PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

& HISTORIOGRAPHY

History/Philosophy 435x, First Semester 2001

(4 Credits)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

What is this course? The course is "a study of problems relevant to history as a scientific and humanistic discipline" (NW Catalog). It can be counted either for history or philosophy credit (but not both). Themes considered will include the history of history (a.k.a. historiography), analytical philosophy in relation to historical knowledge, objectivity, causation, argument, and narration, the historian's self, the historian and advocacy, and the relation of a Christian worldview to such issues.

What will class meetings be like? The course will meet once a week. It will be taught more on the model of a seminar, which means, for one thing, that the student should not expect a lecture course. There will be some lectures, but other major components of the course's format will be general discussions and student oral reports. The seminar model is based on the instructors being guides for the student's learning through reading, discussion, research, and writing.

What will be expected in general of each student? The workload of the course reflects its upper division level and its seminar mode. Attendance at all class meetings is, of course, expected. Some 3000 pp. of reading will be required, including reading in relation to research. Regular discussion of assigned reading is expected. A research paper with oral report, two take-home essay exams, an oral presentation of a written reading analysis, and a reading journal will provide ample opportunity for critical writing, oral presentation, and some research.

COURSE OBJECTIVES (WHAT DIFFERENCE THIS COURSE SHOULD MAKE):

1. Acquire an overview of the history of history (historiography) in the western tradition, since historians, of all people, should have some sense of the history of their own discipline. "[God] has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds . . ." (Eccl. 3:11).
2. Become a more critical historian through reflecting on various challenges and ambiguities entailed in historical study and knowledge. "I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, . . . so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed" (Luke 1:3-4).
3. Become a humbler historian through reflecting on the paradoxical role of the historian. "For now we see in a mirror, dimly . . ." (1 Cor. 13:12).
4. Become a historian more firmly grafted into Christ through learning to connect historical understanding and practice with a Christian worldview. "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

COURSE OUTLINE:

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Reading:

• Articles (or chapters), various selections from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the journals History and Theory and Christian Scholar's Review, G.J. Whitrow's Time in History, Bruce Kuklick & D.G. Hart's Religious Advocacy and American History, etc. (on library reserve).
• Bible, various selections as listed in the course outline above.
• Bloch, Marc. The Historian's Craft. Trans. Peter Putnam. New York: Vintage Books, 1953.
• Evans, Richard J. In Defense of History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999.
• Isaac, Steven, ed. Course Reader.
• Marsden, George. The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Thucydides. On Justice, Power, and Human Nature: Selections from The History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 1993.
• Wright, N.T. The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999.

2. Articles or Chapters (assigned to all of the class):

1. Victor Davis Hanson, "Sources of Inquiry" (Chapter 5), in The Western Way of War.
2. Louis Mink, "History and Fiction as Modes of Comprehension," New Literary History 1 (1970).
3. David Carr, "Narrative and the Real World: An Argument for Continuity," History and Theory 25 (1986).
4. Andrew P. Norman, "Telling It Like It Was: Historical Narratives on Their Own Terms," History and Theory 30 (1991).
5. G.J. Whitrow, "Time in Classical Antiquity" (Chapter 4) in Time in History: Views of Time from Prehistory to the Present Day (1988).
6. David M. Halperin, "Is There a History of Sexuality?" History and Theory 28 (1989).
7. Nancy F. Partner, "No Sex, No Gender," Speculum 68 (1993).
8. Thomas Haskell, "Objectivity is Not Neutrality: Rheotric versus Practice in Peter Novick's That Noble Dream," History and Theory 29 (1990).
9. J.L. Gorman, "Objectivity and Truth in History," Inquiry 17 (1974).
10. Hans Kellner, "'Never Again' is Now," History and Theory 33 (1994).
11. Berel Lang, "Is It Possible to Misrepresent the Holocaust?" History and Theory 34 (1995).
12. Bruce Kuklick, "On Critical History," in Bruce Kuklick and D.G. Hart, eds., Religious Advocacy and American History (1997).
13. Paul Boyer, "In Search of the Fourth 'R': The Treatment of Religion in American History Textbooks and Survey Courses," in Kuklick and Hart, Religious Advocacy and American History.
14. Mark A. Noll, "Traditional Christianity and the Possibility of Historical Knowledge," Christian Scholar's Review 19 (1990).
15. D.G. Hart, "Christian Scholars, Secular Universities, and the Problem with the Antithesis," Christian Scholar's Review 30 (2001).
16. Michael Kugler, "Betwixt Suspicion and Love: One Historian's Christian Legacy," unpublished tenure paper, 1999, J:, NWC network.

3. Articles or Chapters for APVs (see C under Assignments below):

4. Recommended Resources (see also recommendations at ~sisaac):

• Bebbington, D.W. Patterns in History: A Christian View. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979.
• Bloch, Marc. The Historian's Craft. Trans. Peter Putnam. New York: Vintage Books, 1953.
• Breisach, Ernst. Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983.
• Butterfield, H[erbert]. Christianity and History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1950.
• Butterfield, Herbert. Writings on Christianity and History. Ed. C.T. McIntire. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
• Course Links
• Dray, William H. Philosophy of History. 2d ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1993.
• Fischer, David Hackett. Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought. New York: Harper Colophon, 1970.
• Graham, Gordon. The Shape of the Past: A Philosophical Approach to History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• History and Theory. NWC Periodicals
• Lerner, Gerda. Why History Matters: Life and Thought. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• McIntire, C.T., ed. God, History, and Historians: Modern Christian Views of History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
• McIntire, C.T. and Ronald A. Wells, eds. History and Historical Understanding. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1984.
• Novick, Peter. That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1988.
• Stanford, Michael. A Companion to the Study of History. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.

5. Assignments:

A. A HISTORIOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PAPER will constitute 40% of the course grade.

1. TOPIC: This is up to the student, provided it is a) on a non-U.S. historiographic issue or major historian and b) is cleared with the instructors.
2. TASK: The paper is to explore the chosen topic in light of a) the particular issue or historian, b) relevant primary and/or secondary material, and c) relevant course material. NOTE: To keep the historiographic focus in mind, remember that the primary documents are those of historians, and that the task is to focus on what historians do, and why.
3. PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE PAPER:

1. In class on Oct. 9, each student will hand in a) a paragraph description of their proposed topic and focus and b) a working bibliography of at least 3 items. The proposal and bibliography may be handwritten or typed.
2. In class on Dec. 11 each student will make an oral report of their research. Each report should

• be 10-15 minutes long;
• cover the following (not necessarily in this order): a) what is your topic, b) what led you/interests you about the topic, c) what are the major elements you cover in the paper, d) what thesis and/or claim(s) do you make about your topic in relation to course material and/or issues, and e) anything else relevant that you wish to raise.
• be followed by general discussion.

4. SPECIFICATIONS: two (2) copies, typed, title page, double-spaced, 12-16 pp. of text + notes (end- or foot-) The notes should adhere to the Chicago/Turabian form as discussed in the appropriate links in Course Links.
5. DUE: in class, Dec. 11.
6. EVALUATION: The most important factors in evaluating the paper include a) how well does the student meet all the stipulations above? b) how thoroughly (in light of the reading and issues of the course as well as of the topic) has the paper been thought through and researched? c) how insightful (in light of the reading and issues of the course as well as of the topic) is the analysis? and d) how lucid and cogent is the presentation?

B. TWO TAKE-HOME ESSAYS will constitute 30% of the course grade

1. ESSAY #1 will constitute 15% of the course grade: A mid-course essay question asking for analysis, synthesis, and integration of course readings and discussions will be distributed in class Oct. 2; it is due two week laters, Oct. 16, in class.
2. ESSAY #2 will constitute 15% of the course grade: A final essay question asking for analysis, synthesis, and integration of course readings and discussions will be distributed in class Dec. 11; it is due a week later, Dec. 18, by the scheduled final period.
3. FURTHER SPECIFICATIONS: typed, double-spaced, 4-5 pp., references to be done at the end of sentences and/or paragraphs in shortened form, e.g., (Mink article, p. 207).
4. EVALUATION: The most important factors in evaluating the essay include a) how well does the essay address the entire question that is asked? b) how accurately, thoughtfully, and thoroughly are course materials used in support of the answer? c) how insightful is the analysis? and d) how lucid and cogent is the presentation?

C. An APV (Another Point of View) will constitute 15% of the course grade

1. TASK: Each student will have an assigned article or chapter that they will read and a) on which they will write synopsis and critical analysis, 2-3 pp. typed and double-spaced, making copies for all class members as well as instructors, and which, after distributing the copies of the written APV to the class, b) they will orally present to the class.
2. DUE: per signup list circulated in class.
3. FURTHER SPECIFICATIONS: begin the written APV with the author, title, source, and date of the article or chapter as a title header. The student's name and the date of the presentation should be in the upper right or left hand of the first page.
4. EVALUATION: The most important factors in evaluating the APV include a) how clear of a synopsis of the article/chapter is provided (the rest of the class will not have read the item, so this synopsis will be their primary basis of knowledge about the assigned piece)? b) how thoughtfully is the reading related to issues of other reading for the evening and, more generally, for the course? c) how lucid and cogent is the presentation, oral as well as written?

D. CLASS PARTICIPATION will constitute 15% of the course grade

1. READING JOURNAL

• For each class for which there is assigned reading each student should hand to one of the instructors at the beginning of class a written journal entry relating to some aspect of that class's reading.
• A journal entry should consist of one or more paragraph (150-250 words), handwritten or typed, that responds to or reflects on some aspect of the reading.
• Since the instructors will keep these journal entries, they should have the student's name and the day's date on them, and the student should have a copy of the written item for their own use if they desire to refer to it in discussion or before the instructors return it to them.
• The journal entries will be graded with either a "+" (90-100%), a ">" (80-89%), a "<" (70-79%), or a "-" (below 70%), depending on a) how well the journal entry convinces the instructors that attentive reading of assignments has been done and b) how thoughtfully the entry raises a question, poses a problem, connects disparate material, clarifies an issue, or otherwise shows intellectual engagement with the reading in relation to issues of the course.

2. CLASS PARTICIPATION as a portion of the grade combines the overall evaluation of the reading journals by the instructors with an overall assessment of student participation in classes.
3. STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN CLASSES assumes that you have done the assigned reading; the instructors will look for evidence of this beyond the reading journals. Participation also includes classroom etiquette as well as engagement, e.g., contributing to the general thrust of the discussion, suggesting an alternative perspective or another important consideration, offering constructive criticism of one's own or another's ideas, deferring to other students who participate less, evidencing a grasp of the material in the assigned reading, and so on.