HIST 370 Outline

COURSE NUMBER:

HIST 370

COURSE TITLE:

Historiography and Historical Methods

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. William Van Arragon

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The course will introduce students to the main themes and debates in the study of history, to some of the key issues in the practice of doing history and being an historian and will reflect upon the current status of history. We will consider the history of history-writing (historiography) largely as it has developed in Western culture. We will also explore the meanings of contemporary critical theory (postmodernism, deconstruction, post-structuralism, feminist theory) for history as a discipline, and analyze alternative forms of history - film, fiction, and theme parks, for example - that make truth claims about the past. Throughout the course we will debate and reflect upon what it means to study the past as Christians, and seek to develop a Christian perspective on key issues and developments.

Prerequisites: HIST 202 or 204

REQUIRED TEXTS:

J. Tosh, The Pursuit of History, Routledge, 2015

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:


2500 word essay	25%
2500 word source analysis	25%
Short Assignments	15%
Attendance and Participation	10%
Final Exam	25%
	100%

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this course students will be able to:

Understand and appreciate the importance of history to our society
Assess the debates about the nature of history, and the contemporary criticisms of history
Analyse historical material and evidence and construct and advance arguments through discussion and negotiation
Appreciate some of the problems involved in the interpretation of historical material, evidence and arguments
Demonstrate a knowledge and awareness of different historical methods
Further refine their Christian perspective and outlook through an extended engagement with the past

COURSE OUTLINE:

This is a seminar and discussion course, with some lecturing thrown in from time to time. Students are expected to keep up with the regular reading assignments in preparation for each class. Specific reading expectations will be distributed in class and via Moodle; see the outline below for a rough guide.

The first unit examines what is history, and what do historians do. In this part we will be looking at what type of knowledge history is, some of the problems in knowing the past, and why we do it. The second unit discusses how historical knowledge is produced and the problems there are in understanding the different types of traces that the past leaves behind. The third unit considers how we interpret the past, and then write about it. The final unit looks at the representation and consumption of the past, and in particular the relationship between the practice of academic history on the one hand, and public or popular history on the other. This includes the ways in which the past is represented (or possibly misrepresented) in contemporary society. We will consider the influence of film, literature and other media and the presentation of history on the web as well as its uses for historians and students. Underlying the course will be attempts to understand the way that historical knowledge is generated, disseminated and consumed.

Unit One - September 5 - October 3

What Do Historians Do? The David Irving Trial/Truth and Objectivity/The Use and Abuse of History

Readings: Tosh, chaps 1 & 2; essays on the Irving trial (distributed)

Unit Two - October 5 - November 2

Traces and Sources: Primary and Secondary/Textual and Visual/Oral/Memoir and Autobiography

Readings: Tosh, chaps 3-7; essays (TBD)

Unit Three - November 7 - November 23

Making Sense: Theory/Comparison/Narratives/Christianity

Readings: Tosh, chaps 8-10; essays (TBD)

Unit Four - November 27 - December 7

Writing and Representing the Past: Facts/evidence/causation/morality; fiction, film, story and analysis

Readings: Tosh, chap 11-12; essays (TBD)

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.