History

History

History is the systematic study of the past (Arthur Marwick 1970)-is probably the simplistic definition of history- what most study materials talk about. Here, we intend to unpack some hidden concepts infused in human history as an exciting area of knowledge in IB’s Theory of Knowledge coursework. Throughout the discourse  you would get to dissect history through TOK concepts like evidence, certainty, interpretation, explanation, perspectives, culture, and responsibility.

Class room activity 1- An initial discussion after watching this video can be great fun. It sets the boundary within which History as as area of knowledge can be explored. Teachers can ask students to identify as many points as they can that best fits into respective knowledge framework.

Areas of knowledge

To refine the definition of history, probably we would attribute the past as recorded. The attribute ‘recorded’ is imperative as history being the study of ‘recorded’ past briefs‘ about the past. The construction of the knowledge about the explanation of past events is based on evidence from sources. These explanations are precisely historical narratives. It is pertinent to observe that the time of the sedimentation of the historical events is likely to be different from the time of narration. Though events are experienced sequentially, narration of the events in attributing a coherent meaning to the past events take up a different structure.

Classroom activity 2- Teachers can divide students in group or the task can be individual too. Each student need to pick an object in historical context, a painting from the past, a book conveying past events in history or even a monument or for that matter a King/Queen character. The idea is to find sources that claim the truthfulness of the object selected in conveying past event correctly. The purpose of this activity is to aggregate diverse views on one particular object. A good example could be Polybius narration about Achaean war and Views on Tughlaq by Anuja Chandramouli

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