spud' for extra nostalgia points)

- Dr. Dennis Mootz is the Bruce Dennett equivalent for Ancient History. Just a fab fab fab lecturer, definitely recommend them.

Hope you guys have a fun few days! I really enjoyed these lectures. Though at the same time, don't expect these to be miracle workers - for the most part these lectures aren't content review, but rather teaching you how to think about the topic in different ways, so you should still have a good knowledge about everything before going in!

[owidjaja]

Wait what?? There's a HTA Study day?
Where do i find out more??

You can find out more about the HTA Study Day here:
https://www.htansw.asn.au/hsc-history-studydays

[owidjaja]

I know this thread hasn't been active but I wanted to post a review to the lectures I went to just in case if HTA decides to hold another one next year for the new syllabus.

Catherine Bavell Leni Riefenstahl: I was a bit put off by the fact that she read off a sheet (I'm assuming she prepared) so it was kinda pointless to just sit there and listen to her. She did have some great quotes from historians and Riefenstahl herself and she did leave off some thought-provoking questions. I also liked the table she suggested for us to make when preparing for Personality Study. Her presentation style was kinda engaging but she just kinda stood there and read off her sheet.

Phil Mundy Germany 1933-39: His lecture is what you'd expect from a history lecture- go through content and essay structure. He's not the most engaging person but his tips on essays were quite useful and he went through some thesis examples and showed how to link up all the content and form them into essay plans. I also liked how he also discussed some historiography in relation to the topic and included some historian quotes. It was kinda funny because he told us the presentation notes would be on the HTA website but a good handful of us were stubborn and still took notes from the powerpoint. But the stuff on his powerpoint were concise and they were important points. It was just hard to take down quotes when your fingers are stiff cold and you're sitting near the door lmao.

Bruce Dennett War on the Western Front: Just like what Susie said, Bruce Dennett is AMAZING! I actually met him at the Modern History Seminar at Career Expo and told him I had his textbook and started fangirling. In this lecture, he used his classic 'vanilla ice cream topped with milo' survey and 'define evaluate' survey. His presentation skills are on-point because he really engages with the audience and likes to walk around, ask us questions and mess with us lol. I quote: 'I'm gonna assume you're not just empty vessels. So I'm just gonna see what you've got and I'm gonna mess with it.' (most likely paraphrased). I spoke to him after the lectures on History Extension and he emphasised the importance of EH Carr and Richard Evans. I also mentioned that I went to his Modern History seminar and he remembered me! Anyway, I have his autograph where it says: 'Good luck (undecipherable)- Bruce Dennett.'

Paul Kiem Historiography Overview: I was warned that historiography can get a bit dry and boooyyyy was it dry. It was useful information but Kiem wasn't as engaging as Dennett. He's like your typical history lecturer- dry, doesn't understand 'young hip' humour. Some of his popular history examples are a bit outdated, like when he asked us if anyone liked 'computer games.' As a gamer myself, we don't usually use the term 'computer games'- you're either PC or console gamer. But even then, we call both PC and console gamers as people who enjoy video games. Computer games has that kinda old-fashioned, 'uses-a-Windows-computer-to-play-solitaire' kind of connotation. But I found it funny how a lot of guys put their hand up and I was like the only girl who put my hand up to video games, and Kiem noticed the gender disparity as well lmao. I liked his powerpoint and how it was filled with a lot of examples we can use in our essays but his voice is kinda soft, so warning for those who fall asleep easily to soft-spoken teachers/lecturers.

Anyway, warning to those who will go to HTA lectures in the future: buy your lunch in the morning or bring your own food. Boooyyyy was the line long. I didn't eat until after my last lecture (which ended at 2.30pm) and I was starving. But be prepared for over-priced food because an apple-cinnamon muffin was $4 ;-; Also, if you wanna purchase their books, buy them quick because they will sell out and after your last lecture, their desk will be packed up, which is kinda sad because they were 85% off- retail prices for these books are $35-40 but today, it was $5. I think it's because we're the last year group to purchase these books. Also, get used to using Google Maps, because the walk from Redfern station to USyd was really confusing. I kinda got lost in the engineering buildings and you're only given 15 minutes to move from one lecture theatre to another, so you either ask a HTA staff member at the desk for help, use the HTA's really vague drawing of the buildings, use Google Maps or follow the crowd.