What do historians do? In this free course you will explore some of the ways that historians work to develop our understanding of the past. You will learn about three aspects of the historian’s craft through three topic areas: landscapes, infant health and criminal justice. Through the activities in the course, you will experience a wide range of historical evidence and understand its importance for historians in constructing new knowledge.This OpenLearn courseis an example of postgraduate-level study and gives some insight into the studyof history you might undertake if you were to study the MA in History (A883/4).
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Historians work in a tradition
- 1 Historians work in a tradition
- 1.1 Landscape history
- 1.2 Land management
- 1.3 Travel writing
- 1.4 Enter the historians
- 1.5 Summary of Section 1
- 2 Historians use objects (sometimes)
- 2 Historians use objects (sometimes)
- 2.1 Reasons for bottle feeding
- 2.2 Advice on infant feeding
- 2.3 Moving through time …
- 2.4 Babies and the state
- 2.5 Summary of Section 2
- 3 Historians challenge public understanding of the past
- 3 Historians challenge public understanding of the past
- 3.1 The ‘Bloody Code’
- 3.2 Historians and the Bloody Code
- 3.3 Revisionists, post-revisionists and the decline of hanging
- 3.4 Sentenced to death: the end of the road?
- 3.5 Summary of Section 3
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- References
- Further reading
- Acknowledgements
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Reviews
4.0 rating, based on 1 Class Central review
4 rating at OpenLearn based on 4 ratings
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It was a highly informative and fun course, that I enjoyed taking. There is a lot more to studying history that meets the eye - and this course is the embodiment of that. It was an immense learning opportunity.
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