How to Succeed in HIST300
How to Succeed in HIST300
• Read the syllabus and refer to it regularly
• Use a planner to stay organized
• Check your email daily and bookmark the
course website
• Be respectful towards others
• Come to class prepared and bring the
readings!
• Take responsibility for your education
What Is the Historian’s
Craft?
24 August 2011
Dr. Kristen Epps
Part I: What does it mean to
be a historian?
Part II: How do historians
think?
Marc Bloch,
1886-1944
The
Historian’s
Craft
1) What is history?
1) What makes the study of the past a
profession?
1) What is history?
“What is the use of history, when the
values of the past are being ruthlessly
discarded? What is the use of history,
when we repeat our old errors over
and over again?”
Marc Bloch
1) What is history?
1) What makes the study of the past a
profession?
“Even if we are sure that history has
its uses, are we able to write the kind
of history that can be used?”
Marc Bloch
What Is the Historian’s Craft?
• Asking provocative questions
• Being objective about your conclusions
• Using primary sources
• Understanding cause and effect
• Studying the “why” not just the “who,” “what,”
“where,” and “when”
• Producing written work to present your
conclusions
• Making it useable
• Passing it on to future generations
Part II:
How do
historians
think?
Your Identity as a Historian
• Geographic area
Definition of Atlantic History
It is “based on the notion that the Americas,
Africa, and Europe have composed a
‘regional system’ from the late fifteenth
century to the present….. It offers rich
opportunities for comparative history of its
subregions, focusing on a host of issues,
from economic structures to state
formation, to political discourses and
institutions, to the complex relations,
identities, and practices of class, race, and
gender.”
Michael Jiménez and Marcus Rediker
The Atlantic World in 1720
Your Identity as a Historian
• Geographic area
• Time period
Your Identity as a Historian
• Geographic area
• Time period
• Approach
Historical Approaches
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Social history
Political history
Economic history
Intellectual history
Religious history
Environmental history
History of an ethnicity/race (e.g. Latino/Latina
history)
Women’s history
Legal history
Military history
Labor history
What is Social History?
1) “History with the politics left out” or “history
from below”
What is Social History?
1) “History with the politics left out” or “history
from below”
2) Deals with everyday people
What is Social History?
1) “History with the politics left out” or “history
from below”
2) Deals with everyday people
3) The study of people’s behavior, belief
systems, socio-economic structures, popular
culture, etc….
What is Social History?
1) “History with the politics left out” or “history
from below”
2) Deals with everyday people
3) The study of people’s behavior, belief
systems, socio-economic structures, popular
culture, etc….
4) Embraces the interaction between history
and its neighboring fields (anthropology,
political science, sociology, etc.)
What is Political History?
1) Study of political events, movements,
ideas, and structures
What is Political History?
1) Study of political events, movements,
ideas, and structures
2) Generally deals with the traditional
“nation-state”
What is Political History?
1) Study of political events, movements,
ideas, and structures
2) Generally deals with the traditional
“nation-state”
3) Biographies of political leaders and
their influence
What is Intellectual History?
1) Studies those who generate, discuss,
and theorize about “ideas”
What is Intellectual History?
1) Studies those who generate, discuss,
and theorize about “ideas”
2) Closely tied to philosophy
What is Intellectual History?
1) Studies those who generate, discuss,
and theorize about “ideas”
2) Closely tied to philosophy
3) Often tends to study the “great white
men”
Two Main Techniques
Qualitative—the interpretation and analysis of
texts and images in order to understand the
past
Two Main Techniques
Qualitative—the interpretation and analysis of
texts and images in order to understand the
past
Quantitative—the use of social science
methodology (such as statistics) and other
quantification to understand history
How would
you categorize
this work?
What is Historiography?
1)
“The body of literature dealing with
historical matters; histories collectively”
What is Historiography?
1) “The body of literature dealing with
historical matters; histories collectively”
2) “The body of techniques, theories, and
principles of historical research and
presentation; methods of historical
scholarship”
(Definitions from dictionary.com)
What is Historiography?
1) “The body of literature dealing with
historical matters; histories collectively”
2) “The body of techniques, theories, and
principles of historical research and
presentation; methods of historical
scholarship”
3) The history of historical study and the
important debates occurring in the field
(#1 and #2 definitions from dictionary.com)
A BRIEF Historiography of Slavery
U. B. Phillips (1918)
A BRIEF Historiography of Slavery
U. B. Phillips (1918)

Kenneth Stampp (1956)
A BRIEF Historiography of Slavery
U. B. Phillips (1918)

Kenneth Stampp (1956)

Stanley Elkins (1959)
A BRIEF Historiography of Slavery
U. B. Phillips (1918)

Kenneth Stampp (1956)

Stanley Elkins (1959)

Eugene Genovese (1974)
Conclusions
• Our goal is interpretation of the past in
addition to description
• Historians realize that their unique
perspective will affect the questions they
ask, their method, and their conclusions
• History is infinitely complex and often
raises as many questions as answers
• Historians try to approach their subject
objectively because we have a
responsibility to not glorify the past