Introduction

Where does history begin? Every time we build a narrative about the past, we start at a different point, a point that makes sense to that particular narrative. In this course, we are going to start with you, the student. You, the historian. And then we’ll ask you, the historian, to look at different narratives, at different scales. While it might seem easier to stick to one single, simple story for everything, the activities, videos, and readings in this lesson challenge you to embrace multiple narratives. You will see how, even with a single historical event, there are as many stories as there are perspectives. Historians work hard to find evidence that supports claims, and you’d be surprised how useful skills like that are, even when solving problems that have nothing to do with school.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand how historians create narratives to explain historical events and processes.
  2. Examine how historians frame history by creating narratives of different scales of time and space.

Coursework:

Lecture: World History Frames

In-Class Exercise: Contextualization

  • Background on Contextualization
  • Use for reference in future exercises
  • There is no additional work attached to this page

In-Class Exercise: Claims Testing

  • Background on Claims Testing
    • Use if you like a little more context on the exercise

In-Class Exercise: Alphonse the Camel

  • In this exercise, the aim is to familiarize you with different ways of understanding cause and consequence and demonstrate how to use them as analytical tools for understanding change over time.
  • Background on Causation 
    • Use if you like a little more context on the exercise

Exercise: Continuity and Change Over Time

  • What are continuities? What are changes? How do these relate to history?

OPTIONAL Watch: In this video, you will learn about what a source is so that you can use the Source Tool fully in future exercises.

  • There is no additional work associated with the video