Part One of the Methods and Skills Lectures

1. Chapter 1: Methods
and Skill of History

2. • History plays an important role in defining who we are
and establishing a shared identity.
• Culture is the established traditions for which history has
created unique to a region, place, or group of human
beings.
• How does history relate us to our past while remaining
valuable for the present?

3. • History provides us a sense of our
own identity.
• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• What is my relationship with…?

4. • History helps us understand the present
better.
– Nothing happens in a vacuum:
• The Arab Spring
• The Tea Party Movement
• Declaration of Independence
–Crisis in the Ukraine
–Crisis in Syria/Iraq
–Crisis in France
• World economic crisis

5. • History – good history – is a
corrective for misleading analogies
and “lessons” of the past.
– vs. History for the sake of
propagandizing ideological and personal
agendas
– “Lies My Teacher Told Me”
– Did Washington ‘never’ tell a lie?

6. • History can help one develop tolerance and open-
mindedness.
• This world is increasingly SMALL!
• Communication is instantaneous.
• Internationalism is becoming the norm for national
survival (Opinion?)

7. • History enables us to understand the tendencies of
humankind, of social institutions, and all aspects of the
human condition.
– The Eternal Question: Why?

8. • History provides the basic background for many other
disciplines.
– Languages?
– Mathematics?
– Sciences?
– Art?
– Music?
– Theology?

9. • History can be entertainment!!!!
– Historical Fiction Literature
– Biography
– Non-fiction Literature
– Movies – “Based on a true story…”
– Television – Copper, Downton Abbey, Mad
Men

10. • The careful study of history teaches many critical skills.
– Analysis
– Synthesis
– Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
– Application
– Evaluation