HIS 100 What is History?

This course offers an introduction to methods, concepts and controversies which confront and challenge historians today, in the researching, writing and justifying of professional historical work. It is predominantly concerned with exploring various assumptive and theoretical foundations of historical practice, espoused by historians both past and present, and learning about how these various approaches are contested and debated. Key concepts to be considered include objectivity, causality, representation and truth. We will be particularly interested in how postmodernist commentators and historians have challenged many of the assumptions and methods upon which attempts to write objective history have been based. The course is also concerned with exploring particular methodological aspects of history in substantial detail. Sessions are dedicated to primary source criticism and so-called Cliometrics (the application of quantitative techniques to historical research).

Prior to Spring 2024 course title was: HIS 100 Introduction to Historiography