What is history and how should we practice it?  This course looks at the ways scholars have theorized and practiced history from antiquity to the present.  Here, the focus will be on the most influential approaches to history writing (in the West and the world at large), including: Marxism, gender and sexuality, social history, cultural history, race and ethnicity and digital history.  An important focus of the course will be on developing the ability to synthesize and apply complex approaches, both orally and in writing. 

Week 1 (Jan 14): Introduction: Historical knowledge and the historian’s craft.  How to read/skim a book workshop. 

Prologues to Livy, Thucydides, Herodotus [in pdf on Blackboard].

Collingwood, R.G., “Who killed John Doe? The problem of testimony” from The Idea of History, in Winks, R.W., ed., The Historian as Detective (New York: Harper & Row, 1968), pp.39-60.

Week 2 (Jan 21): Marx, Weber and other theorists and historical research

Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party. (14-27)

Wang, Q. Edward. “Between Marxism and Nationalism: Chinese Historiography and the Soviet Influence, 1949-1963.” Journal of Contemporary China 9, no. 23 (2000): 95-111 [via library catalog]

Yale lecture on Weber

Week 3 (Jan 28): Examples of historical research: from political/institutional history to social history

Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (reserve in UB)

WEB DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, Forethought & sections I-II

Week 4 (Feb 4): Cultural history and historical research

Skim: P Burke, What Is Cultural History? [Online via Blackboard]

Grafton, Anthony. “The Footnote from De Thou to Ranke.” History and Theory, vol. 33, no. 4, 1994, pp. 53–76. [via library catalog]

Skim: Grafton, Anthony. “The History of Ideas: Precept and Practice, 1950-2000 and Beyond.” Journal of the History of Ideas 67.1 (2006): 1-32 [via library catalog]

Week 5 (Feb 11): No class – Lunar New Year!

N.B. INTERRUPTION TO CLASSES!

Tutorial 1 (Marx, Weber, social history cultural history) – TBC

All students must bring one very short extract from historical sources (c. 250 words, or image, object) of their choosing to class and discuss how they might apply one of the methodologies studied to them.  In advance of the tutorial students should submit the source to the TA and a 1-page outline of how one of the methodologies might be applied to it.  This will aid the subsequent discussion. 

Week 6 (Feb 18): Historical geography and historical research

Adelman, “Is global history still possible..?” https://aeon.co/essays/is-global-history-still-possible-or-has-it-had-its-moment

Skim: Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms [Online via Blackboard]

Skim: Timothy Brook, Vermeer’s Hat [Book review only via catalog; no digital copy currently available]

Tutorial 2 (Geography) – TBC

All students must bring one very short extract from historical sources (c. 250 words, or image, object) of their choosing to class and discuss how they might apply one of the methodologies studied to them.  In advance of the tutorial students should submit the source to the TA and a 1-page outline of how one of the methodologies might be applied to it.  This will aid the subsequent discussion. 

Week 7 (Feb 25): Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality

Scott, J.W., “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” in J.W. Scott, ed., Feminism and History [online on Blackboard]

Kimberlé Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics“. University of Chicago Legal Forum. 1989: 139–168.

Tutorial 3 (gender & sexuality) – TBC

All students must bring one very short extract from historical sources (c. 250 words, or image, object) of their choosing to class and discuss how they might apply one of the methodologies studied to them.  In advance of the tutorial students should submit the source to the TA and a 1-page outline of how one of the methodologies might be applied to it.  This will aid the subsequent discussion. 

Week 8 (March 4): Economic history and historical research

Douglas North, “Economic Performance Through Time,” Nobel Prize Lecture (1993). 

Haskell, Thomas L. (October 2, 1975). “The True & Tragical History of ‘Time on the Cross‘“. The New York Review of Books

Skim: Braudel, F., trans. Ranum, P.M., Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977). [read book review via online catalog]

Tutorial 4 (economic history) – TBC

All students must bring one very short extract from historical sources (c. 250 words, or image, object) of their choosing to class and discuss how they might apply one of the methodologies studied to them.  In advance of the tutorial students should submit the source to the TA and a 1-page outline of how one of the methodologies might be applied to it.  This will aid the subsequent discussion. 

Week 9 (Mar 11) Legal history

Neil MacCormick, “Law and Values: Reflections on Methods” [on blackboard]

Duve, Thomas. “Legal Traditions: A Dialogue between Comparative Law and Comparative Legal History.” Comparative Legal History 6.1 (2018): 15-33. [via library catalog]

You, Chenjun. “How a “New Legal History” Might Be Possible: Recent Trends in Chinese Legal History Studies in the United States and Their Implications.” Modern China 39.2 (2013): 165-202. [via library catalog]

*Digital History Component*

Week 10 (Mar 18): Basics of historical research (i): identifying errors in source materials and the challenges of digital history

Introduction to Digital Humanities, “Concepts and Readings,” 1A-1B (just read, do not do exercises) [on Blackboard]

Introduction to Statistics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyYifTHIcyw

CS50 Lecture 0 (put on CC for transcript), do the Scratch tutorial.  Save and email game to professor.    

Skim: http://www.slavevoyages.org/

Week 10 (Mar 25): Basics of historical research (ii): data, examining archives and conducting field work

Read: “Introduction to Digital Humanities” 2B-5A (just read, do not do exercises) [on Blackboard]

Download Transatlantic Slave Trade Database EXCEL sheets (.csv files): transatlantic data.  Here is the manual for understanding it all [questions: what is the data; how was it created; what are the potential problems with it; how is it presented?]

Do Tableau tutorial: http://dh101.humanities.ucla.edu/?page_id=163 (this might also be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT1iHLGawIM)

Create some Tableau visualizations answering a hypothetical research question about Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database using the EXCEL sheets, and bring them to class (USB or email to TA and we can discuss them). 

If we are meeting in person and you have a laptop, please bring it to class. 

For the final projects, students might also be interested in: Scottish Witchcraft Trials ; Civil Unrest Events ; US government data, Historical laws of Hong Kong, etc. 

Week 11 (Apr 1): Reading week!

Week 12 (Apr 8): Basics of historical research (iii): analyzing and inferring from historical documents and other sources

Read https://medium.com/@priestleyal/voyant-tools-a-tutorial-for-text-analysis-df265d85d214 and https://medium.com/dh-tools-for-beginners/voyant-tools-2-0-less-common-tools-for-text-analysis-a922cfcd85cb

Apply one of these techniques to a text of your choice and come prepare to discuss it.

Google My Maps Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLhyr5MGi2g

Read: https://programminghistorian.org/en/lessons/googlemaps-googleearth

Set up a Google account and make one map of relevance to history (it can be very simple and come prepare to discuss it). 

If we are meeting in person and you have a laptop, please bring it to class. 

Week 13 (Apr 15): Displaying historical research and public history: cases of historical research.

Read “Introduction to Digital Humanities” 2A, 8B-10B (just read, do not do exercises) [on Blackboard]

and “Tutorials” on Omeka and HTML.

Glassberg, David. “Public History and the Study of Memory.” The Public Historian 18.2 (1996): 7-23 [via library catalog].

Either visit the Hong Kong Museum of History (“The Hong Kong Story” wing), if you have not already, or Slavery and Global Public History.

If we are meeting in person and you have a laptop, please bring it to class. 

Final Projects due April 21 at 9pm. 

Week 14 (Apr 22):  Presentations and Discussions of Digital Projects. 

You will each give a 5 minute (maximum!) presentation of your project.  This is very informal and you can show a few PP slides with the graphs etc. using share-screen.  We will then have a final discussion. 

20% Attendance and Active Participation in class.  Active participation entails making at least one and preferably twocomments/asking questions per class. 

30% 6*1-page Response Papers (=300 words) on readings from weeks 2-8 that answer the question: “What is the key point of this week’s reading?” (each worth 5%).  Due via email to the Professor 1-hour (60mins!) before the lecture.  You may submit more, but only the best 6 grades will count. 

25% Digital Essay.  Produce one data-driven inquiry and present it in weeks 15 (5 mins).  It should be at least 5 pages in pdf of text, images, screen shot, etc.  Topics to be covered will include, e.g. discussion of research problem, data, methodology, conclusions, problems encountered, areas for future research).    Some examples are here and here.

25% Tutorial Case-Study Exercises (5% for pre-submitted sources and 1-page discussions of how methodology might be applied to it (due 1hr before tutorial via email to TA); 20% for participation in discussions).   

The Tutorials will be focused on applying the historiographical techniques learned in the lectures. 

All students must bring one very short extract from historical sources (c. 250 words, or image, object) of their choosing to class and discuss how they might apply one of the methodologies studied to them.  In advance of the tutorial students should submit the source to the TA and a 1-page outline of how one of the methodologies might be applied to it.  This will aid the subsequent discussion. 

梁启超：《中国历史研究法》

严耕望：《治史经验谈》

黄进兴：〈论方法及方法论－－以近代中国史学意识为系络〉，载康乐、黄进兴编：《历史学与社会科学》

庞卓恆等：《史学概论》

许冠三：《史学与史学方法》（上、下）

庞卓恆等：《史学概论》

姚蒙：《法国当代史学主流》

徐浩、侯建新：《当代西方史学流派》

赖建诚译著：《年鑑学派管窥》（上）

项观奇编：《历史比较研究法》

张玉法：《历史学的新领域》

周樑楷：〈年鑑学派的史学传统及其转变〉，载周樑楷著：《近代欧洲史家及史学思想》

王渊明：〈美国公共史学〉，《史学理论》，3（1989）

〈妇女史与社会性别的启示〉，《史学理论研究》，3（2004）

余英时：〈中国史的现阶段：反省与展望〉，载氏著：《史学与传统》

古伟瀛、王晴佳：《後现代与历史学：中西比较》

杨念群等主编：《新史学》(下)

Elton, G. R., The Practice of History

Carr, E.H., What is History?

Barzun, J. & H.F. Graff, The Modern Researcher

Bloch, M., The Historian’s Craft

Burke, P., ed., New Perspectives on Historical Writing

Barraclough, G. Main, Trends of Research in the Social and Human Sciences: History

Himmelfarb, Gertrude, The New history and the Old: Critical Essays and Reappraisals

Berger, S., et al., eds., Writing History: Theory and Practice

Clark, Stuart, ed., The Annales School: Critical Assessments, Vol. 1.

Mahoney, J. & D. Rueschemeyer, eds., Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences

Kelley, R., Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects? The Public Historian, 1:1 (1978)

Thompson, P., The Voice of the Past: Oral History

Jorgensen, D.L., Participant Observation

Hunt, L., ed., The New Cultural History

Scott, J.W., “Introduction,” “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” in J.W. Scott, ed., Feminismand History

Iggers, G.G., Historiography in the Twentieth Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern Challenge

Introduction to Digital Humanities, http://dh101.humanities.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IntroductionToDigitalHumanities_Textbook.pdf

请注意大学有关学术著作诚信的政策和规则，及适用于犯规事例的纪律指引和程序。详情可浏览此处。

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• 如属小组习作，则所有组员均须签署声明；所有组员 (不论有否签署声明及不论有否直接或间接撰写有问题的内容) 均须负上集体责任及受到惩处。
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