Content

In this unit you will explore the history of peace and justice in movements led by women and lay people. The unit focuses on Australia and the Pacific in the 19th to mid-20th century but also considers transnational influences. It includes topics such as the rise of church-based welfare, labour, Temperance, pacifism, support for mothers and children, justice for First Nations peoples, and environmentalism. You'll interpret diverse historical sources such as newspapers and advertising, poems and novels, theological text and archival records. Through historical research and theological reflection, you'll deepen your understanding of the work of women and lay people toward peace and justice.

Unit code: CH9060P

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Church History

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify significant dates, people and themes in the history of Christian movements for social change between 1800 and 1970

2.

Apply key principles of historical interpretation to a range of primary sources

3.

Synthesise the interactions of theological belief and historical context

4.

Construct arguments about change over time through critical use of primary and secondary sources

Unit sequence

Prerequisite foundational CH or CT

Pedagogy

Teaching methods and learning activities will model collaboration and community building as appropriate to a unit on grassroots movements. It will involve seminars, workshops, and student-led facilitation of discussion.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Appelbaum, Patricia. Kingdom to Commune: Protestant Pacifist Culture between World War I and the Vietnam Era. University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
  • Cruickshank, Joanna, and Patricia Grimshaw. White Women, Aboriginal Missions, and Australian Settler Governments: Maternal Contradictions. Brill, 2019.
  • Dorrien, Gary. The Making of American Liberal Theology, 3 vols. Yale University Press, 2001-2006.
  • Hinson-Hasty, Elizabeth. "Solidarity and the Social Gospel: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives". American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 37, no.2 (2016): 137-50.
  • Murphy, John. A Decent Provision: Australian welfare policy, 1870 to 1949. Ashgate, 2011.
  • Musgrove, Nell. The Scars Remain: A Long History of Forgotten Australians and Children’s Institutions. Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2013.
  • Noll, Mark. The Civil War as a Theological Crisis. University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
  • Oslington, Paul, ed. Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics. Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Stoll, Mark. Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism. Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • Warne, Ellen. Agitate, Educate, Organise, Legislate: Protestant Women’s Social Action in Post-Suffrage Australia. Melbourne University Publishing, 2017.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Seminar or Tutorial

Report regarding your participation in student-facilitated discussions each week

1000 10.0
Document Study

Analyse a primary source

1500 25.0
Document Study

Analyse a primary source

1500 25.0
Learning Resource

Prepare a museum display that features primary sources and uses secondary sources to guide interpretation. Provide an article of 1500 words on the same topic for a different audience.

3000 40.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 20 Jun, 2025

Unit record last updated: 2025-06-20 12:02:44 +1000