HIST308

Description

The objective of the historian is not only to chronicle facts, figures, and events. Historians also examine and interpret a vast arsenal of literature, art, testimonies, people, places, things, concepts, and ideas from around the globe. A historian might reach deep into a distant past or apply historical thinking to better understand the contemporary moment. Students in this class will examine the very different ways in which historians go about their task: writing about the past. In particular, we will explore the major theoretical stances that have influenced the discipline of history since it was constituted as a profession in the late nineteenth-century. Through our discussions we will chart the trajectory of the discipline and assess its working methods. Our focus throughout will be the interplay between theory and practice, as well as the ways that decisions of chronology, geographic scope, and subject impact the conclusions of the work at hand. Students will develop their own research questions and methods, while also considering how to "think historically" about our own world.