History Extension Topic Idea...

[kristieevans]

Hey all,

I need to start coming up with a topic for my history extension major work.

I'm not 100% sure what I want to do - I do Modern History but am super interested in Ancient as well.

I am travelling to Vietnam and Cambodia later this year, so I would love to link it to that but I'm worried about overlapping with the syllabus.

Does anyone have any ideas as to topics, preferably relating to Vietnam/Cambodia???

Thanks in advance

[prickles]

Hey all,

I need to start coming up with a topic for my history extension major work.

I'm not 100% sure what I want to do - I do Modern History but am super interested in Ancient as well.

I am travelling to Vietnam and Cambodia later this year, so I would love to link it to that but I'm worried about overlapping with the syllabus.

Does anyone have any ideas as to topics, preferably relating to Vietnam/Cambodia???

Thanks in advance

Although it may seem huge, 2500 words in an essay doesn't give you heaps of room to look at a whole heap of events, or to be looking at one event really broadly. It's great that you already have a topic of interest (Vietnam/Cambodia), it took me ages to come up with mine! Because the essay needs heaps of historiography, a chunk of your word count will be dedicated to that, so it doesn't leave much room for 'story telling' or explaining an event etc. What I'm trying to say is, your topic should end up being fairly specific, so it shouldn't overlap with the syllabus too much, just keep checking with your teacher that you are on track. Keep researching, and find a specific event/personality/debate that interests you. The more you research, jot down things that interest you, and hopefully you can start to collect themes that run through your interests.

This should give you some direction, and remember their are lots of other people in the same boat. Pick something that interests you, because you will be working with it for the whole year. Sorry this is so confusing!

[sudodds]

Hey all,

I need to start coming up with a topic for my history extension major work.

I'm not 100% sure what I want to do - I do Modern History but am super interested in Ancient as well.

I am travelling to Vietnam and Cambodia later this year, so I would love to link it to that but I'm worried about overlapping with the syllabus.

Does anyone have any ideas as to topics, preferably relating to Vietnam/Cambodia???

Thanks in advance

Have fun in Vietnam and Cambodia! My dad and brother just got back from Vietnam and they said it was amazing - I'm sure you'll have an amazing time.

When you say overlapping with the syllabus, you mean the Modern topic Conflict in Indochina? If so, then its really at the discretion of your teacher. Some may be fine with it, as long as the focus in historiography (which should be the case either way), however there are some that just put a blanket ban on anything that even semi relates, so I'd check with her first.

If they are cool with it though, then here are some ideas

I can't remember specifics of what I planned to do, as it was in the super early stages before I changed my question, but according to my teacher there are a lot of interesting historiographical debates surrounding the emergence and impact of Pol Pot. He'd be a super interesting historical figure to research as well, but again, remember that you aren't meant to be looking at the "history", but rather the historiography, so not all of that may be included.

A lot of stuff you could talk about in regards to the Vietnam War, as it is still such a controversial topic, subject to intense debate. Though i'd shy away from just looking at "differing interpretations", because that is a bit basic, if you could find a niche/theme/pattern within the historiography of Vietnam War, that could make for a super interesting project. Off the top of my head (and as I have limited knowledge on this area of history, I can't vouch for whether they are that great or if they work well, just stuff off the top of my head from my limited knowledge) you could look at something to do with new forms of evidence, as the Vietnam War was the first televised war, and also one that fostered a lot of cultural creations (eg. anti-war protest songs) - how has that impacted historiography?

If you wanted to go back a bit further, you could have a look at the concept of Imperialism, and the conflicting perspectives upon the aims/impacts. Again, you'd want to find a niche/theme/pattern here, in order to really push the higher marks. I didn't look at the French colonisation of Vietnam last year, however we did Western Imperialism as our case study (looking mainly at the Scramble for Africa) and there are a lot of different perspectives, stemming from such facets and present day political motivations, current events impacting interest, etc. etc.

Hope this helps! Good luck, and again have fun on your trip!

Susie

[kristieevans]

Thanks,

I'll keep looking into it and asking my teacher about it.

I appreciate both of your advice!