journeys (oxford)1. 2 those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. george...
TRANSCRIPT
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 1
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 2
Those who Those who cannot cannot
remember the remember the past are past are
condemned to condemned to repeat it.repeat it.George Santayana (1863-1952), an
American philosopher
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 3
AN AN INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
TO HISTORYTO HISTORY
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 4
At A Glance
• What History is• Reasons for studying History• Primary & Secondary Sources• How History is recorded• Measurement of time• Problems historians face
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 5
WHAT IS HISTORY?
• History is a record of what took place in the past– About people who changed the
world– About discoveries and events
that have changed the world
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 6
WHY STUDY HISTORY?
• To understand the present more clearly
• To see how far we have come• To study the achievements of
our forefathers
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 7
WHY STUDY HISTORY?
• To learn from the mistakes of the past
• To know how people feel and think
• To help train the mind
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 8
• Historians use various forms of evidence– Oral– Pictorial– Written
FINDING OUT ABOUT HISTORY
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 9
ORAL EVIDENCE
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 10
PICTORIAL EVIDENCE
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 11
WRITTEN EVIDENCE
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 12
• Oral, pictorial and written evidence are referred to as SOURCESSOURCES
• 2 types of sources– Primary Sources– Secondary Sources
HOW IS HISTORY EXAMINED
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 13
• Provide first-hand information/original
• 2 types : Published and unpublished• Eg bones, stones, artefacts• Eg Man-made objects like pottery
and buildings• Eg Items left behind by people
living in a certain period – maps, writings, diaries, letters, documents, newspaper reports
PRIMARY SOURCES
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 14
• Provide second-hand information• What others have written• Produced after a certain event;
normally after studies of the event have been made
• Producers of these sources may not have been there when the event took place
• Eg Films, radio and TV programmes, books produced after a particular historical event took place
SECONDARY SOURCES
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 15
ARCHAEOLOGY
• “ANCIENT” and “STUDY”• Study of objects or items that
are very old• Historians find out about
prehistory through archaeology
• Archaeologists specialised in the study of archaeology
• Like detectives – try to find out about past activities, most of which are buried below the surface of the earth
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 16
ARCHAEOLOGY
• The places which they dig up (excavate) are called SITES
• Stone, bone, wood, metal• Bits of jewellery, pottery, tools or artefacts
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 17
MEASURING TIME
• A.D. : Anno Domini (Latin)
• The Year of the Lord (Birth of Christ)
• B.C. : Before Christ
• See page 12
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 18
PROBLEMS OF HISTORIANS
• Collecting information about the past
• Limited records – writing invented only about 5,000 years ago
• Not everything recorded was the truth– Incomplete– Biased
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 19
• INFORMATION– Fact vs opinion
•What is a fact?•What is an opinion?
PROBLEMS OF HISTORIANS
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 20
EVALUATING EVIDENCE
• The 3 C’s– Credibility– Consistency– Corroboration
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 21
NEW SOURCES, NEW INTERPRETATION
• There is always new evidence• This will provide new
explanations of the past
JOURNEYS (OXFORD) 22
• Compare and Contrast• Change and Continuity• Cause and Effect• Similarities and Differences• Empathy
HISTORICAL CONCEPTS