The purpose of this module is to encourage you to think about the many and diverse ways in which historians approach the writing of history. You may at first find the module unusual, but it will illuminate everything you study in History.
As historians, we recognise that history exists only in the present and in our heads; it is actively constructed and not simply rediscovered in the records of the past. Historical research involves a process of selection and interpretation, whereby historians examine the records of the past in order to construct an interpretation which they believe to represent the past in a meaningful way. In this process there is an active exchange between theory and evidence: historians don't simply research facts about the past, they build theories test them using the sources available.
The introductory lecture surveys the 'History of history' and the way in which history is inevitably subjective, and therefore constantly changes. Each subsequent lecture will be delivered by a different historian. They will introduce you either to an important historical concept that has shaped historical writing, such as gender or Marxism, or a particular historian or group of historians who have had a profound impact upon the way in which history is written. In every case the focus is on the way in which history has been constructed in different contexts and with different theoretical approaches. Each lecture will offer you readings and documents to reflect upon both in seminars and in your written assessments.
This is a compulsory module for all second-year students taking History degrees. Lectures and seminars are weekly throughout the autumn term. BA Humanities students who have taken and passed HR100 or HR111 in their first year may also enrol on this module.