Purpose
In this activity, you’ll become more familiar with the nuances (slight differences) of authority. This is a challenging but worthy claim tester because authority can either be earned or granted—and is deeply connected to our personal biases. The reasons we choose to believe people are varied, and it’s not always because someone has authority on the topic at hand. Understanding how and why we decide what to believe is a critical skill not just in history, but in our everyday assessment of claims. You will dig into the specifics of authority and understanding how to identify, assess, and use authority when evaluating and making claims.
Practices: Reading, sourcing
At this point, you’ve had multiple opportunities to practice various reading skills. However, in this activity, you will be pushed to think about what and how you read. As historians and critical thinkers, you should be curious about where you are getting your information, and you should be equipped with the skills to determine the credibility of your sources. This lends itself to the historical thinking practice of sourcing—which is necessary in all subjects and in life. You need to have the tools to determine the trustworthiness, knowledge, and ability of your sources—and the sources of others—so that you can evaluate, defend, and refute claims.
