Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
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How would one learn to do academic historian research on one’s own?
A bit of background info:
I’m a student of Japanese studies, and I’d like to write my master’s on some historic topic, not quite sure what yet. But a dissertation in history is rather different to my previous dissertation in geopolitics. I have had a fair few history courses, but nothing on methodology and how one writes a historical dissertation.
Any pointers and thorough resources that teach me how academic research in history works?
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, February 12 - Thursday, February 18
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 4,882 | 83 comments | [Great Question!] In the show “Derry Girls”, a teenager living in Northern Ireland in the early 90’s comes out as gay. Many of her peers and the adults in her life act notably nonchalant and accepting of her announcement. Is this an accurate portrayal of public opinion on homosexuality in this setting? |
| 4,818 | 39 comments | In the 1994 Simpsons' episode "Bart Gets an Elephant" a gag shows the Democrats declaring that they "hate life and ourselves" and "can't govern", while the Republicans say that they "want what's worst for everyone" and they're "just plain evil". How and when did these political stereotypes develop? |
| 4,770 | 218 comments | Ian Fleming’s James Bond is often depicted wearing a Rolex, driving a Bentley (or Aston Martin) and drinking the finest drinks in the finest places. But in the 1950s and 1960s what would a secret agent’s wage actually be and would there be all the perks that James Bond enjoys? |
| 4,423 | 35 comments | I'm a low class Ancient Greek adolescent/young adult man. There's this girl of similar class on the other side of the polis/village to me who's just my type, and I'd like to get conjugal with her. What romantic conventions are there that i should be thinking about and planning? |
| 4,081 | 128 comments | Have humans always infantilized their pets (e.g. referring to their dog as "baby" or themselves as "mom"), or is this a relatively recent phenomenon? |
| 3,904 | 66 comments | Unions in the United States seem much weaker and more conciliatory now than 100 years ago. How has their relationship to capital changed? Why do their goals and tactics seem so much less grand now? |
| 3,698 | 130 comments | How would an average young American couple, pre-Sexual Revolution and pre-reliable contraception, have approached sexual intimacy as their relationship became more committed and serious? |
| 3,160 | 48 comments | Did McCarthy legitimately believe in Soviet infiltration of Hollywood, or was it merely a convenient excuse to attack liberal, West Coast elites? |
| 3,011 | 30 comments | The Chinese and Persian zodiacs are identical, except the latter swaps the dragon for a whale. What is the origin of this cultural link? |
| 2,937 | 51 comments | I am a veteran line infantryman during the Napoleonic Wars. What sort of advantages would I hold over 'greener' or less experienced troops and how would my commander utilise me in battle (both in terms of positioning and when I would be inserted into combat)? |
###Top 10 Comments
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Struggling to do research for a paper in one of my classes - all the useful sources are in a language I can't read. If only I could actually go to the library and browse the shelves...
I tried preventing the austro serbian border war of 1915. Did my time machine work?
Someone told me that the southern US accent is how someone speaking Elizabethan English from Shakespeare days would similarly sound like, as opposed to how the British sound today. Is there any merit to that theory?
Looking for a book written for the general public about the politicking, and back room shenanigans that went on during WW2.