COURSE TITLE: History and Historians
COURSE NUMBER: HIST310
SECTION TIMES/DAYS: Mondays (4:30-7:00)
INSTRUCTOR: Sun-Hee Yoon
COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS
This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of approaches to the study of the past by
focusing on historians writing in the twentieth century. We examine how historians conceive of their object
of study, how they use primary sources to construct narratives and arguments in order to assess the
advantages and limitations of each approach. The books and articles we read throughout the semester
have all made significant contributions to their respective subfields and have been selected to give as
wide coverage in both field and methodology. The first half of the course will pay attention to some of the
fundamental issues pertaining to archives, uses of sources, and historical questions. The second half will
focus more on how historians have used notions such as class and gender to write different kinds of
histories. The class sessions are devoted to discussions of our readings and the broader issues related to
them.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completing the course, students will be able to recognize various uses of primary and secondary sources
in historical works. They will be able to identify the contributions of historians to the development of historical
knowledge (historiography) and understand contextualizing as a specific activity of historians. Lastly, they will be
able to recognize recent scholarly trends and approaches (cultural history, social history, gender, etc.).
PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND
None
REQUIRED TEXTS: (TENTATIVE)
Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, Beacon Press, 1997.
Robert Darnton, The Great Cat Massacre: And Other Episodes in French Cultural History, Basic Books, 2009.
James Lee and Feng Wang, One Quarter of Humanity: Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities, 17002000, Harvard University Press, 2001.
Course Reader (On Blackboard)
COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS
Students are expected to write two papers (midterm and final) and a critical book review. In addition, there will
be weekly reading responses.