The Historian's Perils
The objective of most higher-level education in general, and specifically of liberal education, is often misunderstood. The goal is not necessarily in direct preparation for a particular skill or for employment, but instead has a more indirect aim of instilling knowledge, frames of reference and the ability to think and express oneself. History is particularly rich in the opportunity it offers for learning how to think, owing in part to the challenges inherent in its subject matter and to the strong tradition among historians of cultivating the general powers of intellect. The techniques of historical study and thinking, exacting as they are, nonetheless have a high "carry-over" value for other subjects and activities. As such, one cannot help but appreciate the historian's unique plight, and subsequently to see the value in his work as applied to all our lives, as human beings.
To begin, we must understand and accept that "History is constructed reality" (Burnstyn, 19870), given the simple fact that neither the historian nor the scholar has direct, first-hand knowledge of the events he is studying. As such, he is compelled to refer to documents, statements, or other evidence that pre-dates him and that he assumes represents the past, giving him some insight as to what took place. The trouble is that no single artifact is entirely representative of a time or place. Rather, it is the result of, and is equally subject to, individual interpretations at one particular instance in time. The evidence then, cannot intrinsically or independently reflect any given event or its context. It requires the discerning, well-versed historian to give it "meaning" by attempting to deduce the circumstances under which...
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...g data, teaches us how to look for relevant information, use it in solving problems, and communicate the result. History can teach us how not to be bogged down with details that will be soon forgotten, but rather to use them in order to develop a framework for understanding other phenomena. Therefore, history also teaches judgement. It achieves this both by supplying a knowledgeable background and by training in the technique of criticism and reasoned conclusions. Good judgement often depends upon asking the right questions, and the knack for this depends upon the use of a disciplined imagination. History is not a mechanism for transmitting infallible truths -- the more valuable lesson to be learned is how to be critical of claims, and how to dispel untruths. A lesson that undoubtedly will serve as a powerful guiding light at the end of the historian's dark tunnel.
In ancient civilization, a liberal arts education was considered essential for free people to take place in civic life; without them people would not be willing to disregard one's traditional values, and analyze a broad variety of arts, humanities, and sciences to create new opinions and ideas. In the 21st century many Americans are doubtful that liberal arts degrees are actually worth the cost of college. In his essay “The New Liberal Arts”, Sanford J. Ungar discusses seven “misconceptions” of liberal arts degrees in modern-day America.
In modern times, the importance of liberal arts is questioned. The article “Myth: A Liberal Arts Education is Becoming Irrelevant” by Carol T. Christ makes the argument that a liberal arts education provides a broader range of knowledge which is useful because it produces a critically thinking student. Obtaining a career is the main focus of college education. Knowing this, Christ emphasizes how a liberal arts education is useful when looking for employment. She refutes the conception that a liberal arts education is irrelevant in today’s society by identifying the useful qualities it provides the employers look for such as, “Flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, strong communication skills (particulary writing)” (Christ,
The study of past events have been a common practice of mankind since the verbal telling of stories by our ancestors. William Cronon, in his article “Why the Past Matters,” asserts that the remembrance of the past “keeps us in place.” Our individual memories and experiences shape how we act in our daily lives. In addition to influencing us at an individual level, our collective history binds us together as a society. Without knowing where we have been or what we have experienced, it is nearly impossible to judge progress or know which courses of action to pursue. The goal of the historian is to analyze and explain past events, of which they rarely have firsthand memory of, and apply the gained knowledge to make connections with current and future events.
Research of the past is necessary to improve society, and prevent history from resurfacing. There is a debate of whether or not history is based on pure study or if it has been altered by those who tell it. Each side of this argument is represented, William H. McNeill claims that history is subjective rather than factual. Oscar Handlin rebuts this claim by stating that history is a collection of data and evidence. History is not objective and is altered over time. Within the article, “Mythistory, or Truth, Myth, History, and Historians”, McNeill states, “ Only by leaving things out, that is , relegating them to be disregarded…” (McNeill 13). Historians will include only the significant portions of history and leave out details
Between the authors Barber and Tannen, there exists a consensus that education today has been shaped by the events of history. The sources of history differ along with the conclusions they drawn from th...
The article, Our Compassless Colleges, by Peter Berkowitz discusses the current challenges faced in liberal education in universities, how the current education is defeating the purpose of liberal education and the methods to solve the issue and the people who can solve the issue. Perter Berkowitz is former professor of Law in Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Berkowiz also taught political philosophy in the Department of Government at Harvard University and taught law at George Mason University School of Law. In his article, according to Berkowiz, university can be considered as the last chance for people to broadly and deeply read to understand the society they live in and also to study other cultures. However, he strongly believes that the universities are not providing a strong base for the students to learn comprehensive intellectual habits and to familiarize them with long-term ideas about culture, politics and social reforms.
In William Cronon’s “Only Connect…” The Goals of a Liberal Education he argues that the traditional liberal arts education is good for love and freedom. The author dive into ten characteristics that he uses to categorizes a person as liberally educated. They all relate to this idea of freedom as the educated person to be able to think in a “free” abstract manner and the humanity of these educated people. Love though in Cronon’s work is a stronger connection to both each other and to the world.
“History never says goodbye. History says see you later” (Eduardo Galeano). History teaches us valuable lessons from the past, which can be used for the present time, yet our leaders usually overlook these lessons and repeat previous mistakes. I have recently immigrated to the United States and since in my home country history classes are not a place to really discuss the history, I was amazed by the way that this history class challenged every event and fact. I have learned that history is told by bias, so we should be able to think critically and question what we are taught. History is usually written by the dominant group of the society, so if we are looking for the truth, we should study each event from different resources and different
“A high school graduate who has acquired Hirsch’s core knowledge will know, for example, that John Stuart Mill was an important 19th-century English Philosopher who was associated with something called Utilitarianism and wrote a famous book called On Liberty. But learning philosophy in college, which is and essential component of a liberal education, means that the student has to be able to read and understand the actual text of On Liberty”. (Murray
The last educational technology website is the Stanford History Education Group. This website provides teachers with history lessons along with history and civic assessments. It is another wonderful resource for history and government teachers. The website offers a set of curriculum called, “Reading Like a Historian.” The lessons are focused on a historical question and includes a set of primary sources for students to utilize. Reading Like a Historian is more than memorizing historical facts it is about investigating historical questions. While students are investigating these historical questions, they will be using a variety of reading strategies like, “sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading.” The lessons are about both
It makes us curious to find out what thing mean and how things work that on the process we have the opportunity to expand our knowledge. Statement of Liberal Education by Association of American College & University and Freire contradict each other on common conceptions. For instance, Freire illustrates that education has become an act in which the “students are the depositories and the teachers is the depositor” meaning that students are just receiving, memorize and repeating the information
One of the questions I’ve always asked in my history classes, is “Why do we need to know about all this stuff that happened so long ago?” Last year, my history teacher, Mr. Slater, gave me an answer. He said we need to learn about history, or we will be doomed to repeat our past mistakes.
Investigating the Extent to Which Historians Can Be Objective ‘You have reckoned that history ought to judge the past and to instruct the contemporary world as to the future. The present attempt does not yield to that high office. It will merely tell you how it really was’ - Leopold Von Ranke ‘There are no facts, only interpretations’ – Nietzsche Here we encounter two diametrically opposed views concerning objectivity. It can be argued that “true” objectivity cannot exist, as history is more exposed to differing interpretations than any other discipline and to be “factual”, dispassionate or truly objective would be at best unrealistic and at worst impossible. Historians, in their selective analysis of the past on the basis of surviving historical records and evidence, draw conclusions, which must necessarily be subject to their own individual interpretations – interpretations that are in turn subject to the historians’ own individual ideologies.
In What is History, Alan Bullock believes that history is an attempt to explain the sequence and connections of events. He believes that "History is to explain why...it is not to explain why they had to follow, but why they did in fact follow." It is believed by Bullock that history is taken apart and is put together by an historian, so that it may yield new evidence, that will teach us a lesson from the past in order to become more aware of the future. This connective account helps us "get inside the skin of this man or group of men."
The issues that are raised in this source by Marc Trachtenberg are is whether or not objectivity is still a relevant idea, and if it is not then is history in fact dying. Keith Jenkins' "What is History?," Carl Becker's "What are Historical Facts?" and Richard Evans' "In Defence of History" will be used to discuss and examine these issues.