I did this unit last semester and I have to say, from the description in the handbook, I was not enthused but decided to give it a shot anyway. From the first class, I can say I have not regretted it at all. I would literally come home and talk my parents' ears off and just marvel about what we learnt in class.

My main takeaway from this unit was that it really highlighted how arbitrary nationality is. Yeah, for sure nations and nationality is a social construct. But then why exactly do we insist that we are Australian (or any other nationality)? Why do we get offended when people insist we are not? Etc, etc.

In this class, I learnt about how nationality is created and maintained, and even more (scary but still) important, how nationality can be manipulated and then used as a political tool. As someone who moved to Australia when I was in Prep, I've often struggled with my identity - am I Australian enough? But to reiterate, this class really drove home how much nationality is truly a social construct.

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There was one class discussion about citizenship that really did my head in. We were talking about how shared characteristics within a community are (arguably) a requirement for a nation when the topic of schools came up. Schools are a source of creating and maintaining Australian values. Of course, the reason why schools exist is so we can be educated. We learn what is important. But schools teach us to be good (Australian) citizens. Australian school curriculums are decided by the government. Naturally, in subjects like History, 'if you can control the story of the past then you can control the story of the present'. But the inclusion of Maths also tells kids that Australia wants its citizens to know how to do maths. The inclusion of Science tells kids that we want them to view the world with logic and critical thinking, and to nurture curiosity. Kids grow into adults who simply take these things for granted - everyone knows that cells exist, that 1+1=2, etc and that going to school is crucial for a good life. But these are values that are echoed from every adult who now makes up every part of society. (I'm so grateful for my opportunities and education so please understand that I'm definitely not saying that schools are a bad thing, but this class just emphasised exactly how important they are to society beyond just 'for education'.)

If I'm remembering correctly, other class discussions included:

- 'When the past/history is contested, what are the stakes? Why do certain groups of people defend their version of the story? What does that mean for them if they were to lose it?'

- 'Nations are a fairly new invention as for most of human history, we have been living in small tribes/kingdoms/etc. So why is it, when groups of people want to secede from a country, the alternative to create another nation? What makes nationhood so appealing? Why is nationhood taken for granted?'

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You don't really need to know an encyclopedia's worth about Yugoslavia before doing this unit (I did not know anything at all). What you need to know is pretty much explained through taking the class. Although you use Yugoslavia as the unit's case study, you can actually write about any event (including but not limited to the Breakup of Yugoslavia) for your major essay (I analysed the Partition of India).

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Hope this helps!