Slides for an introductory lecture on history and historiography, based on my answer to the "Two Things about" meme. Mark Mulligan's pyramid used with permission. You can find the old version at https://www.slideshare.net/jdresner/two-things-about-history-and-history-teaching/jdresner/two-things-about-history-and-history-teaching

1. Two Things

2. Two Things
About History
• 1. Everything has earlier antecedents.
• Corollary: all culture, including religion, is
syncretic; there is nothing purely original.
• Second Corollary: there's no question that
a historian can't complicate by talking
about what led up to it.
• Third Corollary: Historiography.

3. Two Things
About History
• 2. Sources lie. But they're all we have.

4. Two things about History Writing
• 1. It looks like storytelling, but it's arguing.
– Corollary: What's left out is important.
– Corollary: Where you start and stop is
important.
• 2. Sources matter. A lot.

5. Mark Mulligan's Pyramid

6. Two Things About
History Teaching
• 1. A good story is all they'll remember, not
the half hour of analysis on either side of
it.

7. Two Things About
History Teaching
• 2. They think it's about answers, but it's
really about questions.

8. Sources
• Background Image: "PSU Mandala Day 4 -
Whole high.jpg" by Jonathan Dresner
• "Two Things about History" and "Two Things
About History Teaching" by Jonathan
Dresner, 31 January 2004,
http://hnn.us/node/3277
• "Two Things":
http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/thetwothing
s.html
• Mark Mulligan's Pyramid,
https://twitter.com/mdpmulligan/status/10860
77058730549254