Not exactly sure if this is the right board, but I thought it'd be interesting to see the responses from you guys.
So I've recently began my undergraduate and I'm minoring in history. The topic for the majority of year 1 is the Vikings and how their role shaped the world.
While I respect the topic and can see it's relevancy and importance in the role of studying history, I simply just cannot find it interesting, which leads to me lacking in the study department. So, assuming all the historians that are here have more than likely have to have had studied something that bored them to pieces, is the best way to solve this problem?
Something I've learned as I've studied more is that every period of history is interesting, the only reason you may not find it interesting is because you don't know enough about it. For example I used to think that European history between about 1400 and 1700 was just "boring" or "lame". These terms don't really apply though, they say more about the person saying them than they do about the actual period. Of course now I have a much greater appreciation for the intrigue and developments that took place during that time and find it fascinating.
Another method to increase your interest is to try and understand the systems that drove events during the period you are studying. The Viking era shaped the world we live in just like any other. Try and get a sense of the conditions that drove these people to to go Viking. Try and get an appreciation for the state of the rest of europe an what allowed these viking raids to be so successful. An addition point that I find fascinating about the period is how far these Scandanavians spread, they journeyed out to the Black sea, the Med, and as far west as Newfoundland. They created kingdoms in Ireland, England, France, and Scicily. They became a part of the courts of Moscow, Kiev, and Constantinople. All this from humble beginnings in the Cold reaches of the North. How are these people not fascinating in al the accomplished?
I always looked for a subsection of the subject I was interested in or think about the things that made something exceptional. For example, you might not find Vikings raiding the English Isles all that interesting but you might find the fact they built a trading empire in Russia or founded at least three royal dynasties or that the managed open ocean voyages without compasses.