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The recording of history has been intrinsic to all peoples and cultures over time. This has developed in ways that reflect how individuals, communities and societies conceived of their significance, existentially or philosophically, or both. The establishment of the academic discipline of History, following Science, similarly represented a powerful tool for shaping knowledge and ideology. This capstone course focuses on Historiography - the study of the history of histories and the approaches historians have taken in recording the past. It offers you an advanced critical level of knowledge for engaging with the practice of History as it evolved and a means for understanding how the past is a contested space. You will explore theories and methods to inform an enquiry into how the discipline has been debated, contested, used and abused. This course reinforces knowledge and practical attributes necessary for diverse graduate professions and pathways, including Honours and postgraduate study.

This course provides you with advanced knowledge on how history is practiced and the means for identifying relevant approaches for interpreting the past, as well as the role of historians have taken in shaping both past and present. You will explore the ways ancient, classical, medieval and early-modern historians conceptualised history, and the critical historiographical developments that led to the establishment of the discipline in the late 1800s. You will also engage with how major historical events have influenced debates and contesting interpretations. In this course you will work on a research project about a historical controversy to demonstrate the tensions between instrumentalism and objectivity, and the practices of an academic or professional historian.

On completion of this course students should be able to:

1. evaluate the basic stages in the production of history and the principal features in the development of historiography from ancient times to the modern practice of the History discipline;
2. critically discuss and use the concept of epistemology – the origins, nature, methods, and limits of knowledge – and demonstrate the way the practice of history has transformed over time;
3. evaluate and discuss the differences between positivism and idealism and explore the objectivity-subjectivity debate;
4. engage with the influence of ideology, politics and the media on the production of history and articulate the empirical principles of the History discipline for ethical practice
5. demonstrate research, critical and creative thinking, and documentation in line with History-discipline standards with professional integrity and inclusivity.