Chapter 1: History as a Discipline PDF

**CHAPTER 1** **HISTORY AS DISCIPLINE** **CHAPTER OVERVIEW** This chapter goes over the concept of history as an academic discipline. Students would learn the difference and relevance of history from other disciplines. History as an academic discipline deals with the branch of knowledge that stud...

**CHAPTER 1** **HISTORY AS DISCIPLINE** **CHAPTER OVERVIEW** This chapter goes over the concept of history as an academic discipline. Students would learn the difference and relevance of history from other disciplines. History as an academic discipline deals with the branch of knowledge that studies the chronological record of events, based on critical examination of source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes.This module also includes the distinction of primary and secondary sources; external and internal criticism; and repositories of primary sources and different kinds of primary sources. **LEARNING OUTCOMES:** At the end of this chapter, the student is expected to: a. Evaluate primary sources for their credibility, authenticity, and provenance; b. Analyse the context, content, and perspective of different kinds of primary sources; c. Determine the contribution of different kinds of primary sources in understanding Philippine history; d. Develop critical and analytical skills with exposure to primary sources; e. Demonstrate the ability to use primary sources to argue in favour or against a particular issue. **Lesson Outline** 1\. Defining History a\. Definitions of History b\. Why Study History? c\. History Differentiated 2\. Distinction of Primary and Secondary Sources a\. Primary Sources b\. Types of Primary Sources c\. Secondary Sources d\. Types of Secondary Sources e\. Repositories of Primary Sources 3\. External and Internal Criticism a\. External Criticism b\. Internal Criticism **KEYTERMS** **Diplomatics** -- is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially, historical documents. **External criticism** -- refers to the genuineness of the documents a researcher uses in a historical study **Herstory** -- history written from a feminist perspective **Historicism** -- is the belief that history was determined by laws, and the belief that understanding people and cultures requires an understanding of their historical events. **Historicity** -- is the authentication of characters in history **Historiography** --is the writing of history, and the understanding of how the interpretations of historian change over time. **History** - is an academic discipline that deals with the branch of knowledge that studies the chronological record of events, based on critical examination of source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes. **Idealism** -- is the belief that history can be described in terms of ideas -- what people thought and the intent behind their actions **Internal Criticism** -- refers to the accuracy of the contents of a document. **Palaeography** -- study of ancient and medieval handwriting. **Past** -- involves everything that ever happened since the dawn of time **Prehistory** -- is the period of human activity prior to the invention of writing systems **Primary Source** -- is one prepared by an individual who was a participant in, or a direct witness to, the event that is being described. **Relativism** -- is the belief that there is no absolute truth and that all views of history are valid **Relics** -- are any objects whose physical or visual characteristic can provide some information about the past **Secondary Source** -- is a document prepared by an individual who was not a direct witness to an event, but who obtained his or her description of the event from someone else. **LESSON 1: Defining History** A. **Definitions of History** Throughout ages, history has been defined and re-defined by various scholars, historians, writers, inventors and even politicians. Everyone has different opinions on why the past is important and what the study of history is. But each definitions has something in common -- that history is an academic discipline, a chronological order of events based on critical examinations. These are some of the definitions of history. History is.... a simple historical chronology of famous dates, incidents, and people. **Definitions of the nature of history:** History is relevant; it uses past experiences to explain what is important in our lives today. It seems that a definition of history should include all things that have ever happened. That definition would include all physical events and occurrences. It would also seem that the definition of history would be synonymous with a definition of the past- the sum total of all things that ever happened. But Williams points out that the past is not history. Things may have happened in the past that were not observed or recorded. History is, therefore only a subset of the past. As a discipline, history is a study of the past, but it will only reveal a portion of the past, and should be done so as objectively as possible. **Approaches to Study History** Idealism -- is the belief that history can be described in terms of ideas -- what people thought and the intent behind their actions. The idealist of the mid-to-late 1800s cared not only about events, but on what those events meant. Attaching meaning is not easy, and entails problems associated with interpretation if those interpretations are biased or incomplete. The problem with this viewpoint is that we can't always know what was intended. Idealism can be limiting in accurately portraying events as they really happened. Historicism -- another approach to describe history. Its premise is that "autonomy of the past must be respected". Each age has its own values, and events should be described within the context of those values. One of the problems with historicism is that its approach is tantamount to legitimization of events by respecting the values of the time. That approach inhibits our ability to fully learn from mistakes of the past. Relativism -- is the belief that there is no absolute truth and that all views of history is valid. The metaphor of a cut diamond with many facets, each of with represents a unique view of the whole, is what relativism is like; each individual sees the world individually, and each view is valid. Relativism shows its inherent weakness when a viewpoint attempts to deny history, especially in the face of overwhelming proof. **B. Why Study History?** According to *processhistory.org* , the study of history is essential for the following reasons: **To Ourselves** **To Our Communities** **To Our Future** **C. History Differentiated** **1. History vs. past** The past is not the same as history. The past involves everything that ever happened since the dawn of time. History, by contrast, is a process of interpreting evidence or records from the past in a thoughtful and informed way. History is the narrative that gives meaning, sense, and explanation to the past in the present. **2. History vs. Prehistory** History and Prehistory show differences between them in their nature and substance. Their main difference is the existence of records. History is the record of significant events that happened in the past whereas prehistory is the period of human activity prior to the invention of writing systems. **3. History vs. The Other Disciplines** No discipline is an island. In the past hundred years or so, the ways that we study, write, and teach history have changed dramatically, often because of influence from other disciplines. **4. History, Historicity, and Historiography** In a nutshell, history is a narrative account used to examine and analyse past events Historicity is the authentication of characters in history, as opposed to legend or myth. **5. History vs. Herstory** The word "history" (from Greek word *historia,* meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation", is etymologically unrelated to the possessive pronoun his. Traditionally, history has been defined as "the study of the past as it is described in written documents." Feminist argued that it has been men *("his", "story"*) who usually have been the ones to record the written past. Herstory, by contrast, is history written from a feminist perspective, emphasizing the role of women, or told from a woman's point of view. It is a neologism coined as a pun with the word "history," as part of a feminist critique of conventional historiography, which in their opinion is traditionally written as " his story," i.e., from the masculine point of view.