September 6th-9th

In class students turned in and shared their narratives about a time they experienced a "single story" in their lives.

The class then considered the following key questions about Historiography:

Key Historiographical Questions

1. Who writes history, with what agenda in mind, and toward what ends?

2. What do we mean by the master narrative?

 

3. How accurate can a historian ever hope to be, analyzing past events from the vantage point of the historian’s present?

4. Does the historian’s own perspective, impacted as it undoubtedly is by gender, age, national and ideological affiliation, etc., contribute to an “agenda” that the historian’s work is playing into, unwittingly or consciously?

5. What about the types of sources, both primary and secondary, an historian chooses to base his or her work upon? Do they too contribute to the above-mentioned “agenda”?

6. Does the very selection of sources (and, by extension, the decision to exclude certain other sources) prejudice the outcome of the historian’s work in certain ways?

We also discussed the following idea:

Why History Is 5th Hand Information

1. first – the event

2. second – eyewitness version of the event

3. third – the historian’s initial analysis of the   

eyewitness version

4. fourth – a writer’s (usually textbook)   

compilation of historians’ views

5. fifth – the teacher’s selection and teaching

of texts

The class then turned it's attention to reading and discussing the essay The Problem with History Classes. Among other things we discussed:

The Problem With History Classes Discussion Questions

1. What does the author mean when he states “history is anything but agreeable”?

2. How could American students be better served according to the author?

3. What is the difference between a memory and history?

4. How does historiography help drop the barrier between “historian and student”? What are the types of histories he mentions? Can you think of others?

5. How did the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. reflect the author’s point?

6. Describe in your own words, and give and example to illustrate the following quote: “History is not indoctrination. It is a wrestling match.”