As someone with blank spots all over, what sort of questions should we ask when we are reading or learning about historical events?
I am very interested in this field, although it is not my life or career.
What sort of questions should I bring to office hours or ask when reading history in general?
Posted Jan 2, 2018, 9:52 AM UTC
95
The basic answer: any questions you have that weren't able to be addressed in class. The advanced answer: any questions you could not find an answer to on your own.
A large part of studying history is constantly looking for answers to the questions you have - which is how "real" history is done. No one wakes up one day and decides to write a book. They read, form questions, look for answers in secondary sources, and if they have an original idea or find a new source spend years researching and writing in hopes that they will be able to publish.
In the above your professor is a secondary source. Instead of approaching him/her and asking "what/why", ask for reading suggestions on the topic. Then, when you read that book and find an answer, you can check citations and learn where they sourced their information.
I feel like you missed my point. Of course we have to ask questions as we read and learn, but I find myself with a lot of factual information, yet don't find myself asking questions about the material, and it leaves me worried. Why am I not linking concepts to a point where I have questions to ask?
When I read about subjects in another field, I can see this mental connectivity that I link with what I already know, and I can form a question in the second place (e.g., material from neuroanatomy development, biological development, sociological phenomenons, genetic-environment development. I read something. I understand it. I can apply it and theorize (form questions).
I don't experience that with history. At all. I read it. And I feel I have a lot of information in my hand, and can't form my own theories. I feel I have to have it spelled out for me.
So maybe...I am just missing the 'click' with history. So, I'd like to go back to the ABC's, and understand how to ask the 'right' questions in history. Because I genuinely am interested in the field, yet struggle to make theories as I read (which is something I do easily with social science subjects).
This was helpful, except that the professors already have this information (additional books/articles) in their 'suggested readings' section in the syllabus.
I am not talking about asking minute, small trivial questions that I could search. I'm not talking about where to find the answers.
I am talking about how to come to ask questions that allow me to link bigger ideas. That allow me to make a theory about the (minute and small) factual information I've just read.
Read lots. You will find books that can trigger a deeper understanding of a subject in unexpected ways. I found books, hidden in plain sight in long reading lists in course syllabi, which appeared to be dry and rather narrow in scope from the title, and instead they really widened my understanding of history. A recent book that I read on (I thought) the early days of writing in archaic Greece turned out to explain the culture of oral societies and the transmission of knowledge without writing really well, and once I realized that all pre-modern societies were primarily oral, a lot of my understanding of medieval history suddenly changed, and many things that did not make much sense to me before, suddenly "clicked". And now I also recognize many more things that I don't understand and I have a lot more questions that I need answered and that I want to read about. Not all books are like that, but when you read lots you will eventually find some that really enlighten you.
This was super helpful. (No sarcasm).