ToK history

1. History
seeks to study and explain significant past events
on the basis of currently existing evidence

2. why study history?
• to know what happened
• sense of identity
• defense against propaganda...get to the
“truth”
• enrich our understanding of human nature
• to understand the context of art/music
• to make meaning of the present

3. How do we know
I. Evidence
what happened?

4. Motel of the Mysteries, David Macaulay

6. The Great Train
Robbery, 1963
misdirection of language
context
cultural paradigms

7. primary sources:
the “bedrock” of
evidence...agree?
the “bedrock” of
evidence...agree?

8. Radio Lab, Yellow Rain,
September 2012
September 2012

9. what does this
tell us about
evidence?

10. II. The Historian
selection?

11. bias...
top choice: choice of topic influenced by
their current preoccupations
confirmation bias: evidence that
supports their own case
national: pre-existing cultural and political prejudices

12. Historiography
Furay and Salevouris (1988) define historiography as
"the study of the way history has been and is written
— the history of historical writing... When you study
'historiography' you do not study the events of the
past directly, but the changing interpretations of those
events in the works of individual historians."

13. theories
???????????

15. Great Man
history is determined by great individuals

16. “Economic history is the study of economies
or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis
in economic history is undertaken using a
combination of historical methods,
statistical methods, and by
applying economic theory to historical
situations and institutions.”
History is determined by economic factors.
History is determined by economic factors.

17. “Feminist history refers to the re-reading of
history from a female perspective. The goal of
feminist history is to explore and illuminate the
female viewpoint of history through rediscovery of
female writers, artists, philosophers, etc., in order
to recover and demonstrate the significance of
women's voices and choices in the past.”

18. “Marxist or historical materialist
historiography is a school of historiography
influenced by Marxism. The chief tenets of Marxist
historiography are the centrality of social class and
economic constraints in determining historical
outcomes.
Marxist historiography has made contributions to
the history of the working class, oppressed
nationalities, and the methodology of
history from below.”
.”

19. Environmental history is the study of human
interaction with the natural world over time. In
contrast to other historical disciplines, it
emphasizes the active role nature plays in
influencing human affairs. Environmental historians
study how humans both shape their environment
and are shaped by it.

20. Psychohistory is the study of the
psychological motivations of historical
events. It combines the insights of
psychotherapy with the research
methodology of the social sciences to
understand the emotional origin of the social
and political behavior of groups and nations,
past and present.”

21. Sandy Hook:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxz18i015tE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxz18i015tE

22. Text
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfYQAPhjwzA