Historiography in the Classroom

George Bancroft - one of the most significant historians of the 19th century. You should really know about this guy. Image: LOC.

Historiography. I’m kind of into it. Those of you who are not sure what this is might appreciate a straight-forward definition: historiography, quite simply, is the study of historical writing. So students, there you go.

I think learning historiography is extraordinarily important to understanding the discipline - because engaging it helps students grasp how the discipline works, it shows them clear shifts in thinking and how historical writing evolves over time, and especially how politics, worldview, methodology, world events, and many other variables influence historians - the questions they ask, the resources they consult, and the conclusions they draw. I mean, from experience this seems like a demonstrably true statement. And something else, with all the so-called culture wars taking place right this very second over the use of history (friends - battles over the interpretation of history are nothing new) and how ideologues might invoke particular “histories” to support one agenda or another, you would think that history teachers would be all over this - showing that historians are subject to the same critical analysis as everything and everybody else and should be held accountable…and most importantly, that there is not necessarily one way of looking at a historical event. Does this actually happen? I’m not so sure. But if it did students would learn that the political battles are often done in bad faith and without much attention to actual history, and that the discipline itself is (in principle, anyway) a dialogue among historians over time. We build on each others’ work and acknowledge its importance in any given time as we challenge it as revise ideas and conclusions. I didn’t learn about any of this sort of thing until I was well into college, so I am calling my high school out on this one (San Marcos High, Santa Barbara CA, home of the Royals) - guys you kinda blew it here.

Still, as I am always the optimist…I would hope that history teachers across this great land would take my advice on this one, if they aren’t already doing it, and teach a little historiography. It might be a simple as looking at different takes of the “fall” of the Roman Empire and how we might reconsider that transition to the Middle Ages based on evolving thinking since the late 19th century. Or, for the more advanced students, it might be worthwhile to look at paradigmatic shifts in historical writing on the American Revolution, for instance - noting some of the big shifts since the event itself. For fun, you might have students check out historian Michael Hattem’s handy timeline on the subject…complete with assessable and concise explanations! Seriously, students tell me all the time that they learn a ton by comparing Progressive Era takes with Consensus and then again with New Left historians. The differences are really vast, and the work illustrates just how diverse and complex this discipline really is.

If you would ike to see some specific examples of historiography in the classroom you can check out what I am doing with some literature on the Jewish experience in the American Civil War HERE. And… if you are a teacher and already have a historiography component in place - HUZZAH!! I would love to hear from you to see how things are working.

With compliments,

Keith