The Historian's Craft

Catalog description

The historian helps us to make sense of the past and its relationship to the present, and the study of history informs a wide variety of other fields including politics and policy, law, education, and arts and entertainment. Historians diligently gather various forms of evidence and engage with the work of other scholars to generate arguments and produce narratives about various aspects of the human past. This course introduces students to the historian's craft by examining the process by which historians develop arguments, gather evidence, analyze sources, and generate narratives. In addition to gaining an appreciation for the historical method, students will also be exposed to a series of skills critical to the historical endeavor such as information and data analysis, storytelling, and empathy that have broad transferability across a number of fields and career paths.