11/5/13

1. 11/5/13 • History Final: Due Nov. 7—questions? • TOK Essay Final DraftDue Nov. 22Please send this version in electronic format (WORD) • First Presentation: Nov. 11 (Next Monday) Hailey J., Liam H. • EEReminderFinal draft due to Ms. Cordell and your advisor Dec. 6 or earlier. Schedule Vive Voce soon after you submit! • Class visitations: Nov. 12, 13, 14 various periods I will be visiting Sophomore English classes to talk about IB classes. You are welcome to attend!

2. History Finding knowledge and seeking truth In History TOK

3. Rethink History—get out of the dusty textbooks..there is a history Of EVERYTHING!

4. Quotations and Knowledge Issues What did you write about/respond to?

5. History of Hellgate • If you were to catalog the ten most important events at Hellgate during your time here, what would they be? Why did you pick each event? What does each event do in regards to history of this particular place?

6. What is the purpose of studying history? Can’t we just leave it in the past?! • History: • Asks a lot of questions • Tries to understand the causes and consequences of events • Tries to explain • Pays attention to evidence and interpretation. • Any other Areas of Knowledge relate to this list?

7. History attempts to discover • “How did we get to here from there?” • In Language, Reason/Logic, Emotion, and Sense perception…as well as using all of these. • In Math, Science, Human Science, Ethics, Aesthetics, Religion, and culture • All while prying loose relativism and attempting objectivity.

8. A melting pot • Of ALL the ways of knowing, ALL explorations for truth over time. • The sense of who you/we are is bound up in what you/we have done. • Individual and collective knowledge are included.

9. How do these terms relate to studying history? • Correlation • Causality • Correspondence • Coherence

10. Beware Distinguish between the past and knowledge of the past We know the past by reconstructing in on the basis of evidence that exists in the present.

11. Uncertainty in History • Memory: fallible • Evidence: ambiguous • Eye-witness: easily influenced • First hand account: relative • Second hand account: determined by various first hand accounts

12. Ways to look at History • Individuals • Groups • Types • Social Relations • Gender Relations • Others?

13. 3 Purposes of History • Provides a sense of identity • Is a defense against propaganda • Enriches our understanding of Human Nature

14. Identity • Informed opinions about current affairs • Multicultural understanding and compassion • For example…

15. Defense against propaganda • National Pride often dictates a one-sided interpretation of the past which highlights achievements and overlooks mistakes. • Real historical study will puncture myths about the past. • Does respect for belief systems have a place in historical study or does it distort what we see as fact and evidence?

16. Human Nature • Be careful with the phrase, “History shows us…” • Immanuel Kant Quote on page 307 of text. • The future does not have to be like the past. Do you agree or disagree?

17. It could be like this… History Class as taught by Jerry Seinfeld

18. Writing History • Human authors…humans are fallible. • Historian has to make a selection from available evidence—this is why historians specialize. • Filtered first through the eyes of those who witnessed it, and then through the eyes of the historian who wrote about it—do we get too far from the truth?

19. Hindsight • Is it truly 20/20? • Terminology is retrospective— “Renaissance” for example (Language!) • Each generation interprets the past in the light of its own experience.

20. Hindsight disadvantages • Distorts our understanding of the past • Hindsight bias • We are good at being wise after the event.

21. Studying History: Primary and Secondary Sources • PRIMARY SOURCES • An account by someone who was there. • SECONDARY SOURCES • A second-hand account, hopefully based on research into several primary sources. ?Examples of each kind?

22. Limitations of Sources • Fallible eye witness: perceptions are likely to be shaped by personal interests, expectations, experiences, and cultural background. EMOTION and PREJUDICE. • Social Bias: reflects the interests of one particular social group rather than society as a whole—those with the power control the pens; primary sources have often reflected one-sided interests/events at the cost of another group. • Deliberate manipulation: primary sources are deliberately manipulated by governments and other interest groups to change the facts of history. “Spin”. How does this connect to confirmation bias?

23. Specialization • Historians specialize (as do course-options) because of the immense amount of material out there. • What would be detrimental about attempting to study every aspect of “World History” in one course or one semester? • What would be detrimental about an historian attempting to write about or gather material for “World History?”

24. Write a minute… • How can a critical reader of history determine what to believe? Create a list of “rules for critical reading” that you apply or should apply when reading or researching historical documents or accounts.

25. However… • We should not be overly skeptical about the value of primary sources if properly used— • Who wrote it? • What was their motive in writing/recording? • Is it a translation? Are there other translations to compare? • How long after the event was it written? • How does it compare to other sources?

26. Brainstorm • Consider your knowledge of modern world history from the last 50 years. • What events/people do you think are essential for your generation to know about? If you were to create a “Modern World History” curriculum list, what would go on it? Why?

27. Theories of Historical Study • The BIG Question: What is the factor that made the difference? RARELY is there one answer. • Great Person Theory: Course of history is determined by great individuals. • Economic Determinism: The theory claims that history is determined by economic factors. • Victors Theory: History is recorded by those who “win” or those at the top.

28. Individual Theorists • Karl Marx: Changes in technology determine how society is organized and this in turn determines how people think. (Key inventions, etc). • Karl Popper: Predictability of the future is not merely implausible, but incoherent. (What was Popper’s stance on scientific experimentation?)

29. R.G Collingwood: Empathy—trying to make sense of the motives of another human being and their perception of the situation. By this rational, should we try to empathize with Hitler to better understand his grand plan? • Blaise Pascal:--history is governed by chance. There is no predictability, but small events can contribute to huge changes in history.

30. What do you think these philosophers would theorize? • Aristotle • Kant • Sarte • Nietzsche • Stephen Pinker • Descartes • Camus • “History is driven by a mixture of great people, technological factors and chance events.” (Van de Lagemat text). This is a nice thought…but are human beings really this collaborative?

31. Otzi the Iceman Otzi also called Ötzi the Iceman is a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived about 3,300 BCE. The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, hence Ötzi, near the Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. He is Europe's oldest natural human mummy, and has offered an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic Europeans. His body and belongings are displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.

32. "A Historian must combine the rigour of the scientist with the imagination of the artist.” To what extent can the historian be confident about his or her conclusions?

33. Hollywood and History • •In 3 minutes, write down a list of names of films which are connected with historical events or personalities. (Don’t use the Internet or other sources of information please!) Then compare your list with someone else in your group and discuss the following points relating to the Nature of History as an AOK: which if these films you've chosen between you were ‘Best Picture’ or gained some particular award? • •How historically accurate do you think the portrayal of the character or events the film deals with needs to be to be considered “historical”? • •When a film begins with “Based on a true story” what can this mean? • •What are the possible advantages or drawbacks of ‘Hollywood History’ for people today?

34. WAYS of knowing • How do the following help/hinder how we gain knowledge from history and/or how we record history to begin with? • Language • Emotion • Sensory Perception • Reason/Logic

35. Limitations of Historical Study • Cannot make repeated observations • Primary materials and sources don’t always represent all groups equally. • Records are lost or destroyed over time. • Different historians’ POVs may vary considerably. • Neutrality is difficult • Evidence can be misinterpreted (hasty generalizations) • Events cannot be isolated from external variables.

36. Strengths • Collaboration is becoming easier w/technology. • Methods of verification are becoming more accurate. • ALL AoKs are used simultaneously to develop theories—more so than ANY other area. • STUDENTS are learning to use their judgment and learning to use multiple sources for confirmation. • Expert opinion counts for something.

37. The Problem of Bias • 1) Topic Choice Bias—historians will choose topics they are interested in. HOWEVER, this doesn’t necessarily mean the treatment of the topic will have bias. • 2) Confirmation Bias—look only at evidence that supports one’s theories. A good historian will seek out evidence contrary to his theories. • 3) The marginalized are not often represented.

38. History and Relativism • Entire societies embrace a pattern of history that validates their own visions of themselves and gives a positive interpretation of events that from the ‘other’ perspective, might be construed otherwise. • What constitutes “progress, change, and victory” in one culture, might be “destruction, devastation, and loss” in another. • WHAT ROLE DOES LANGUAGE PLAY IN THIS? HOW DOES COLLINGWOOD’S EMPATHY THEORY WEIGH IN?

39. Long Term Affects of Historical Interpretation • The version of history we accept can have long reaching affects: • Collective memory • Cultural Identity • Heritage • As taught in school, can become part of personal identity—this is where propaganda is especially effective.

41. British politician Edmund Burke in his 1774 Speech to the Electors at Bristol at the Conclusion of the Poll was noted for his articulation of the principles of representation against the notion that elected officials should be delegates who exactly mirror the opinions of the electorate: It ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitting attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. • How would history be different if Burke’s principles were indeed carried forth by all representatives of the people? How would the recording of the past be different?