Studying History
K.J. Benoy
What is History?
“History is the witness
that testifies to the
passing of time; it
illuminates reality,
vitalizes memory,
provides guidance
in daily life, and
brings us tidings of
antiquity.”
Cicero
What is History?
“History is, indeed, little
more than the register
of the crimes, follies
and misfortunes of
mankind.”
Edward Gibbon
What is History?
“History is a myth
we all agree to
believe.”
Napoleon
What is History?
“History is the Essence
of innumerable
biographies.”
Thomas Carlyle
What is History?
“What is past is
prologue.”
William Shakespeare
What is History?
“ ‘History,’ Stephen
said, ‘is a nightmare
from which I am
trying to awake.”
James Joyce
What is History?
“The past is useless.
That explains why it
is past.”
Wright Morris
What is History?
“We used to believe everything that wasn’t true.
We call it History.” The Wizard, speaking to Elphaba in Wicked.
What is History?
“There can be no history
of the past as it
actually did happen;
there can only be
historical
interpretations, and
none of them final,
and every generation
has to frame its own.”
Karl Popper
What is History?
“History deals not only with
the lives of great
individuals…it may be
said to consist of the
sediment of the lives of
millions of smaller men
and women who have left
no name, but who have
made their contribution.”
A. L. Rowse
What is History?
Gary Larson –
The Far Side
Why Study History?
It is fun.
 Wander through a
castle or a cathedral.
 How can you not
want to know about
the past?
 How did people live?
 What did they think?
 How were they like
me? How did they
differ?
Why Study History?
It is fun.
 Stories from the past
are often stranger and
more interesting than
anything in fiction.
Why Study History?
We can learn from it.
 “Those who do not
learn the lessons of
history are doomed to
repeat them”
Why Study History?
To understand the present.
 The past created the
present.
 It makes sense that we
need to look to the
past to see how we
became what we are.
Why Study History?
To see trends.
 The present is just a
moment.
 The past stretches
back for us to see.
 To get an
understanding of
where we are going,
we need to look at the
road we’ve been
driving along.
Why Study History?
To understand why people and societies differ.
 We are the way we
are.
 Others are the way
they are.
 To get along, we need
to understand eachother..
Why Study History?
To understand ourselves.
 What do we believe
in?
 Where did our ideas
come from?
 We need to examine
ourselves and to
question our thinking
in order to grow and
improve.
Why Study History?
To understand change and how it affects us.
 One thing is certain;
things change.
 History shows us how
this occurs and by
studying it we try to
find out how to arrive
at positive outcomes.
 We might also find
lessons in how to
cope with negatives.
Why Study History?
There is beauty in the past.
 Great achievements in
the past tell us that we
can also achieve
greatness today.
Why Study History?
There is ugliness and horror in the past.
 We also need to see
the other side of
humanity.
 Man has done terrible
things in the past; we
need to know that we
can do the same or
worse again.
Why Study History?
To be inspired by great people.
 Great and inspiring
people populate the
past.
 Their examples can
inspire us to also
strive for greatness.
Why Study History?
To learn to question.
 The study of history
requires us to ask new
and important
questions.
 Learning how to
formulate questions is
an important life skill.
Why Study History?
To learn how to research.
 Answering
questions about the
past makes us learn
how to find
answers.
 We enquire, we
read, we dig for
information.
Why Study History?
To become more analytical.
 We are sure to find
contradictory
information; we need to
decide what to believe
and why.
 Historians must trust in
the weight of evidence.
 We need to keep an open
mind and not to simply
look for what we already
believe.
Why Study History
To see different points of view.
 We need to look at
things through a
variety of lenses.
 Historians need to see
not only through their
own eyes, but through
the eyes of others too.
Why Study History?
To improve our writing.
 Historians not only
research the past, but
they then share their
work with others.
 Historians must learn
to write clearly and
convincingly.
 This is a skill useful
to all.
The Historical Approach
How can we understand anything of other
people or ourselves, if we know nothing of
history? The historian shows us how
change has worked in the past and helps us
to understand the present and make
educated guesses about the future.
finis