Historiography

Catalog description

This seminar provides a selective survey of the intellectual terrain of historical scholarship over the last several decades. It aims to introduce students to the main trends in historiography by examining the major themes, perspectives, and theories that together have formed a common source of methodology and reference points for professional historians. We shall review a number of methodological approaches that have been influential across the discipline of history (e.g. British Marxism, quantitative history, and environmental history). Since recent historical scholarship has frequently drawn upon theoretical insights from neighboring disciplines, such as anthropology and literary criticism (e.g. Geertz, Foucault, narrative theory, and postcolonial studies), we shall study and critique notable attempts to incorporate these insights into the conceptualization, research, and writing of history. In connection with these pursuits, we shall consider recent challenges to traditional categories and units of historical narration and analysis, particularly those concerning gender, nation, and civilization.