HIST 4001 - Honours History Common Course

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2016

The course information on this page is being finalised for 2016. Please check again before classes commence.

This is a compulsory coursework subject for all History Honours students. It comprises a series of reflections on the nature of history as a form of knowledge (theory) and the ways in which historians acquire that knowledge (method). It examines the possibilities and pitfalls of using a variety of sources of historical evidence (such as letters and oral testimony), and explores some of the ideological underpinnings of particular approaches to history (such as feminism, Marxism, and postmodernism). During the course, students will be exposed to a range of approaches to researching and writing history. They will learn about how to use primary sources located in archival institutions, and consider the potential and possible problems with using documentary, oral, and visual sources of evidence in writing their own historical works. They will discover why feminist, Marxist and empiricist historians often disagree with each other, even when discussing the same event or topic. They will be introduced to different approaches to writing a thesis, enhancing their skills in critical analysis along the way. And they will ponder questions such as: `is it possible to be objective?', `what is the nature of historical truth', `is memory a reliable source of evidence?' and so forth.

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