996002 History in Practice (S) (SoSe 2012)

This course considers how we can give an account of current historical practice and why we seek to do so. In the last twenty years there has been an explosion of interest in writing about history and we should reflect critically on why this is. How do we account for changing preoccupations and fashions among historians? What is the value for practitioners of self-examination? What are the main changes the discipline has undergone? Is it still meaningful to think in terms of a discipline? My book 'History in Practice', was first published in 2000, and then in a second edition in 2006. I am currently preparing a third edition, in which there will be a new chapter on digital history, as well as new sections on topics that I feel were either neglected in earlier editions or have come into prominence recently. Furthermore, I am curious about the fierce polarisations around ‘what is history?’ that seem to hinge on the role of theory in historical practice, and also about the placement of history in relation to other disciplines. We should also consider the ways in which national traditions and languages shape understandings of and reflections upon the discipline, and its fragmentation with increasing specialisation. The presentation of history to students and to broad publics is also an important issue.

This course will be taught in 11 sessions, the first of 2 and a half hours, and all the others of 2 hours.

Week 1
1. History in Practice
2. Writing on “History” (1)
3. Writing on “History” (2)
Week 2
4. Disciplinary Change
5. History and the Social Sciences
6. The Problem of Theory
Week 3
7. Digital History (1) Digitisation
8. Digital History (2) Databases
Week 4
9. The Rise of Public History
10. History and Citizenship
11. What is 'History'?

Bibliography

All particpants must read Jordanova's "History in Practice" (second edition) before the course starts.

Preliminary Reading
John Arnold, History A Very Short Introduction (2000)
Michael Bentley, ed., Companion to Historiography (1997)
Mary Fulbrook, Historical Theory (2002)
James B. Gardner and Peter S LaPaglia, eds, Public History: Essays from the Field (1999)
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (2000, 2006)
Peter Lambert and Phillip Schofield, eds, Making History: an Introduction to the History and Practices of a Discipline (2004)
John Tosh, Why History Matters (2008) he is also the author of the very successful The Pursuit of History (many editions from 1984 onwards)

History and Policy website

Journals:
History and Theory
Rethinking History
History Workshop Journal
American Historical Review
The Public Historians
The Historical Journal

External comments page

http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/bghs/programm/visit.html