At the start of every workshop we will analyse instances from the week of lessons or parallels being drawn from the past. Please read newspapers, look at online media, TV etc and bring examples with you of what is sometimes termed ‘the long view’.
WORKSHOP PREPARATION
Everyone in this module will be expected to participate fully in the Workshops. We will expect everyone to have prepared as specified below and in studynet Teaching Resources for the week.
Failure to prepare may mean that attendance cannot be claimed for that session.
Please bear in mind that effective preparation for and participation in workshops is grounded in careful reading. In practice this means:
1.a thorough scrutiny of precisely what an author is arguing (saying and claiming)about the relevance of historical knowledge in present-day settings;
2. attention to the evidence and sources used to support an argument (e.g. have a look at what’s in the notes),
3.some reflection on where these ideas fit in relation to the key questions of the module.
When working on the case studies,you will also find it useful to:
1. examine examples, language or images and their significance in claiming lessons from the past;
2. evaluate the broader contexts in which an appeal is made (or not made) to historical precedents(was this part of a debate, a trend?)
3. consider the extent to which these examples support arguments found in general reflections on taking ‘a long view’.
WORKSHOP PREPARATION
Everyone in this module will be expected to participate fully in the Workshops. We will expect everyone to have prepared as specified below and in studynet Teaching Resources for the week.
Failure to prepare may mean that attendance cannot be claimed for that session.
Please bear in mind that effective preparation for and participation in workshops is grounded in careful reading. In practice this means:
1.a thorough scrutiny of precisely what an author is arguing (saying and claiming)about the relevance of historical knowledge in present-day settings;
2. attention to the evidence and sources used to support an argument (e.g. have a look at what’s in the notes),
3.some reflection on where these ideas fit in relation to the key questions of the module.
When working on the case studies,you will also find it useful to:
1. examine examples, language or images and their significance in claiming lessons from the past;
2. evaluate the broader contexts in which an appeal is made (or not made) to historical precedents(was this part of a debate, a trend?)
3. consider the extent to which these examples support arguments found in general reflections on taking ‘a long view’.
Week 1. 22 January. Introduction: learning from the past?
Before the workshop:
1. Please read: Margaret Macmillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (2009), chapter 8, 'History as a Guide'.
This is available as an ebook via Voyager/studynet. It is an essential chapter which we will be referring to throughout this module.
2. Please choose one paper on the History and Policy website that interests you. http://www.historyandpolicy.org/
Highlight its main arguments. How effectively do you think it uses history to debate contemporary issues?
3. Read and download/print out the workshop handout attached below.
In the workshop:
These are the questions we will be discussing, using Macmillan as a starting point:
· Can lessons be learnt from the past, and what sort of lessons are they?
· How do we go about finding and applying historical insights to present-day situations?
· Is it always appropriate to do this, or are some situations too far removed from the reach of history?
· Is it possible to go beyond a simplistic search for historical parallels?
· And if we think that (in some circumstances) better decisions are made when they are historically informed, what are the crucial components: historical detail, general historical context or the historian’s skills in sifting and interpreting evidence?
Discussion of Margaret MacMillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (2009), ch.8:
Pull out the key ideas of the chapter so you can find the structure of her argument.
How does she answer the questions listed above?
Discussion of policy papers on History and Policy website.
Highlight the policy issue and the history used to discuss the contemporary issue. What is the historian trying to do? How effectively do they argue for the use of history to shed light on the contemporary issue?
6hum1060_workshop_1_handout.pdf | |
File Size: | 276 kb |
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6hum1060_workshop1intro.pptx | |
File Size: | 1546 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Week 2. 29 January. Historians' skills
Before the workshop:
1. Please read: John Tosh, Why History Matters (Basingstoke, 2008), chapter 4, 'Parallels in the Past', pp. 61-77 (pdf in week 2 on studynet). Note any connections with Macmillan. Use the module questions to make notes.
2. Please read: Richard Neustadt and Ernest May, Thinking in Time: the Uses of History for Decision Makers (New York 1986), chapter 13, 'What to do and how: a summary', pp.232-75. (pdf in week 2 on studynet)
You may need to look up some things up as the book is based on US case studies.
3. Choose an item from a newspaper, news website or tv news that uses or compares historical events with the current news, and bring it along to discuss at the workshop.
Workshop tasks:
3. Once you read the Neustadt and May piece, you'll see they have a series of steps (they call them 'methods' or 'mini-methods') they suggest you use for 'thinking with history'.
Use the Neustadt and May methods (but also drawing on Macmillan, Tosh and our class discussions) to put together a framework document to aid your 'thinking with history' in the rest of the module.
(Remember we were talking in workshop 1 about having sets of questions you can ask of different sources and interpretations). What steps do YOU need to go through to learn lessons from history well?
Put together something that works for you. The document can be in whatever format you would find most useful - a flow chart, a series of questions, a table - but filling it in should allow you to analyse critically any case of using history as a guide.
It doesn't need to be perfect - you can refine it as you go along. It's there to help you go that extra step from noting the use of history to being critical of it, so you can develop your own line of argument. You'll be able to use it when we come to the case studies - it's basically a tool to ensure you work systematically.
6hum1060_workshop_2_handout.pdf | |
File Size: | 273 kb |
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6hum1060_workshop2skills.pptx | |
File Size: | 410 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Week 3. 5 February. Historical sensitivities.
Before the workshop:
1. Please read: Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (2006), chapter 6. (pdf attached below)
2. Please read: Margaret Macmillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (2009), chapter 7, 'History Wars'
3. Choose an item from a newspaper, news website or tv news that uses or compares historical events with the current news, and bring it along to discuss at the workshop.
In the workshop:
1. what sensitivities does the historian need to be aware of in looking at parallels between past and present?
2. what ethics questions are involved in studying history and the present?
3. why are parts of history chosen or forgotten in commemorations?
We will be looking at the websites and news items about the Irish commemorations of 1798 and 1916. See the links in the workshop handout.
6hum1060_workshop_3_handout.pdf | |
File Size: | 305 kb |
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6hum1060_workshop3sensitivities.pptx | |
File Size: | 1217 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Week 4. 12 February. Case study one. Part one.