1. “The past is in our present, but the future is still in our hands..”
What is History?
“The past is in our present, but the future is still in our hands..”
Elie Wiesel

2. 5 “W's“and 1 ‘H”: who, what, when , where and why...
..A personal "thought" experiment: How would you tell the "history" of your life?
5 “W's“and 1 ‘H”: who, what, when , where and why...
Unique and intersecting

3. ..Who: deals with the people who shaped events..
history is about us!
Selective because it is a narrative
not necessarily fixed

4. ..What: the problem of facts.
definition of fact:
something which can be confirmed by an appeal to our senses.
B. Problems with Facts:
There can be both too many facts and too few, sometimes both of these can be true about the same event.
Issue of relevance: need for selectivity again..

6. ..What: the need for interpretation.
A. facts don't speak for themselves
B. even when we choose facts makes a difference
C. effect of "frame of reference " on fact selection.
problem of bias
Definition of interpretation

7. ..When? time in historical narrative.
change or changelessness ,
historians must offer logical explanations which are points on a time line. The points indicate how A lead to B and NOT C.
NO mechanical formulas, not iron rules of cause and effect.
History never repeats itself, not really
The error of "presentness":

9. ..Where: the physical stage of history
A. Geography as destiny: too strong a statement, but... (Guns, Drums and Steel)
B. Europe as example:
steppe gradient, oceans and seas , mountains ,
river systems

10. ..Why and How ? cause and effect in history
multifactorial and complex causation...
Revisionism:

11. Finding Meaning
pattern recognition , history and interpretation: the heart of history and explanation.
those who study history are better prepared to deal with the present – the map is not the territory, but it is a helpful guide to it…
Relativism and revision

12. ..Finally: a definition:
A carefully and critically reconstructed memory, this is what history is.