Understanding the Nature of Historical Studies Canadian History

Euro-Centric History Euro-centric refers to the belief that the European culture is dominant/superior to other cultures. This idea was especially prevalent in the 18 th and 19 th century. Over the course of the 20 th century this idea started to change. Why? Increased study of other cultural groups – ex) Ottoman Empire, Aboriginal in Canada. What impact did non-Western societies have on the diet, art, politics, or economics of European nations? Ex) Iroquois confederacy to democratic government?

The Study of Change Over Time Without change there is no history The question of “why” change has occurred is the foundation for historical studies – ex why did the German people vote for Adolf Hitler? Why do some people in Quebec want to separate from Canada? Further attempt to understand the underlying causes and consequences of an event

Marwick and Levi-Strauss Marwick “A society without memory and self knowledge would be a society adrift” Levi-Strauss “Those who ignore history condemn themselves to know nothing about the present because historical development alone permits us to evaluate elements of the present”

Do you trust the historian? Students are not often asked to consider the view point of the historian Bias can often be found in secondary sources and should be recognized by readers In any source primary or secondary try to consider the point of view of the writer ex) laborer, government worker, clergy, soldier, child, adult etc

Historiography Historiography – the perspective from which different historians write Because historians write from different perspective, debate leads to reasonable conclusions

Beginning Dates All to often courses and events are given an “arbitrary” starting date Because events all ultimately connect to each other finding a starting date for events and even a course are difficult Where should Canadian history begin? When did WWI begin

Use of Time Periods History is studied but not defined in time periods. Time periods defined by historians often overlap Our course outline has overlap, one period does not sharply end and another one begin Time periods are useful for organization and to breakdown information