HIST2001A Historiography (Introductory)

Course Description

This course aims at introducing the basic concepts of history and the historian and developing students’ fundamental skills of conducting historical research and writing. These skills include using reference tools, locating and studying various historical documents, formulating research questions, identifying different categories of historical materials and their features, criticizing, analyzing and organizing historical data, mastering the principles of historical writing and its various styles and academic formats, grasping techniques of oral presentation and discussion, etc. Visits to libraries, museums, archives or field trips may also be arranged.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to: 
1. understand the basic concepts of history and the role of the historian; 
2. master the empirical methods and skills for historical research; 
3. understand and follow the principles of historical writing and recognize various styles and formats of academic writing; 
4. grasp the skills of oral presentation, questioning and discussion, etc.; 
5. master the techniques to collect historical materials and explore historical monuments for academic research; 
6. develop critical, analytical and creative thinking on diversified themes of historical study.

References Used in the Course

13 Lectures

1. General Introduction: Historical Methodology (7 Sep)
2. History, Historiography and the Historian (14 Sep)
3. Historical Thinking and Presentation Techniques (21 Sep)
4. Categories, Classes and Collection of Historical Materials (28 Sep)
5. Historical Research Using Library Resources and Reference Materials: University Library Tour (5 Oct)
6. Historical Research and Archives and Museums (12 Oct)
7. Identification and Criticism of Historical Materials (19 Oct)
8. Processing Historical Materials for Application (26 Oct)
9. Deduction of Historical Events and Construction of the Past (2 Nov)
10. Fundamental Skills for Oral History and Historical Study (9 Nov)
11. Principles, Formats, and Academic Standards for Historical Writing (16 Nov)
12. Exemplary Historians’ Views on Historical Studies (23 Nov)
13. Conclusion: Contemporary Historians and Trend of Historical Studies (30 Nov)

Assessment & Assignments

Term paper (5000-7000 words)                 65%

Interactive tutorials                                     15%

(Include term paper outline & draft presentations and paper commentary.)

Blackboard video/radio MC Test               10%

Museum visit worksheet                             10%      

(Teacher would provide historical sources including relics pictures to students for completing museum worksheet if the museum visit is canceled due to the pandemic.)

Grade Descriptors

Grade A 

Outstanding performance on all learning outcomes. 

Grade A-

Generally outstanding performance on all (or almost all) learning outcomes. 

Grade B 

Substantial performance on all learning outcomes, OR high performance on some learning outcomes which compensates for less satisfactory performance on others, resulting in overall substantial performance.

Grade C

Satisfactory performance on the majority of learning outcomes, possibly with a few weaknesses. 

Grade D 

Barely satisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes. 

Grade F

Unsatisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes, OR failure to meet specified assessment requirements.

2 Visits & 12 Tutorials

2 Visits

1) 探尋文獻史料──參觀中大圖書館(University Library Tour 10月5日(Wednesday) 10:30am-12:15pm)

參觀包括：1.歷史資料檢用工作坊(Workshop on Finding Information & Primary Sources for Historiography)；2.圖書館特藏善本文獻簡介(Introduction to Special Collections)。全體同學平均分為A, B兩組進行參觀，分別由老師和助教帶領。若圖書館因新冠疫情和限聚令而取消實體參觀，老師會安排舉行ZOOM網上參觀。

2) 探尋文物史料──參觀香港歷史博物館展覽(Visit to Exhibition of Hong Kong Museum of History 10月22日(Saturday))

參觀時間(Visit Time)：10:00am-12:00pm

全體同學同樣平均分為A, B兩組進行參觀，分別由老師和助教帶領。現在博物館暫停導賞員講解館藏歷史文物服務，若稍後恢復該服務而能向同學提供，本課程會預先通知同學。兩組同學都須在參觀過程中完成辨別史料工作紙。若期間同學就作答工作紙有任何疑難，可隨時向老師垂詢。

香港歷史博物館地下大堂集合時間(Assemble Point & Time)：9:45am。

(若屆時博物館因新冠疫情和限聚令而取消實體參觀，老師會提供相關文獻文物圖片史料，供同學參考，完成工作紙。)

12 Tutorials

12次導修課安排 (Arrangement of 12 Tutorials)

老師主持所有12次導修課。每次的兩節導修課在講授課堂前後舉行。

第1節導修課時間與地點：

星期三 9:30am-10:15am  李兆基樓LSK 302

第2節導修課時間與地點：

星期三 12:30pm-1:15pm  李兆基樓LSK 302

參與第1節導修課的組別同學：A1組，A2組，B1組，B2組

參與第2節導修課的組別同學：C1組，C2組，D1組，D2組

全體同學自由參與第1-4次的兩節導修課

導修1：「課程暨講授課內容、擬定學期論文題目諮詢」導修 (7 Sep)

導修2：「擬定學期論文題目諮詢」導修 (14 Sep)

導修3：「擬定學期論文題目諮詢」導修 (21 Sep)

導修4：「擬定學期論文題目諮詢」導修 (28 Sep)

各組同學按照以下安排參與第5-12次導修課

同學報告學期論文大綱之要求 (Term Paper Outline Presentation Requirement)

同學須在導修課前三日向老師電郵提交約700字學期論文大綱報告，簡介學期論文題目、內容大綱及初步參考書目(包括相關原始史料及近人著作)，老師給予意見。

導修5：第1節導修課：A1組同學報告學期論文大綱；第2節導修課：C1組同學報告學期論文大綱 (12 Oct)

導修6：第1節導修課：A2組同學報告學期論文大綱；第2節導修課：C2組同學報告學期論文大綱 (19 Oct)

導修7：第1節導修課：B1組同學報告學期論文大綱；第2節導修課：D1組同學報告學期論文大綱 (26 Oct)

導修8：第1節導修課：B2組同學報告學期論文大綱；第2節導修課：D2組同學報告學期論文大綱 (2 Nov)

同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)與專責評論同學評論之要求 (Term Paper Presentation & Comment Requirement)

同學須在導修課前三日向老師和專責評論同學電郵提交學期論文初稿/未完稿，然後在導修課堂上報告論文要點，由專責評論同學評論，再由老師給予意見。

導修9：第1節導修課：A1組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，B1組同學給A1組同學報告論文作口頭評論；第2節導修課：C1組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，D1組同學給C1組同學報告論文作口頭評論 (9 Nov)

導修10：第1節導修課：A2組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，B2組同學給A2組同學報告論文作口頭評論；第2節導修課：C2組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，D2組同學給C2組同學報告論文作口頭評論 (16 Nov)

導修11：第1節導修課：B1組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，A1組同學給B1組同學報告論文作口頭評論；第2節導修課：D1組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，C1組同學給D1組同學報告論文作口頭評論 (23 Nov)

導修12：第1節導修課：B2組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，A2組同學給B2組同學報告論文作口頭評論；第2節導修課：D2組同學報告學期論文初稿(/未完稿)，C2組同學給D2組同學報告論文作口頭評論 (30 Nov)

* Major References

* 杜維運：《史學方法論》。北京：北京大學出版社，2006。

張存武、陶晉生編：《歷史學手冊》。台北：食貨出版社，1977。

* 許冠三：《史學與史學方法》(校訂本)上下冊。香港：龍門書店，1975。

林鐵森主編：《中國歷史工具書指南》。北京：北京出版社，1992。

* 嚴耕望：《治史經驗談》第壹章。臺北：臺灣商務印書館，1981。

* 嚴耕望：《治史答問》。臺北：臺灣商務印書館，1988。

楊祥銀：《與歷史對話：口述史學的理論與實踐》。北京：中國社會科學出版社，2004。

瞿林東主編：《史學理論的世界視野：外國史學研究》。 北京：北京師範大學出版社， 2007。

朱政惠、胡逢祥主編：《全球視野下的史學：區域性與國際性》。上海：上海辭書出版社，2011。

* 蔣竹山：《當代史學研究的趨勢、方法與實踐：從新文化史到全球史》。台北：五南圖書出版股份有限公司，2012。

* 謝維揚、趙爭主編：《出土文獻與古書成書問題研究：”古史史料學研究的新視野研討會”論文集》。上海市：中西書局，2015。

王希、盧漢超等主編：《開拓者：著名歷史學家訪談錄》。北京市：北京大學出版社，2015。

* 王明珂：《反思史學與史學反思：文本與表徵分析》。臺北市：允晨文化實業股份有限公司，2015。

中國社會科學院歴史研究所、東方學會編集，渡邉義浩編：《中国史の時代区分の現在》。東京：汲古書院，2015。

阿納爾多・莫米利亞諾(Arnaldo Momigliano)著，晏紹祥等譯：《論古代與近代的歷史學》(Essays in Ancient and Modern Historiography)。北京：北京大學出版社，2015。

* 胡阿祥、顏岸青：《歷史學學術規範與方法論研究》。南京：南京大學出版社，2018。

* 毛升：《歷史不止一種寫法：十篇書評裏的歷史學景觀》。香港：香港中文大學出版社，2020。

Huang, Chun-chieh, Rüsen, Jörn, eds. Chinese Historical Thinking: An Intercultural Discussion. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Gm; Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2015.

* Wilkinson, Endymion Porter. Chinese History: A Manual. Cambridge, Mass.: Published by the Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard-Yenching Institute: Distributed by Harvard University Press, 2000.

Cohen, Daniel J. and Rosenzweig, Roy. Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.

* Cannadire, D. What Is History Now? New York: Palgrave, 2002.

* Carr, E.H. What Is History? London: Macmillan, 1962.

The Chicago Manual of Style Online. (Electronic Resources). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006-.

* Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide. 17th edition

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html

Collingwood, R.G. The Idea of History. London: Oxford University Press, 1961.

* Shafer, Robert Jones. A Guide to Historical Method. Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1974.

* Danto, Elizabeth Ann. Historical Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Robert C. W. The Historian’s Toolbox: A Student’s Guide to the Theory and Craft of History. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2012.

* Bates, Denise. Historical Research Using British Newspapers. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England: Pen & Sword History, 2016.

* Brügger, Niels and Schroeder, Ralph, eds. The web as History: Using Web Archives to Understand the Past and the Present. London: UCL Press, 2017.

Brundage, Anthony. Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated 2017.

* Brughmans, Tom, Collar, Anna and Coward, Fiona, eds. The Connected Past: Challenges to Network Studies in Archaeology and History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Christ, Georg and Rössner, Philipp R., eds. History and Economic Life: A Student’s Guide to Approaching Economic and Social History Sources. New York: Routledge, 2020.

* Gaskell, Ivan and Carter, Sarah Anne, eds. The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

DuBois, Thomas David and Kiely, Jan, eds. Fieldwork in Modern Chinese History A Research Guide. London; New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2020.

* Schrag, Zachary M. The Princeton Guide to Historical Research. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2021.

Blaney, Jonathan, Milligan, Sarah, Steer, Marty and Winters, Jane. Doing Digital History: A Beginner’s Guide to Working with Text as Data. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2021.

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

• In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic contents.
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.