An Introduction to Historiography

Historiography or the writing of history is an essential and integral part of the discipline of history. Historiography is the history of history writings. The course explores when and where historical thought first developed in the ancient world; when history-writing began per se; how was historical thought influenced by the advent of Christianity and Islam, and later by various movements in Europe including the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Scientific Revolution and Positivism; and what have been the major trends in historical thought in the twentieth century. It also investigates how human past has been perceived and constructed by the historians belonging to different schools of thought, and how various schools of historiography have emerged in contemporary times. The course also evaluates the works of the important individual historians and the changing interpretations of the historical events in the works of these individual historians. In contemporary times, the historical canvas has been vastly stretched, and the modern day historians  are focusing on unconventional themes and unusual subjects which are also analysed in the course.

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aiou-historiography-study-guide-revised-2012.pdf (0.81 MB )

what-is-history-by-edward-hallett-carr-z-lib.pdf (14.85 MB )