Workshop in History

Catalog description

Offered every term. 4 points. At least one workshop is required for the major, usually taken in the sophomore or junior year and before an advanced seminar. Broadly speaking, this is a course in the historian's craft, and it gives students an opportunity to learn about the discipline of history. The goal is not to impart a specific body of historical knowledge but to give students an understanding of the skills and methodologies of the professional historian. Students learn how to pose researchable questions, how to do the detective work necessary to gather evidence, how to analyze varieties of evidence, and how to present their findings before an audience of their peers. Students learn how to critique historical arguments and interpretations, as well as create their own. Recent topics have included Health Environments, Labor History, Age of Enlight-enment, Consumption and Consumer Cultures, and The African American Experience in Times of War.