H215 Proseminar in Historical Methods and Historiography

Diana Lin
Fall 2020
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this course will be conducted as an online class or an online class that meets once a month on campus.

Office: Arts & HUmanities #2051
(O)219 980 6981
Web page: pages.iu.edu/~dchenlin
Email: dchenlin@iun.edu
Office hours: MW 9-11:30am, or by appointment

Course content

The course consists of two parts: historical methods and historiography. We cover historical methods in the first seven weeks, including how to process facts and arguments, using primary and secondary sources, historical research versus empirical studies in social sciences, how to understand historical events through their contexts and inferences, limits of historical narratives, building frameworks for history writing, and digital history. We study historiography in the second half of the semester, tracing the evolution of historical approaches in the 20th and early 21st centuries.

All readings are available in Canvas modules by the week. 

Grade distribution:

Weekly discussion: 35%

Weekly projects: 40%

One take-home paper: 25%

Extra-credit for course evaluation: 1%

Class Schedule

I. Historical Methods

Week 1 (Aug.24-30) Facts and arguments

Reading: Left Behind by the Nation's Largest Subway System.

Discussion question 1: Discuss the way arguments and facts are positioned and used in this article and how effective the usages are.

Project:Analyze the following article in terms of its facts and arguments: Straightforward Answers to Basic Questions about Syria's War. Alternatively, you can also find your own article to analyze.

Week 2 (Aug. 31-Sept.6) Primary and secondary sources

Readings: Primary sources in history: Breaking through the myths. A source based approach to the Black DeathPreview the document. Black Death primary source.

Discussion question 2: Why are primary sources important, and what are their limitations? What are the purposes of secondary sources?

Project: do a one-paragraph writing using both primary and secondary sources and use a second paragraph to describe their purposes.

Week 3 (Sept.7-13) Historical research versus empirical studies in social sciences

1. Can history be studied empirically? Reading: An empirical study of history learning with mobile technologyPreview the document.2. How do social sciences use secondary sources:Empirical research: definition, methods, types and examples.  Philosophically curious George and the limits of empiricism

Discussion question 3: Pinpoint the arguments and supporting facts in this article. Compare the use of arguments here with that in the prior articles.

Week 3 project: find a topic and see how historians and social scientists approach it differently.

Week 4 (Sept.14-20) Contextualizing and inferencing

Reading: Teaching the skill of contextualizing in history.

Discussion question 4: What is contextualizing and inferencing in history writing? How do you use them effectively in history?

Project for week 4: Either use an article to analyze how contextualizing or inferencing are done in history, or write a page of historical analysis including these two elements based on some historical or current events.

Week 5 (Sept.21-27)

Reading: The limits of master narratives in history textbooks: An analysis of representations of Martin Luther King ,Jr

Discussion question 5: Discuss the limitations of a history narrative. What are some ways to overcome these limitations?

Project for week 5: find a history article and discuss the limitations of its narrative.

Week 6 (Sept.28-Oct.4) Building frameworks

Watch the webinar:Lessons learned from the 1918 pandemic

Discussion question 6: Comment on how the webinar framed the 1918 flu epidemic with the Covid-19 pandemic in mind?

Project: Use a history article or any article to discuss what frames its arguments.

Week 7 (Oct.5-11) Digital humanities

Readings: "When you find out what digital humanities is, will you tell me?" "Web historiography, digital history, and internet studies."

Discussion question 22: So what are digital humanities?

Project: Analyze a digital history project in terms of how it differs from history in a more conventional sense. Or construct a piece of digital history.

Part II: Historiography (The following readings are chapters from Georg Iggers, Historiography in the 20th Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern Challenge (2012)).

Week 8 (Oct.12-18) Classical historicism as model for historical scholarship

Reading: Classical historicism as model for historical scholarship

Discussion question for week 8: What is classical historicism? What is meant by historicism in general? Do you think this chapter clearly explains the historical background of 20th-century historical scholarship?

Project for week 8: Find an article or an excerpt of classical history writing and discuss how the same history would be approached today.

Week 9 (Oct.19-25)The crisis of classical historicism

Reading: The crisis of classical historicism.

Discussion question 9: What caused classical historicism to recede? What do you think of the professionalization of history and connecting history with science?

Project for week 9: Discuss the influence of science on history today through the analysis of a history essay.

Week 10 (Oct.26-Nov.1)Social history

Reading: American traditions of social history

Discussion question 10: How were quantitative analysis impact American historiography and the types of histories written?

Project for week 10: Do a small case study of a piece of social history.

Week 11 (Nov.2-8)Critical theory and social history

Reading: Critical theory and social history: “Historical social science.”

Discussion question for week 11: How did theory and social history combine toward the goal of social science?

Project for week 11: give an example of a social science style history and discuss how well it works in its aspiration for social science.

Week 12 (Nov.9-15) The revival of historical narratives

Reading: The revival of historical narratives

Discussion question for week 12: What led to a less enthusiastic embrace of theory in history?

Project: find a history essay and discuss the pros and cons of its narrative.

Week 13 (Nov.16-22)From macro- to microhistory: the history of everyday life

Reading: From macro- to microhistory: the history of everyday life

Discussion question 13: How would this focus on everyday life differ from the social history of an earlier era?

Project for week 13: Find an article written in this era reflecting microhistory and discuss its pros and cons.

Week 14 (Nov.23-29) The linguistic turn: the end of history as a scholarly discipline?

The end of history as a scholarly discipline?Preview the document

Discussion question 14: Discuss the impact of post-modern theories on history writing.

Project for week 14: Give an example of history essay that employs post-modern theory and assess its historical value.

Week 15 (Nov.30-Dec.6) 1990s and beyond

Readings: From the perspective of the 1990s. Conclusion. A retrospect at the beginning of the 21st century.

Discussion question 15: Discuss the general approaches to history in the 1990s and beyond. Why do you think history continues to thrive despite the attacks on it from post-modernism and other sources?

Project for week 15: Discuss a history article written recently and how it reflects both old and new considerations in historiography.

Week 16 (Dec.7-13) Take-home paper