History Department Response to Student Feedback
HSTY3683 - Race, Empire and Bondage (2006)

Unit Coordinator: Dr Kirsten McKenzie

The popularity of this course is reflected in the fact that it received at 100% overall satisfaction rating as well as a 100% agreement rating on constructive and timely feedback from staff. Students found the transnational framework of the course useful at a theoretical level and were particularly interested in the introduction of India as a topic for understanding the British Empire as a whole. The need for guidance in primary source research was stressed in student feedback - "for most people this is a new style of assessment" wrote one student - and more class time clearly needs to be devoted to these kinds of 'first principles' of historical research. Workload was generally felt to be what was expected of an advanced unit but it was clear that the demands placed on students by changes in curriculum meant that some of the reading lists in seminars could be cut back. This will be reflected in the more streamlined version of the course to be taught in 2007.