Overview

HIST 224 is designed to give students an overview of what life may have been like during various periods for different groups of residents who occupied the region we now know as Canada. The “may have been” is important here—while this course presents numerous facts, it also pays close attention to the debates among historians about how to weave the facts together.

Some of the course materials focus on the powerful decision makers in society, while others focus on the lives of ordinary people. Still others look at the interaction of the ruling elites and the masses. Throughout the course, issues of race, gender, and social class receive considerable attention since these categories played an important role in determining the life chances of individuals.

Outline

Evaluation

To receive credit for HIST 224, you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a mark of at least 50 per cent on the final examination, and obtain a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 per cent). The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Conrad, Margaret, and Alvin Finkel. History of the Canadian Peoples: Beginnings to 1867. Vol. 1, 5th ed. Toronto: Addison Wesley Longman, 2002.

Gaffield, Chad, ed. 1994. The Invention of Canada: Readings in Pre-Confederation History. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman.

Other Materials

The course materials include a student manual and three study guides.