Getting the Archive to Speak.

Catalog description

In this introduction to the problem of the archive in theory and practice, we will consider basic challenges historians have confronted over the past half-century, examples of the resulting research strategies, and their advantages and limitations. What constitutes rigorous, ethical historical practice? How can we interpret fragmentary, partial, or misleading sources? What stories can - and should - we try to tell? We will draw on notable works in the historiographies of Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas.