1 Answers 2018-09-03
I'm interested in learning more about history-writing methods before I go on to actually write a history.
Your recommendations?
1 Answers 2018-09-03
Considering this would have been the equivalent to a modern someone working under a CEO declaring himself CEO of a different company AND taking all the resources that had been assigned to him by his old CEO along with him, how was this handled by the reigning French monarch? Did he try to to denounce it as breaking some sort of oath or contract between a vassal and his lord? Was it considered scandalous by the other French vassals? Were there other monarchs like the Holy Roman Emperor who spoke out against it on the basis of it forming a bad precedent, e.g. wouldn't want the King of Bohemia to suddenly declare himself the Bohemian Emperor and independent of the HRE. What, if any role did the Pope play in how all this played out?
1 Answers 2018-09-03
[deleted]
1 Answers 2018-09-03
This came from watching Bill Burr while drunk. When he says “before Hitler what did they say when somebody was like the benchmark of evil? Trumps the next Hitler.” Is there actual evidence before Hitler where people would compare other world leaders to another bad dictator? Is there more to it as well? Is it just a modern thing?
1 Answers 2018-09-03
1 Answers 2018-09-03
I should preface our conversation about pedagogy by divulging that I am an academic in the US teaching in-person classes at the university level. Any omissions on my part are opportunities for discussion.
Historians in the Classroom
Historians are both ahead of and behind the pedagogical times. A standard introductory level history course is taught by the “sage on the stage,” performing an extended verbal essay each 50-minute class period. The pedagogical literature has for many years encouraged us to instead act as a “guide by the side,” a model prevalent in upper-level discussion-based or seminar courses.
Active learning is one of the core best-practices in pedagogy. At its essence, active learning is based on the principle that students learn by constructing their own understanding of material by building on their prior knowledge. Active learning includes an enormous range of strategies, including class discussions, debates, games, and brainstorming. Activities that work relatively easily in larger classes include Think-Pair-Share, note comparison, clickers, video reflections, and one-minute reflections.
As detail oriented as we historians are, it can be difficult for us to move away from a coverage model of teaching. However, if we give up the sage on the stage method of teaching in favor of discussions, activities, and/or projects, it means giving up the control and pace that allows for a coverage model of teaching. The pedagogical literature supports slowing down to cover less material more deeply. More pedagogically-oriented lectures, including elements such as active learning, handouts, and assessment of student learning, is better received by students. (See, for example, Saroyan and Snell, 1997.)
Tech in the Classroom
Although we here on AskHistorians are clearly not allergic to the twenty-first century, many of our colleagues are reluctant to incorporate technology in the classroom. What are the pros and cons of tech in the classroom?
Needless to say, technology is frequently distracting. But aside from the temptations of reddit, students taking notes on laptops perform worse on higher-level or conceptual questions. Research by Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) suggests that laptops allow students to take verbatim notes, which leads to less processing during lecture material.
On the other hand, we must allow technology in the classroom if for no other reason than to provide accommodations to students with disabilities. Many advocates of technology in the classroom insist that the nature of class time and assessments must be changed to make effective use of the wide array of tools and information available to students today. Laptops will not be distracting if students are actively engaging in research, synthesis, or presentation. Digital humanities has become a sexy methodology in the discipline, and some advanced-degree-granting institutions have even begun to offer classes or certificates in digital teaching and/or research methodologies. However, the implementation of DH in the classroom varies widely.
The bottom line is that you should have a tech policy and explain your rationale to your students. This transparency will help students buy into your policy and demonstrate the thought you put into your teaching.
Who we Teach
History departments have faced declining enrollments in the last few years. (Although surprisingly, this trend did not directly coincide with the 2007-8 economic crisis.) The recent high in the number of history BAs conferred was in 2012.
In the US, our students reflect our changing national demographics. The number of history BA degrees awarded to women and traditionally underrepresented minority groups have been rising. Although women are overrepresented in humanities disciplines, they made up just 40.3% of history BAs awarded in 2015. Many universities are improving their support-systems for first-generation or otherwise at-risk students by implementing new programming, such as advising, first-year college-skills courses, or mentoring.
What we Teach
Concurrent with the growth of a diverse student population, many departments and faculty have pressed for a more diverse curriculum. While academic hiring for history faculty has shrunk significantly since the academic crash of 2007-08, the steepest long-term declines have been in European history. The number of positions in world, Latin American, African, Asian, and Middle Eastern history has risen over the long-term (though hiring in those fields is still inconsistent in the current market). The readjustment of faculty specializations has accompanied efforts to decolonialize the curriculum. Departments have been replacing “Western Civilization” with courses in global history. Increasing calls are also being made to diversify the US history survey course chronologically, geographically, and culturally. Here’s a “fun” game for anyone teaching or learning the US history survey: What is the start date of your course? What political values stand behind that starting point? How does the narrative of the course change with other start dates?
Another aspect of teaching that’s at the crossroads of economic pressure, technology, and our increasingly diverse student bodies is the textbook itself. The rising cost of textbooks has been an issue of outrage for several years. A movement for Open Educational Resources has advocated for freely accessibly and openly licensed media for learning purposes. Some excellent resources are being developed for history, including The American Yawp, a textbook written by college-level instructors, which in my estimation far surpasses standard textbooks on the market with its range of up-to-date scholarship. Personally, I find myself teaching outside my primary fields this year, and I have been most struck by the lack of resources for educators teaching outside the traditional major survey-courses. Historians, do you have recommendations for teaching resources in your field?
Recommended Reading
A few books in the scholarship of teaching and learning that I recommend for historians are:
James M. Lang, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning Jossey-Bass 2016
Lang’s book has quickly become a classic in this field. It contains ideas and strategies for working active learning into your teaching without majorly overhauling your classes. The style, lack of jargon, and practical content also make it a good starting place if you’re unfamiliar with the pedagogy literature.
Therese Huston, Teaching What You Don’t Know (multiple eds.)
This one’s for the many grad students here in AskHistorians. What do you do when you, a medievalist, is asked to teach US women’s history? What if you get that prized TT position after having promised in your job letter that of course you could teach the survey course that begins several centuries before your period of expertise? This book is for you! Huston provides practical strategies for getting through a course outside your field. I particularly appreciate the care she takes to consider the intersections of age, race, and background in establishing authority in the classroom.
Barbara E. Walvoord, Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment in College (multiple eds.)
Grading is frequently one of our least favorite tasks as instructors. How can we save our own time, improve our student ratings, and preempt complaints about fairness? Walvoord’s book describes best practices for a variety of kinds of assignments. One of her specialties is in teaching writing, which makes this book a great choice for history instructors.
2 Answers 2018-09-03
1 Answers 2018-09-03
After the war of independence I would think the colonies would be immersed in debt, and yet I see how the US bought Florida from Spain, Lousianna, Alaska plus who knows what other lesser acquisitions... how did they get so much money?
I get there were some manufactories, but so were there in England and I assume France and Spain so not sure what gave the US so much in so little time.
1 Answers 2018-09-03
I’ve heard a rumor that he did so I’m hoping for a confirmation. :)
1 Answers 2018-09-03
Hi, I took a quick peek but haven't really found anything decent yet,
but I am looking for some sort of detailed book about the war between the Fins and the Russians in 1939.
Just looking to read up on it, so perspectives of both sides would be nice. But if it's a memoir you
can suggest I'd give it a go to. I'm not really picky as long as I can get some reading about the winter war.
Thanks in advance!
1 Answers 2018-09-03
1 Answers 2018-09-02
I'm curious if there were specific reasons for the lack of alliance between these powers, or if they were just dead-set on their own form of domination.
1 Answers 2018-09-02
Does the prof just stand there and read from a script or a presentation? Do you ever go to museums or stuff like that?
4 Answers 2018-09-02
With her naked ambition and desire to be a man ("Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty.") in order to commit murder, was she fulfilling known role of "witch" or malignant femininity? How was such a shocking speech as the one from which I quote viewed from within the larger framework of society?
2 Answers 2018-09-02
Having lived in London I've heard multiple times that what a 30 year old considers normal today in terms of house sharing is just a recent ie. last 70 years, so post WW2 habit, however in the Conan Doyle novels, Holmes who seems to be from a relatively posh, hence supposedly whealty family, gets to meed and know John Watson because they become housemates, does anyone know how housesharing was seen in those victorian times and if today's cultural habit of housesharing is a derivation of that or is rooted in some other event that happened between victorian times and modern day?
1 Answers 2018-09-02
I'm sorry if this is a bit insensitive and crass, but couldn't they pretend they were Catholic or something?
1 Answers 2018-09-02
they're still in the same country as their ancestors, but hundreds of kilometers away
1 Answers 2018-09-02
1915 Italy changed side in WWI, and it was promise to them they will get coast of Adriatic sea. If Serbia, after WWI, chose not to create Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia, would Italy control Adriatic sea coast or Croats and Slovenes would get there own country? If they would control the coast how much of it would Italy get and what would Serbia get? Was there any agreement related to that?
1 Answers 2018-09-02
I tried to find sources for this for a few days now. Looked at the sources of that German fellow, that wrote about mining in medieval times and tried to find contemporary mines, that could technologically be compared to a pre-dynamite era like the Pontosi mine in Bolivia. None of these sources ever talked about actual iron yield, that was produced. I am interested, because I try to simulate a medieval economy and am stuck with estimating iron production in relation to workforce. Maybe someone has knowledge of a good source for this.
1 Answers 2018-09-02
In addition, how was a battle deemed over if you didn't know who your enemy was? Did commanders on the battlefield have systems in place to keep their men organized and prevent friendly attacking?
1 Answers 2018-09-02
Thinking of people like Matteo Ricci. In Europe in the 16-17th century there were conflicts with Muslim empires etc and images of Muslims as a threat to Christianity. And of course they were expelled or converted in Spain. When Jesuits went to China did they feel they had more in common/a kind of kinship with the Muslim population, was there any extensive contact, any attempt to convert the Muslim population, and did the views of Muslims held in Europe influence how they were viewed? And vice versa, how did the Muslim communities react to any Christian missionaries they found? Did interacting with the Muslim population of India and Muslim communities in China, SE Asia etc change how Islam and Muslims were viewed in Europe? Did the missionaries (and Europeans at home) differentiate between Muslim communities at all (did they define them purely by religion or were different ethnic groups viewed differently)??
I don’t know if the Jesuit missionaries visited the regions with large Muslim populations such as xinjiang but a book I was reading has mentioned Muslims in China a few times, discussing some who were members of the civil service. So presumably they were encountered in daily life across areas with missionary work.
1 Answers 2018-09-02
Is it a matter of exoticism, perhaps? Fuelled by the countless (Eastern) martial arts movies people have grown up with?
2 Answers 2018-09-02
I ask this because my mother was telling me how her grandfather had been fighting in Belgium and captured by the Germans. He was then made to walk to Russia through Poland, writing letters regularly to my great-grandmother, but then didn’t do anything there (such as fighting) and was sent home by train. Apparently, on the train he found a resistance leaflet and got so scared of being found with it that he ate it. Then he got home and never talked to anyone about his experiences.
Anyway, stories in my family tend to get distorted,, and this sounds kind of weird to me (why would he have gone to Russia?) so I was wondering what would typically happen to a French POW once France ‘capitulated’.
Thank you, and I hope this is within the rules!
1 Answers 2018-09-02
From my Civil War History class' textbook, The American War by Gary Gallagher and Joan Waugh, page 27:
Maryland posed a special problem for the Lincoln administration--should it secede, Washington, D.C. would lie inside Rebel territory. Lincoln approved extraordinary--and constitutionally questionabke--actions to keep Maryland in the Union.
Emphasis mine.
The book doesn't expand on this, or if it does, it's not near where this passage is located. Was it just a lot of garrisoning Union soldiers all over Maryland? Why would that be constitutionally questionable as long as they weren't being quartered in civilians' homes (or were they in peoples' homes)?
1 Answers 2018-09-02