My entry into the "Two Things About" discussion: History, History Writing, and History Teaching. Good for introductory lectures. I know "earlier antecedents" is redundant, but it's how I worded it originally, and I still like it: it emphasizes that the immediate causes are not always the important ones, and those causes have causes.... etc. The newer version of this, with Mark Mulligan's pyramid, can be found at: https://www.slideshare.net/jdresner/two-things-about-history You can find the original "Two Things" page at http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/thetwothings.html

1. Two Things

2. Two Things
About History
• 1. Everything has earlier antecedents.
• Corollary: all culture, including religion, is
syncretic; there is nothing purely original.
• Second Corollary: there's no question that
a historian can't complicate by talking
about what led up to it.
• Third Corollary: Historiography.

3. Two Things
About History
• 2. Sources lie. But they're all we have.

4. Two Things About
History Teaching
• 1. A good story is all they'll remember, not
the half hour of analysis on either side of
it.

5. Two Things About
History Teaching
• 2. They think it's about answers, but it's
really about questions.

6. Two things about History Writing
• 1. It looks like storytelling, but it's arguing.
– Corollary: What's left out is important.
– Corollary: Where you start and stop is
important.
• 2. Sources matter. A lot.

7. Sources
• Background Image: "PSU Mandala Day 4 -
Whole high.jpg" by Jonathan Dresner
• "Two Things about History" and "Two
Things About History Teaching" by
Jonathan Dresner, 31 January 2004,
http://hnn.us/node/3277
• "Two Things":
http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/thetwothi
ngs.html