| Unit name | Researching History |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST33122 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Cervantes |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The unit examines a broad range of source genres that are used by historians of different periods, places and methodological approaches including, for example: state, governmental and institutional records; newspapers and other media sources; a range of cultural, visual and material sources including photographs, posters and film; and ‘life history’ materials such oral testimonies, autobiographies, biographies, diaries and letters. It critically examines the processes that inform an historian’s choice of his or her source materials and the ways in which they approach and use those different kinds of sources. It explores the possibilities and limitations of a range of source materials and the diverse ways in which sources have been read, interpreted and deployed by historians. This unit has been specifically devised to support students in their third year in researching and writing their dissertation and thus also includes practical advice on where to find sources in or close to Bristol and discussions on methodology, organizational, structuring and writing techniques.
Aims:
The unit aims at introducing students to the diverse range of sources utilised by historians: state papers, parliamentary papers, official documents, government surveys, newspapers, illustrated manuscripts, buildings, statues, posters, photographs, film, autobiographies, oral histories, diaries, letters etc. It aims to introduce students to both the possibilities and limitations of sources, what informs historians choices about which sources to use and how, and the ways in which historians interpret sources within historiographical debates. Ultimately the unit aims at enabling students to make informed decisions about which sources to draw upon for their dissertation and to reflect upon the possibilities and limitations of those sources.
Students will understand the diverse range of sources utilised by historians: state papers, parliamentary papers, official documents, government surveys, newspapers, illustrated manuscripts, buildings, statues, posters, photographs, film, autobiographies, oral histories, diaries, letters etc. They will be able to critically reflect upon the possibilities and limitations of sources, what informs historians choices about which sources to use and how, and the ways in which historians interpret sources within historiographical debates. Students will be able to make informed decisions about which sources to draw upon for their dissertation and to reflect upon the possibilities and limitations of those sources.
20 lectures plus online resources on Blackboard.
3000 word extended project proposal for the Dissertation.
Stefan Berger, Heiko Feldner & Kevin Passmore (eds.), Writing History: theory and practice (London, 2003)
Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing the uses of images as historical evidence (London, 2001).
Miriam Dobson & Benjamin Ziemann (eds.) Reading primary sources: the interpretation of texts from nineteenth- and twentieth-century history (London, 2009)
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (London, 2006)
Karen Harvey (ed.) History and material culture: a student’s guide to approaching alternative sources (London, 2009).
Robert Perks & Alistair Thomson (eds.), The oral history reader (London, 2006).
