Syllabus

1 HIST 217 Fall Semester 2011

Fall Semester 2011 History H-217: The Nature of History (15471) Tuesdays 3:00PM-5:40PM Cavanaugh Hall 215 Professor Modupe Labode Office: 420 Cavanaugh Hall Email: mlabode@iupui.edu Telephone: 317-274-3829 Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1-2; Thursdays 1-3, and by appointment. Mailbox: 504M Cavanaugh Hall

Course Description: This course is an introduction to the study of history. Readings and discussion will explore the sources that historians use to interpret history and construct narratives. The course introduces students to the concepts, methods, and problems, associated with “doing history”; philosophies of history; and competing interpretations of the past. The course is a regular offering of the History Department and is required for the Museum Studies Certificate and by the School of Education for those pursuing secondary education degrees with a social studies concentration. The first section of the course will examine the elements of history: its development in the western tradition; shared assumptions which make history “history,” and the nature of historical sources. The second section of the course will look at case studies of historical interpretation and sources. The third section of the class looks at alternative ways of presenting history— particularly public history—and history’s meanings in broader society. Course Objectives: At the end of the course, students will be able to discuss the shared assumptions on which historical analysis is based, including causality (cause-effect); chronology; objectivity as a contested ideal; and interpretation. Students will be able to describe the basic types of sources on which historical research is based and evaluate these sources. Students will also be able to trace the growth of specialized fields of historical research; explain some of the shared assumptions of public history; describe the basics of historical research and writing; and analyze ethics of historical writing and...