Nov 22, 2024
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25
HIST 4130 - Philosophy of History: Understanding the Past
History is the past. It also is how we remember and tell about the past. In this seminar-style course, we explore different approaches to history. Narrative, or story-telling, remains the oldest and still most common way of describing the past. But alternatives are to be found, not only among professional historians, but curators, artists, and filmmakers. Understanding the relationship of humans to their past has occupied some of the greatest of historians and philosophers and sparked debates over monuments, museums, and textbooks. This course surveys some of these approaches to history and considers the possible future of history.
Requisites: Senior and 9 credit hours in History
Credit Hours: 3
OHIO BRICKS: Bridge: Speaking and Listening, Capstone: Capstone or Culminating Experience
General Education Code (students who entered prior to Fall 2021-22): 3
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 seminar
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be able to critically describe a variety of influential historiographical traditions from antiquity through the present.
- Students will be able to analyze and evaluate various factors (e.g. religion, science, class, gender, race or ethnicity) that help shape historical thinking in particular contexts.
- Students will be able to adapt and apply historical theories of the past to recent historical debates in a logical manner.
- Students will be able to identify connections between forms of historical thought across different disciplines and perspectives.
- Students will be able to connect experiences and debates over the use of the past with one or more historiographical perspectives.
- Students will be able to interpret and synthesize information from course readings in order to articulate their own position on the use of history.
- Students will be able to articulate a position on the use of history that recognizes complexities and acknowledges limitations.
- Students will be able to organize credible, relevant, and convincing information that supports the principal ideas of their presentations.
- Students will be able to use unbiased vocabulary, terminology, and sentence structure appropriate to the topic and audience.
- Students will be able to use posture, gestures, eye contact, and voice to enhance the effectiveness of a presentation and to make the speaker appear polished / confident.
- Students will be able to articulate a precise, compelling, and memorable purpose or main point of a presentation.
- Students will be able to demonstrate a developing sense of self as students of history that builds on this and previous courses.
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