Overall, this was an enjoyable subject. I really liked learning about the rationales behind acts of violence, and the complex techniques that were used to commit such acts. The jump between time periods actually helped me draw links between similar acts of violence across different times, and realise how scarily similar the past/recent past/present are (i.e. the scapegoating of Jews for poisoning wells during the era of the Black Death, and the scapegoating of Asian people during the current pandemic). The readings were fascinating, and the essay topics allowed me to delve deep into an area of interest. My critiques of the subject would be that it did not go further enough into the topics and readings as I would have liked (the tutorials were more about recap than discussion imo), and that its focus was mostly on western countries. I would have loved to examine acts of violence such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the role of the western armies in overseas conflicts. I do agree to some extent with the first reviewer that this subject may have some level of bias, but there is plenty of room for nuance and debate in this subject. Also, let's not ignore that the "historic monuments" that the first reviewer is describing refers to statues that invoke antisemitism and white supremacy. Although I do agree that taking down these statues is not always the right course of action (as it can erase the past, especially the bad parts), let's not glorify hate symbols.

Anonymous, Semester 1, 2021

I was really excited for this subject as I knew Jenny and Zoe are great teachers though on reflection it wasn't what I thought it would be. The content was interesting and vast, though a little confusing jumping between time periods each week but it made sense linking themes. As the other review mentioned, readings were tedious, long and sometimes did not feel so relevant. Tutorials were engaging and interesting, though I think students might have benefitted from the trip to the Object-Based Lab earlier in the semester as it would as have been good to draw links with the objects in class each week. The first assignment was due in the middle of sem and worth 55%. There was 10% on offer for attendance, leaving just 35% for the final reflective essay. I think having such a huge chunk of the final grade due in the middle of the semester does not leave much room for improvement. There were also only 4 questions for the reflective essay which I thought were all quite difficult to approach. I definitely would recommend picking a question at the start of the semester and taking relevant notes for it throughout the semester.

Anonymous, Semester 1, 2021

On reflection, this subject was just average for me. And i hate to write this because Jenny spinks is a great professor. The organisation of the subject was good. Unfortunately, my issue is that the subject seemed to suggest that (white) europeans in particular have been the most violent throughout history, when this is very far from the truth. dont get me wrong, colonialism and slavery are subjects worthy of study and of course should have been included. but the subject did not educate us that these practices happened in ALL societies, not just white ones. to give you an idea of the mentality of the subject, the other professor has retweeted a brain dead tweet suggesting that white men get away with crime just because they are white. despicable violence carried out by the aztecs was given a positive spin, i guess because it wasn't carried out by white males. the ripping down and defacing of historic monuments was similarly justified and put in a good light. readings each week were often tedious and not as relevant as they could have been to the topic. I also do not feel we were given enough info each week that we could use to do our reflective essay at the end, all of the questions were quite difficult. i would suggest choosing your question for that right at the start so you can pay attention to which parts of each week will be most relevant to you. if you are interested in being provided a social justice warriors handbook, this subject is for you.

Anonymous, Semester 1, 2021