History Skills II: Making History

First Year Module

Module Leader/s: Dr Cathryn Pearce and contributors  

Rationale and Content:

This module will explore the varying methods, skills and approaches employed by historians in researching and writing history. It will analyse the work of a variety of significant historians and 'schools' of historians to assess the benefits and limitations of each, considering the nature of the different types of sources used, and the issues raised.  It will also encourage students to consider what kind of historians they intend to be, and why. Topics to be examined will include: the rise of 'history from below'; cultural history; oral history; total history and the use and abuse of history. It will culminate in an examination of recent and current trends in historiography in the context of unparalleled public interest and yet continuing debate and doubt within the academy over the impact of postmodernism thought and the fundamental challenge this has posed to the writing of history as conventionally conceived.   

Learning and Teaching Strategies:

This module will be delivered through weekly lectures and workshop sessions plus tutorial support. Where appropriate supporting resources will also be made available online. The exact format of each session will depend upon the nature of the subject and the material to be used, although sessions will always be designed to encourage student participation and to support their involvement in handling and interpreting source material. In this module students will be closely involved in the critical analysis of historical accounts and other printed secondary and primary sources. 

Assessment: 

Module

Mode

Weighting %

Length

Submission date

History Skills II:

Making

History

 

Document commentary

 

 

 

Exam

40

 

 

 

60

2000 words

 

 

 

2 hours

Week 8

 

 

 

End of semester



Recommended introductory reading:

J.Tosh, The Pursuit of History, Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of Modern History, 4th Ed. (Harlow, 2006)

D. Cannadine, What is History Now? 2nd edition, (Basingstoke, 2004).

J.Warren, History and the Historians, (London, 1999)

A. Green, (ed.), The Houses of History: A Critical Reader in Twentieth Century History and Theory, (Manchester, 1999)

J.Black and D.MacRaild, Studying History, 3rd edition, (Basingstoke, 2007)

R.J.Evans, In Defence of History, (London, 1997) 

S. Berger, H. Feldner and K. Passmore (eds.), Writing History: Theory and Practice, 2nd edition, (London, 2009).

 

Useful work of reference:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M.Hughes-Warrington, Fifty Key Thinkers on History, 2nd Edition, (London, 2008)